CREATIVE PLACE AWARDS 2015
#creativeplace
STORNOWAY AND THE ISLANDS OF LEWIS AND HARRIS wins
£125,000 Creative Place Award
Winners announced at evening ceremony:
Falkirk Town Hall, Falkirk
Wednesday 10 June, 2015
THE community of Stornoway and the islands of Lewis and Harris have been awarded £125,000 as a winner of this year’s Creative Place Awards.
The awards were announced to a packed audience at an evening awards ceremony, which took place at Falkirk Town Hall, Falkirk (Wednesday 10 June, 2015), in the presence of the Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Europe and External Affairs, Fiona Hyslop.
The event was arranged by Creative Scotland in partnership with EventScotland and Falkirk Community Trust.
Stornoway and the surrounding villages will use the award for a programme to present and profile a route of artistic and cultural experiences into, throughout and beyond the town, so that Stornoway becomes a recognised gateway to the creative community of the Outer Hebrides.
Key activities include innovative and creative residencies in Stornoway Port Authority, the new Lews Castle Museum and Archive and other key local businesses and venues; traditional and contemporary Gaelic music and performing arts events in intriguing and unusual places; commissioning works to create an arts trail and route through the town; curated exhibitions in pop up venues; walking and Segway tours incorporating digital storytelling; specialist creative business support and a programme of staff development for all partners to raise the quality of the visitor experience.
Elly Fletcher, chief executive of An Lanntair, said: “We are overjoyed with this result. What a wonderful opportunity this is to celebrate the incredible, creative Gaelic community of Stornoway and the outlying islands of Lewis and Harris.
“We are delighted and cannot wait to get our project – ‘Bealach’ – off the ground, which will see a dynamic partnership from across our community come together to create a route and gateway to Gaelic arts experiences into, throughout and beyond the town of Stornoway.
“There will be innovative residencies, Gaelic music compositions, productions and performances, trails, exhibitions, tours, bilingual digital storytelling, mentoring for emerging artists, and much more.
“We would like to thank Creative Scotland and the judges for this fantastic opportunity, which will bring wide reaching recognition to the distinctive, world class Gaelic culture and heritage of our creative island community.”
Fellow Creative Place Award winners are Moniaive/Glencairn Parish and Forres Area, who were awarded £50,000 and £100,000 prizes respectively.
Representatives from the three communities received the awards at tonight’s ceremony hosted by broadcaster, Janice Forsyth. The winners of each category received cash awards to enable them to enhance and promote their creative activity throughout 2015/16.
Responding to this evening’s announcement, Janet Archer, chief executive at Creative Scotland, said: “Congratulations to Moniave/Glencairn Parish, Forres Area and Stornoway and the islands of Lewis and Harris on winning this year’s Creative Place Award.
“It is such a privilege to be able to share the passion and depth of commitment these communities are making through arts, creativity and culture.
“The written entries, the inspiring films and the audio pieces we received from all nine finalists made this an extremely enjoyable, but difficult judging process.
“They all acted as powerful testimonies to the difference creativity is making to people everywhere and all the finalists should be fiercely proud of their achievements.
“We were bowled over by the quality of the submissions received this year – 32 entries from communities in Scotland, across 21 different Local Authority Areas.
“This is the highest number of entries we have received since these awards began four years ago, I’m not exaggerating when I say that the standard has never been higher.”
Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Europe and External Affairs, Fiona Hyslop, who presented the award to winners, Stornoway commented: “The Creative Place Awards celebrate all that is best about our communities in Scotland and recognise the hard work and imagination driving the cultural life of communities all over the country.
“There are exceptional creative programmes taking place in towns, villages and communities across the country and these awards demonstrate an ongoing commitment to supporting the development of projects that might not otherwise get recognition, and tonight’s awards are a celebration of that.
“Creative and cultural activity helps to support and shape our communities and places – fostering and reinforcing people’s sense of identity and community cohesion and I’m looking forward to hearing more about the exciting work this year’s three prize winners have planned.”
Representatives from the three communities received the awards at tonight’s ceremony hosted by broadcaster, Janice Forsyth.
The winners of each category received cash awards to enable them to enhance and promote their creative activity throughout 2015/16.
The Creative Place Awards winners were chosen by a Jury panel made up of: Janet Archer, CEO at Creative Scotland (chair of Jury panel); Jim Tough, executive director at the Saltire Society; Iain Caimbeul, CEO at Bòrd na Gàidhlig; Vic Galloway, presenter; and Julie Fowlis, musician.
