CREATIVE PLACE AWARDS 2014
Nominations announced for Scotland’s celebration of creative endeavour taking place within smaller communities
ORKNEY nominated in ‘places with under 100,000 residents’ category
Winners to be announced at Awards Ceremony:
Wed 29 Jan, 2014
Palace Theatre, Kilmarnock
IT is announced today, Friday 1 November, 2013, that Orkney is one of nine Scottish communities nominated for Scotland’s Creative Place Awards, 2014.
The application submitted on behalf of the Orkney community states that Orkney has a number of flagship organisations such as the St Magnus International Festival, the Pier Arts Centre, Orkney Folk Festival and world-renowned jewellery, textile and craft industries such as Sheila Fleet, Tait & Style and Hume Sweet Hume, which are recognised nationally and internationally.
New organisations and festivals have emerged recently such as the Papay Gyro Nights Art Festival, the Orkney Storytelling Festival and the West Side Cinema.
The Award would be used to support a showcase of Orkney arts activities in Edinburgh; a landmark creative international conference; a series of creative projects in existing local activities and a special Winter Festival involving the main festivals and creative industries.
Leslie Burgher, chair of the Orkney Arts Forum, said: “We are over the moon to be nominated for a Creative Place Award for 2014. Orkney has always had a richly varied creative community, from cutting edge artists to award-winning festivals, traditional makers and renowned creative industries and it is wonderful to be recognised through these national awards.
“If successful, an award would allow us to enrich our existing activities, develop some really exciting new ideas and partnerships throughout the islands, and showcase them on a national and international stage.”
The Creative Place Awards celebrate and recognise the hard work and imagination that contributes to the rich cultural life of Scotland’s smaller communities, as well as their social and economic well-being.
Nominations have been made across three categories:
For places with under 100,000 residents, the finalists are Falkirk, Dumfries and Orkney. The winner of this category will receive £150,000.
For places with under 10,000 residents, the three nominees are Arran, Peebles and the area covering Cove, Kilcreggan, Rosneath, Clynder, Garelochhead. The winner of this category will receive £100,000.
For places with under 2,500 residents, the three nominees are Kingussie, Ullapool and Helmsdale. The winner of this category will receive £50,000.
Nominees have been selected for the wide involvement of the whole community as well as the track record of their existing creative programmes.
The winner of each category will receive funding which will enable them to enhance and promote their future activity.
Winners will be announced at the Creative Place Awards ceremony on Wednesday 29 January, 2014 at the Palace Theatre, Kilmarnock.
Iain Munro, deputy chief executive, Creative Scotland, said: “Congratulations to all the nominees for the 2014 Creative Place Awards. The high calibre of applications submitted was impressive and offer inspiring examples of how embedding arts and culture within the foundation of a community, strengthens and improves people’s lives.”
The deadline for applications was Monday 19 August 2013. Twenty applications were received from a range of organisations across 12 local authority areas.
The Creative Place Awards nominees were selected by a panel made up of individuals with expertise across the arts, media, tourism and community development including from Creative Scotland, EventScotland, Visit Scotland and Scottish Enterprise.
Speaking as one of the panel, Rhona Corscadden, senior events manager, EventScotland, said: “The calibre of the applications for this year’s awards is extremely high, and they highlight the strength of the creative industries across Scotland. These awards showcase the breadth of creative talent we have in our communities and each of the applicants should be congratulated for their achievements to date.”
Janice Macgregor, senior consumer PR manager – Pan Market, Visit Scotland, said: “I was incredibly impressed by the strength of the applications for this year’s awards. They showed a great deal of originality and creativity from communities across the country, congratulations to all of the finalists.”
Follow the Creative Place Awards updates on Twitter using #CreativePlaceAwards.
ENDS
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.
- Shortlisted nominees have been 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 will receive funding to enable them to enhance their activity further. The awards were not open to the nation’s cities.
- There are three award categories:
- For places with under 2,500 residents (cash award:£50,000)
- For places with under 10,000 residents (cash award:£100k)
- For places with under 100,000 residents (cash award:£150K
- 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 national organisation that funds and supports the development of Scotland’s arts, screen and creative industries. Creative Scotland has four objectives: to develop and sustain a thriving environment for the arts, screen and creative industries; to support excellence in artistic and creative practice; to improve access to and participation in, arts and creative activity; and to deliver our services efficiently and effectively. In 2013/14, we will distribute over £100m in funding provided by the Scottish Government and the National Lottery. For further information on Creative Scotland please visit www.creativescotland.com.
Twitter: @creativescots Facebook: 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.co.uk/news/winners-of-the-2013-creative-place-awards-announced-23012013
For further press information please 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
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Contact: Helen Sim
Phone: 0131 523 0019
Email: helen.sim@creativescotland.com
Website: http://www.creativescotland.com
