Applications for Glasgow International 2016’s programmes are now open to both international and Scottish artists based in Glasgow.

Applicants are encouraged to be ambitious in their proposals for projects, events and exhibitions which are additional to their current programmes. Glasgow International exists to support artistic activity across the city and further details about our aims can be found in the handbook.

There are four strands you can apply to – Supported, Open Glasgow, Open Glasgow Bursary and Across the City. These are explained in more detail below.

Successful proposals are selected by the Director in consultation with Glasgow International’s Artistic Advisory Committee. Open Glasgow & Bursary will be selected by a small panel from Glasgow and further afield.

SUPPORTED PROGRAMME | Deadline: 1 June

The Supported Programme is a strand where organisations, groups or individuals can propose projects, events and exhibitions and request financial support from Glasgow International. Organisations need to demonstrate how this activity will be additional to their current programme, projects you would not otherwise be able to undertake.

OPEN GLASGOW | Deadline: 1 June

Open Glasgow is a fund specifically aimed at individual artists and curators to propose a project for Glasgow International. The total fund for Open Glasgow is £15,000 and this fund will be split across a number of projects as in previous years.

Artists should be currently based or have been educated in Scotland and should have at least 3 years professional experience.

OPEN GLASGOW BURSARY | Deadline: 1 June

The Open Glasgow Bursary is an award of £2,000 for a recent graduate or postgraduate who graduated two years or less from art school at the time of the festival in 2016.

Artists must be currently living or working in Glasgow and have studied for either an undergraduate or postgraduate degree in Scotland.

ACROSS THE CITY PROGRAMME | Deadline: 31 July

Glasgow International will consider proposals for any additional exhibitions, events, performances. Across the City programme proposals will not receive funding from the festival but form an integral part of the Glasgow International programme.

For more information and to apply online, please visit Glasgow International 2016.

More: Website | Facebook | Twitter

//////

Find more opportunities in our weekly bulletin here.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1019019367/urbanized-a-documentary-film-by-gary-hustwit

Anyway, one of interest for both filmmakers and designers and architects.

Central Station set up it’s own commissioning strand to grant monthly awards to innovative and risky projects proposed by our members.

Research during the development of the site revealed that what artists, filmmakers and designers wanted most was not promotion, advice or access to facilities but cold hard cash.

In response we launched the Member Fund, £10K that was used to award small sums of cash each month to projects that wouldn’t be supported via traditional routes. No laborious application process, we just asked for applicants to tell us what they wanted to do and how much they wanted.

The Member Fund was judged by our panel of Creative Heads, independent practitioners that included designers, curators, filmmakers and artists.

Although the fund no longer exists, it isn’t impossible that it might just come back one day.

///

Take a look at some of the projects we supported and read what they had to say…

Announcement blogs by Censta:
Member Fund: Who gets £1,500?
£1,500 round two
Member Fund 03: Who won by who?
The next Member Fund award
Member Fund winners 5&6

Member Fund projects:
Fools Gold [Recoat]
AGK [Yuck n' Yum]
Brand Vs. Ethos’ Workshop – 200810 [SASA]
Pop-Up Cinema Matinee [SASA]
Pop-Up Cinema Matinee 200810 [SASA
A BIG Poster Club thank you to Central Station! [Poster Club]
I was a child Futurist [ptarmigan]
Boswell in Space…! [Boswell in Space]
Boswell in Space goes to Sheffield [Boswell in Space]
An Unco Site! [Confraternity of the Neoflagalents]
Chez Gallip [Bobby Niven]
Magic Towards Your Face [Henry Coombes]
Norman Hogg: Neomedievalism, From Empire to Kookdom in Three Easy Steps! [Confraternity of the Neoflagalents]

And here are some additional bits to browse:
Q&A: Boswell in Space
Q&A Bobby Niven

Image: jk5854 through Creative Commons

As many predicted, the UK’s arts budget is to be cut. Arts Council England’s budget will be slashed by 4% on top of an already announced in-year cut of £4m which makes the total cut they’ll receive 5%. The ACE are, unsurprisingly, not happy. They point to the fact that their running costs only amount to 5% of the money they receive through grants, the rest going straight to fund artistic projects meaning that they can’t make up this cut through greater efficiency or internal changes. It will thus have to be taken from the money which goes towards projects which means artists will soon be effected. More worryingly still there are likely to be even more severe cuts due in the autumn.

The question here though is not just about cuts versus no cuts (given the country’s economic position it’s understandable that most departments will be affected by plans to reduce spending) but whether it is the arts which will suffer more. Have the arts been unfairly targeted? And then the next issue is how these cuts should be implemented for the least negative impact. There’s already some debate on the latter question here.

Cuts to arts funding has been apopular topic on CenSta before. So, I open up the discussion here again. What are your thoughts on the latest cuts to arts funding?  And where should we see these cuts from? Are there inefficiencies which can be ironed out as a first port of call? Hit the comments button below.