Falkirk was selected as the host of this year’s awards after winning a Creative Place Award in 2014. Falkirk community are using their award to support a project called Acts of Discovery, offering audiences a fresh look at the area and its cultural offering. Based on the themes of people, routes and pathways, Acts of Discovery builds on and complements Falkirk’s cultural offering.
Councillor Adrian Mahoney, Portfolio Holder for Culture, Leisure and Tourism for Falkirk, said: “Congratulations to all of this year’s winners. We are delighted to pass the baton on and hope that this award enables each winner to truly celebrate the creative talent of the people living and working in their area.
Ian Scott, chair of Falkirk Community Trust, said: “We would like to congratulate all of this year’s Creative Place award winners.
“I remember that wonderful moment a year ago when Falkirk was announced as a winner and the excitement we all felt when we realised the cultural journey that we had ahead of us. We have created a wonderful legacy for Falkirk through Creative place and we wish tonight’s winners every success.
EventScotland has been a partner of the Creative Place Awards since 2012.
Mike Cantlay OBE, chair of VisitScotland, said: “The Creative Place Awards are a fantastic way of promoting and celebrating Scotland’s wealth of creative talent.
“I would like to congratulate Moniaive, Forres and Stornoway on their outstanding achievements, and hope it leads to more visitors coming to see what these ‘Creative Places’ have to offer.
“Creative industries are a core part of Scotland’s tourism offering, and each of the shortlisted places can be proud of their contribution to our global reputation.”
Rhona Corscadden, senior events manager at EventScotland, said: “Applications for the awards this year were particularly strong, with the final shortlist representing the breadth and depth of creative talent Scotland is home to.
“These awards recognise the role our communities play in our cultural sector, and the associated grants will allow them to continue to develop and realise their ambitions in the arts.”
ENDS
For media enquiries contact:
Helen Sim Media Relations & PR Assistant Creative Scotland E: Helen.Sim@creativescotland.com T: 0131 523 0019 M: 07801 226605 S: 0330 333 2000
Notes to Editors
The purpose of the Creative Place Awards is to enhance and promote the creative activities and programmes of smaller, specific communities in Scotland. They aim to recognise achievements and ambitions in using these activities, both for the benefit of local communities, and to attract visitors.
The Shortlist was selected for their track record in delivering a high quality programme of work, the quality of their plans to enhance their programme and for the involvement of the wider community. Category winners receive funding to enable them to enhance their activity further. The awards were not open to the nation’s cities.
Information on the winners:
£50,000 Award
MONIAIVE/GLENCAIRN PARISH – WINNER
The award would be used to connect existing cultural activities under three programme strands: visual arts, music and literature. This would support the work of creative professionals based in Moniaive; expand opportunities for people living in Moniaive to be involved in creative activities and promote creative work to attract visitors and support local businesses.
£100,000 Award
FORRES – WINNER
The Forres area community would like to use the award to support and promote local arts participation in Culture Day 2015; Findhorn Bay Arts Festival 2016; Project ARTS; and Culture Café events. Culture Day is an open doors carnivalesque cultural extravaganza that has previously showcased over 100 arts and cultural organisations in Moray. Findhorn Bay Arts Festival is a spectacular celebration of arts and culture, showcasing artists of national and international renown. This project would build on previous work, offering an enhanced programme and providing a funding pot to assist local artists to develop work and take part. Project ARTS aims to support the creation of a wide range of public art and creative work, which connects with local businesses and community in Forres area. Culture Café would be a regular event held at different locations, focusing on network and development functions in Forres area.
£125,000 Award
STORNOWAY AND THE ISLANDS OF LEWIS AND HARRIS - WINNER
Stornoway and the surrounding villages would use the award for a programme to present and profile a route of artistic and cultural experiences into, throughout and beyond the town, so that Stornoway becomes a recognised gateway to the creative community of the Outer Hebrides. Key activities include innovative and creative residencies in Stornoway Port Authority, the new Lews Castle Museum and Archive and other key local businesses and venues; traditional and contemporary Gaelic music and performing arts events in intriguing and unusual places; commissioning works to create an arts trail and route through the town; curated exhibitions in pop up venues; walking and Segway tours incorporating digital storytelling; specialist creative business support and a programme of staff development for all partners to raise the quality of the visitor experience.
