£4m to help arts recover from Covid
ARTS and cultural organisations across the West Midlands have received just over £4 million worth of grant funding to help them recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.
A total of 22 businesses and organisations have benefited from the grants ranging in what is the final round of awards from the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund.
Among those to benefit this time are The Night Owl nightclub in Digbeth, the Kitchen Garden Cafe and live music venue in Kings Heath and Coventry City of Culture Trust.
Also benefiting is Birmingham-based Deaf Explorer which has received £95,375. The company works with deaf artists in fields such as combined and visual arts, theatre and dance and in 2020 widened its output with artists to include outdoor arts and augmented reality.
Chairman Billy Read said: “We are excited to receive this Cultural Recovery Grant. Before Covid-19, we massively changed the lives of deaf artists (but) during it our pipeline of artists collapsed.
“This grant will celebrate and raise our profile with a two-day festival that will bring deaf artists together, commission new work and reach our deaf audiences.
“We will also fundraise to deliver outstanding community participation projects that will involve a new generation of deaf artists.”
Solo percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie, who worked with the organisation on a concert at the CBSO Centre in Birmingham last year, added:
“I am delighted that Deaf
Explorer has this grant. This is a unique company with immense expertise among the artists they collaborate with and support.
“They access producers that facilitate deaf artists to pioneer inclusive new work. The grant will help key staff return to work, fund raise and rebuild confidence in their network of deaf artists who have been devastated by the impact of Covid-19 on the cultural sector.
“New marketing and promotion will profile the company and help them find new cultural partners, wanting to improve access.
“I hope for them to quickly return to a successful not-for-profit, inspiring the deaf community to be creative and involved in the arts.”