After a successful first round of applications, which saw five arts organisations receive a total of £90,000, the Shoreditch and Hoxton Art Fund is open once more and eager to receive creative ideas that benefit the local community.
The fund aims to create high-quality public art that is inspired by, created with, and of benefit to residents. It supports programmes and events that celebrate arts and culture and bring different communities together. Using income from a planning levy charged on new developments in Shoreditch, called Section 106 contributions, the fund will help to share the benefits of growth with those living in Shoreditch and Hoxton and support the Council’s aims of making Hackney fairer.
Grants range from £5000 to £20,000 and need at least 50% match funding in the form of cash, corporate donation or in-kind support. Five arts organisations are already developing exciting, diverse projects thanks to successful bids in autumn 2019.
They include Clod Ensemble, which is producing an intergenerational musical performance piece at Shoreditch Town Hall; Hoxton Hall is working on a live soap opera starring local residents called ‘Hoxton Street’; independent arts organisation PEER is creating a 12-month, three-part, visual arts exhibition in Shoreditch Library; Eastside Educational Trust are developing a creative teacher training programme in three primary schools ending with an art installation and festival showcasing young people’s work; and Create London is producing a new not-for-profit enterprise delivering workshops with local young people and producing terracotta gardenware, to be sold in Hoxton Street Market and beyond.
The fund, one of the first initiatives to stem from the Council’s Arts and Cultural Strategy, is intended to run for an initial three years with commissions being granted in spring and autumn of each year. The fund has been created by using the income from a planning levy charged on new development in Shoreditch, called Section 106 contributions. All grants must be invested in art and culture-led projects that benefit the local community, with more than £200,000 remaining to fund further projects in the next two years.
For more information on Hackney Council’s cultural work, details on the first round of successful applicants, and to apply to the second round of the Shoreditch and Hoxton Art Fund visit: hackney.gov.uk/culture