Jury biographies
Jim Tough – Executive director, Saltire Society, Jim has more than 25 years’ experience in the public and voluntary sectors, in community education and youth work and the arts. He is currently executive director of Saltire Society – a non-politically aligned charity; an independent promoter of Scottish heritage nurturing, supporting and celebrating Scotland’s diverse creativity. He was the former area executive director at Arts Council England and CEO at Scottish Arts Council.
Iain Caimbeul - CEO, Bòrd na Gàidhlig Iain Caimbeul is a native Gaelic speaker, originally from South Uist. He is currently the ceannard (CEO) of Bòrd na Gàidhlig. Prior to that he was the senior project manager of Soillse, an inter-University partnership involved in a range of research areas associated with Gaelic language maintenance and revitalisation. He also represents Bòrd na Gàidhlig on the board of MG ALBA.
Vic Galloway - Presenter, Vic Galloway, is a music and arts radio and TV broadcaster with over 15 years of experience for BBC Radio 1, BBC Scotland and BBC 6Music. He currently presents his long-standing weekly show for BBC Radio Scotland which consistently champions the best in new, alternative music from Scotland and elsewhere. He co-presents the RAPAL TV show for BBC Alba, presents programmes on the BBC iPlayer and writes for the Sunday Herald newspaper. His first book ‘Songs in the Key of Fife’ has recently been published to great acclaim with successful events at the ‘Edinburgh International Book Festival’, ‘Aye Write! Festival’ and beyond. He also continues to work as a freelance journalist, podcaster, DJ, MC and event host. Vic is a passionate and committed supporter of music and art from Scotland and across the world.
Julie Fowlis - Musician, Julie Fowlis, is a multi-award winning Gaelic singer who is deeply influenced by her early upbringing in the Outer Hebridean island of North Uist. Julie has collaborated, recorded and performed with artists such as Nicola Benedetti, and acclaimed singers Aled Jones, James Taylor and Mary Chapin Carpenter. Her passion for folk culture, song and music is exemplified in her collaborations in 2015 with the Québécois band Le Vent du Nord, her Vocal ConneXions project in Summer 2015 and her continued musical friendship with Irish singer and musician, Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh. Julie’s most recent studio album of traditional songs in Gaelic, ‘Gach Sgeul / Every Story’, was released in 2014, and received five-star glowing reviews from the likes of Songlines World Music magazine, and which led to her and her regular touring band winning ‘Folk Act of the Year 2014′ at the Scots Trad Music Awards, and she also made history as the first Gaelic solo artist to win a Scottish Music Award in December 2014.
Janet Archer - CEO at Creative Scotland, Janet Archer became CEO of Creative Scotland on 1 July 2013. Prior to taking up her post at Creative Scotland, Janet spent six years at Arts Council England as director, Dance, working as part of the national strategy team.
Run by Creative Scotland and supported by EventScotland, the awards encourage cultural organisations, community groups and/ or local authorities to represent their village, town or other community, and bid for an award that recognises its achievements in using its creative activities and programmes to promote the identity of the place.
Creative Scotland is the public body that supports the arts, screen and creative industries across all parts of Scotland on behalf of everyone who lives, works or visits here. We enable people and organisations to work in and experience the arts, screen and creative industries in Scotland by helping others to develop great ideas and bring them to life. We distribute funding provided by the Scottish Government and the National Lottery. For further information about Creative Scotland please visit www.creativescotland.com. Follow us @creativescots and www.facebook.com/CreativeScotland
EventScotland is working to make Scotland the perfect stage for events. By developing an exciting portfolio of sporting and cultural events EventScotland is helping to raise Scotland’s international profile and boost the economy by attracting more visitors. For further information about EventScotland, its funding programmes and latest event news visit www.EventScotland.org. Follow EventScotland on Twitter @EventScotNews. EventScotland is part of VisitScotland, the national tourism organisation which markets Scotland as a tourism destination across the world, gives support to the tourism industry and brings sustainable tourism growth to Scotland.
For information on previous Creative Place Award winners: http://www.creativescotland.com/what-we-do/latest-news/archive/2014/01/winners-of-the-2014-creative-place-awards-announced
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Contact: Helen Sim
Email: Helen.Sim@creativescotland.com
Website: http://www.creativescotland
