The Wolfson Foundation is partnering with Jerwood Arts, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and The Linbury Trust, on a new funding programme – the Live Work Fund – that will offer financial and career support to a selection of the most outstanding and visionary music creators, performance makers and producers to enable them to adapt and thrive through the challenges presented by Covid-19.
The impact of Covid-19 and limitations on bringing artists and audiences together to experience live work in real time are having devastating consequences across the arts ecology. For those with live performance at the heart of their practice – creating new work in music, theatre, opera, circus, dance, live art and the gaps between these disciplines – the closure of venues and reduction on opportunities across the UK has drastically impaired their ability to research, develop, create and share their work. Research suggests artists in the early phases of their careers and those who already faced barriers pre-pandemic are being hardest hit: the permanent loss of a generation of skilled and talented individuals from these sectors is a very real concern.
Learning from its experience of funding individuals, Jerwood Arts has developed a new fund, with substantial contributions from Wolfson (particularly to support those working with music), the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and The Linbury Trust. Open to individuals and those with a collaborative practice based in the UK, the £660,000 Live Work Fund will provide awards of £20,000 for at least 33 outstanding artists, creatives and producers with no more than ten years’ experience over a period of 12 months. Around half of the awards will go to music creators. The fund will also provide meaningful professional development support through expert mentors.
Paul Ramsbottom, Chief Executive, Wolfson Foundation, said, “This is a time of uncertainty and anxiety for artists. We hope that this funding programme is an imaginative response, and I am delighted that it is also a response borne out of partnership with our friends and colleagues at Jerwood Arts, Esmée Fairbairn and Linbury.”
Jerwood Arts Director, Lilli Geissendorfer said, “We’re delighted to be working with Wolfson Foundation, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and The Linbury Trust for the first time, in a new model that we hope will strengthen best practice among arts funders at a time with potential for radical change. Our experience of funding and developing outstanding artistic practitioners through significant, long-term grants has shown us that this fund will enable the awardees to make powerful contributions to their artistic communities as they navigate this intense period of change and transition. The emergency funding that is being provided by a number of funders is absolutely vital, but we believe that transformative opportunities for artists in the early phases of their careers are also needed. We are hoping to support a generation of visionary ideas that can mark a new beginning for live work in the UK.”
Caroline Mason, Chief Executive, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation said, “We know this is an incredibly difficult time for the arts sector – particularly for the many freelancers who make up a significant proportion of the workforce. Through this exciting new fund, we hope to support and develop a generation of artists and leaders who use art to tackle challenges in the sector as well as in our communities.
“We’re also delighted to be collaborating with Jerwood Arts, the Wolfson Foundation and the Linbury Trust on the fund. We believe that working in a partnership such as this, we can achieve so much more.”
Stuart Hobley, Director of The Linbury Trust, said, “We’re really pleased to be in this funder partnership that will help to retain creative talent in the sector, and underpin professional artistic development at a time when it is needed now, more than ever.”
The Live Work Fund is open for submissions until 5pm, 16 November 2020. The selection will take place in December with grants paid out before Christmas. The Live Work Fund awardees will be announced in early 2021. For more information and to apply please visit: www.jerwoodarts.org/opportunities/live-work-fund/
