Arts – £6,365,500 distributed in 126 grants
In the Arts category, the Royal College of Art received £1,000,000 for the development of their Battersea campus to include studios, workshops, teaching spaces, incubator units for start-up businesses and room for a programme of talks, lectures and exhibitions. The Art Fund received a grant of £1,113,000 in response to the appeal to rescue Dumfries House in Ayrshire for the nation. Completed in 1758, this magnificent Palladian mansion set in a 750 acre estate is one of the grandest and most imposing designs of any house in Scotland. In addition the furniture comprises one of the most outstanding eighteenth century collections in any house in the United Kingdom with magnificent examples of the work of Thomas Chippendale and Scottish craftsmen such as Alexander Peter and William Mathie. It is arguably the most complete and intact collection surviving in any Scottish country house, with the pieces still remaining in-situ in the locations originally designed for them by Robert Adam. A new trust has been set up and it opened to the public in June 2008.
There were two grants made of £500,000, to the Royal Festival Hall at Southbank, and also to the Shakespeare Globe Trust. The grant to the Festival Hall was for a comprehensive refurbishment project which will create riverside and roof terraces with better hospitality spaces, more open access and circulation, an education centre, replacement seating, improved technical and backstage facilities and upgraded acoustics. The grant to the Shakespeare Globe was in contribution to their extensive redevelopment programme to upgrade facilities which will include workshops, a rehearsal studio, viewing gallery and comprehensive disability access. Both grants are reflective of the Trustees’ continued interest in, and support for, arts projects which are interactive and accessible to their local communities and wider audiences.
Sadlers Wells received a grant of £150,000 which supported the ongoing development of their programme, and in particular their international work. They host some of the world’s finest visiting companies and commission new work and are currently extending their production capability with international co-production projects.
There were also a number of grants of £100,000 which included donations to the London Philharmonic Orchestra for its education work, Scottish Ballet towards relocating its premises in Glasgow and the Ruskin Museum in Coniston for the restoration and display of Donald Campbell’s ill-fated Bluebird. Additional donations to a range of organisations also reflected the Trustees’ desire to support arts projects in locations across the UK, examples of which included Artes Mundi in Cardiff, the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland and the Old Museum Arts Centre in Belfast.
The Royal Court Theatre received a grant of £50,000 for its Rough Cuts programme, which focuses on developing new writers’ skills and encouraging the research of new ideas and projects. It will enable writers to work collaboratively with directors, actors and designers in experimenting and taking risks in a supportive and dedicated environment. This grant demonstrates that The Trustees are willing to consider all art forms from ancient and traditional to the most contemporary.
A grant of £50,000 was donated towards the redevelopment of Spike Island in Bristol, a large facility for artists with studios, exhibition areas, workshops and education spaces. One end of the building is rented to The University of the West of England’s Department of Fine Arts which, added to other commercial rents, help to ensure that the project is self-sustaining.
