The Visual Artist and Craft Maker Awards (VACMA) are a programme of small grant schemes delivered in partnership with a range of local authorities and art organisations across Scotland. The schemes are managed locally by these partners. VACMA offers fixed bursaries of £500 and £1,000. The purpose of these bursaries is to support visual artists and craft makers in their creative and professional development.
Whether your medium is paint, clay, ink, metal, textiles, film, glass or something else entirely, and whatever stage in your career you're at, if you think we can help you advance your creative and professional skills we'd like to hear from you.
- £1,000 Bursary is for artists and makers who have been practicing for over 5 years, regardless of whether they have gone through formal education or not.
- £500 Early-Career Bursary is for artists and makers that have been practicing for less than 5 years. This includes recent graduates (2019 or later) and those that have not studied art formally but have been practising as an artist or maker for up to 5 years.
Application forms and further guidance for applicants are available in the downloads section below.
Applications are assessed by a panel comprising a Creative Scotland representative, Shetland Arts managers and local freelance artists.
For more information, guidance and advice visit the Creative Scotland website.
Support
Our Creative Project Manager Kathryn Gordon manages Shetland Arts' VACMA. She is in conversation with partners and Creative Scotland reguarly about the awards and can give guidance to applicants as to what is fundable/not fundable.
She organises Shetland's VACMA panel and chairs the meeting, but is not involved in the decision making.
Kathryn is available for meetings about VACMA with artists - if you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact her on [email protected].
"Make sure you include an Artist CV with your application and ensure that the six images attached with your application show your work at it's best. We are interested in what inspires you. This fund can allow you to take risks; an opportunity to explore and create that is financially supported. This, in turn, could help develop you as an artist and the work you create". (Kathryn Gordon, Shetland Arts)
Further Support
Online Information Sessions
There will be online information sessions (via Microsoft Teams) delivered by local partner representatives and members of Creative Scotland’s Visual Arts Team.
These sessions will include an overview of VACMA, followed by a panel discussion and Q&A.
The next session will be held on Tuesday 14 January 2025, 11am - 12pm. If interested, please register here.
E-learning
This e-learning provides advice and guidance on applying for opportunities and filling in application forms: Creative Opportunities for Practitioners.
Quick Guide for Applicants
Here's some of the advice and feedback we regularly give applicants
- Applying for VACMA isn't difficult but it will take time to write the application and gather the supporting documents.
- The award is to support your creative development (it's not a businesses development award, but we realise the two may be linked). We want to hear about what inspires your work, and what areas you'd like to explore and experiment with in the future.
- Read the guidelines (available in the downloads section) before you start filling in the form. We repeat, READ THE GUIDELINES!
- Watch the videos on the Creative Scotland website.
- Read the how to write an Artist CV guide. Like any CV, it can take time to build up skills and experience so don't worry if you feel you don't have much to include - and make sure what you do include is relevant to your creative work.
- Don't be put off by unfamiliar or arty/academic language.
- You don't have to write pages and pages of text, just write however much you need to get your point across.
- We want to give you the money!
- Good luck!
