Creative Shetland Commissioning Fund

• What is the Creative Shetland Commissioning Fund?

  A fund that can support a wide range of work and opportunities including, but not limited to:

  • Creative projects Performances
  • Exhibitions
  • Participatory projects and workshops Training
  • Development
  • Research

  Applicants can apply for up to £20,000 funding and must either live in, or be able to demonstrate a strong connection to, Shetland.

  There are two levels of funding available:

  • Less than £500
  • £501 - £20,000

  All activity must be completed by 31 December 2025.

  A guidance document is available to download below.

  The deadline for applications is Midday, Friday 31 January 2025; all applicants will be informed of the outcome of their application week commencing 10 February 2025.

• Who can apply?

  Freelance/self-employed artists and creative practitioners who are at least 18 years old either living in, or able to demonstrate a strong connection to, Shetland.

  You must have a UK bank account in your legal name or business name, which must be the same name you apply under. Please ensure the name on your funding application matches the name on your bank account, as we cannot pay into an account with a different name.

• What support is available for applicants?

  We are keen to get a wide range of applications from emerging and established artists. We will be providing 2 information sessions in January where you can ask questions and meet others interested in applying for the commissions. These will be led by Creative Project Manager Kathryn Gordon and will take place on the following dates:

  • Tuesday 14th January 2025, 18:30 – 19:30, in Mareel or online through a Teams link.

  • Wednesday 22nd January 2025, 12.00 – 13.00, in Mareel or online through a Teams link.

  If you would like to attend either of these events, please email [email protected].

  We recommend attending one of these if you're interested in applying, as hearing answers to others’ questions can help inform you, give you ideas and shape your application. However, if you’re not available for either of these slots, individual support is available. If you have access requirements or would like to request an individual meeting, please email [email protected].

• What can these funds be used for?

  These commissions aim to deliver on 3 categories:

  • Creation and/or Presentation of works
  • Development, Training or Research
  • Participatory projects and workshops

  Creation and Presentation of works
  The funding can be used to initiate new collaborations, present or develop existing or new works.

  For example:

  • The development of a concept,
  • Framing and delivery of an exhibition or
  • The creation of a new performance piece or moving image work.

  Development, Training or Research

  Is there a training course, development programme or piece of research that you would love to undertake that will help develop your creative practice? This funding can be used to cover travel, accommodation, any training course fees, stipend (amount to offer loss of income) and per diems. You may wish to explore connecting with a mentor to develop your practice and you could apply for a fee for yourself and the mentor to deliver this.

  If your project involves you leaving Shetland, we ask that you do a feedback session that is open to the public.

  For example:

  • Visiting somewhere that will feed your creative practice.
  • Attending a training course to allow you to develop new skills and help develop your work

  Participatory projects and workshops

  Do you have a skill you’d like to share or a participant group you’d love to connect with? This could be sharing a specific skill with others, or thinking about a specific group that you would love to connect with. These workshops can be delivered in Mareel (availability permitting) or at a venue of your choice around Shetland.

  For example:

  • A 6-week block of workshops for you to share your specialisms and skills with the public
  • A 1 off workshop exploring a particular idea or sharing a specific skillset
• What the funds cannot be used for

  This fund does not support the following:

  • Non-Arts Activities: Activities unrelated to the arts or creative industries.

  • Non-Shetland based or connected applicants.

  • Student Projects: Projects led by or involving full-time students, funding for tuition fees, or projects which are part of an accredited course or core curriculum activity. This includes individuals enrolled as full-time students but who are taking a leave of absence or other break from study.

  • Schools Activities: General arts or creative activities in schools. Artist-led activity which is in addition to core curriculum delivery and demonstrates clear partnership working can be supported provided the application comes from an individual with an established creative practice and adds value to the learning experience.

  • Building Projects: Building work or feasibility studies for building projects

  • Business Costs: Business start-up or ongoing running costs.

  • Equipment-only Funding: Funding solely for equipment.

  • Self-Publishing: Self-publishing projects, except those related to Visual Arts, Crafts and Design. Visual, Arts, Crafts and Design books can be supported if:
    ► Their purpose does not align with standard trade publishing or sit within that market (which may mean they do not have ISBNs or are not sold through the recognised book trade)
    ► They are craft pieces in their physical form; or they are interventions, catalogues, or writing used to specifically support a visual art practice rather than literary form.

  • Fundraising Programmes: Funding for fundraising activities.

  • Organisational Activity: Activities better suited for an existing organisation where the applicant holds a key role, or where the primary beneficiaries are a constituted organisation.

• How to Apply

  Applications can be made using the application form which is available to downlaod below.

  Completed applications must be emailed to [email protected] and received by midday on Friday 31 January.

  Late applications will not be accepted.

FAQs

• What if my project fits all the different aspects of workshops, training and creation of new work?

  That’s OK – just explain to us how. Tick all the boxes that are relevant to your project.

• Can I go further afield with my application for travel? Do I apply for all of the expenses for this?

  You can apply to do whatever you believe is best for you/your participants - justify to us where you need to go and why. You can apply for all of the expenses for this, or you can choose to put some cash into your budget from yourself, depending on where you are going.

  We want to make sure that your project is viable for delivery, so don’t put cash towards it if you cannot afford it. If you are applying for all of the costs, this is fine. We would only be expecting you to put some costs in if you were travelling beyond Europe.

• Do I need to have any other additional income in my budget?

  No.

• Will you fund part of my project?

  This will depend on the status of the other funding and whether it has been secured yet or not. We want to ensure that the projects are deliverable so if additional funding is required but not secured, consider applying to this fund for a discrete area of work or a development/research phase.

• Can I work with collaborators out with Shetland?

  Yes.

• Can there be unknowns in my application? For example, I would like to work with a local animation artist and will source one when successful in fundraising.

  Yes. State clearly what your unknowns are and how you will deliver them.

  For the above example, you can let us know your plan on sourcing this artist when the time comes.

• I am not based in Shetland, can I still apply?

  Your connection to Shetland will be a binary yes/no answer. Please explain clearly in your application your/your project's connection to Shetland. If this is clear in your application, you can still apply.

  However, we expect this fund to be heavily oversubscribed so if you feel this is tenuous, we suggest saving your effort for a more appropriate source of funding.

• Are you expecting a lot of applications?

  We are expecting the fund to be very oversubscribed.

• You have supported me in the past. Can I still apply?

  Yes. We are interested in supporting artists we both have and haven’t worked with before.

• I am currently a student but the project will be delivered after I have graduated, can I still apply?

  Yes, just ensure your project start date is beyond your course completion date.

• I have an idea that is not fully formed. Can I still apply?

  You may want to apply to do research into this idea, meaning that this stage of the project would be explorative, allowing your next funding application (to us or elsewhere) can be for expanding on this more fully formed idea.

• Will you be doing Commissions again?

  We are awaiting a funding outcome and therefore cannot answer this at the moment. We love doing commissions so there is desire to, however we do not know the answer to this question at this time.

• Is it possible to propose an international project?

  Yes.

• Is it possible to propose a project that builds on a previous project?

  Yes.