Arts Council England announces successful applicants for latest Strategic Touring funding round

Arts Council England has awarded six successful applicants a total of £603,191 in the latest round of its Strategic Touring Programme. The projects will work with people from diverse backgrounds including Black and minority ethnic artists and audiences, refugees, disabled people, and in low socio-economic areas.

Successful touring projects include:

Made by Katie Green, South East: The Imagination Museum is an exciting project that brings museum collections to life through fun and engaging interpretative dance. Working with a range of partners, The Mayflower project will commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower’s voyage to the Americas, using museum collections to tell a story through dance.

Each performance will be different, drawing on workshops with the local community at each venue to develop the core dance piece. The project will tour to 19 venues across the Midlands and South West of England, including museums, schools and faith buildings.

Prime Theatre, South West: Prime Theatre has been awarded £49,900 towards PENGUINS, a dance and theatre co-production with Birmingham Reparatory Theatre that will tour nationally. Designed by Primary school teachers – who historically have not engaged strongly in dance – PENGUINS will explore themes of families, diversity and difference.

The tour will be accompanied by an education package supporting dance, drama and Stonewall-supported LGBT activities and will conclude with a cross-artform symposium in summer 2018 and the launch of a new national, venue-led dance and theatre network for those working with children and young people.

Thames Festival Trust, London: Rivers of the World is the international art and education project from the Thames Festival Trust delivered in partnership with the British Council. Young people internationally will be encouraged to draw inspiration from their local river environment and guided by artists to create huge artworks for public display. With £128,730 from the Arts Council, the tour will expand to reach three areas in England and six countries overseas, working with over 3,000 pupils.

Adrian Evans, Director, Thames Festival Trust, said: “Rivers of the World has a track record of inspiring young people in challenged environments for the potential for art in their lives. Arts Council England’s support through the Strategic Touring Grant will enable us to extend the project into three new areas across England to inspire and work with young people to create new international river-themed art works that will be exhibited with partners for local communities to experience.”

You can see the full list of successful applicants and awards here.

The Strategic Touring programme aims to give people better access to quality work in a range of venues to reach more people across the country, targeting places with low levels of art engagement and those that rely on touring for arts and culture. It welcomes applications for a wide range of arts on tour including, in particular, mid-scale theatre, inbound international work, and more work by and for people from diverse backgrounds.

Information about the programme and application deadlines for future rounds can be found here.

Photos available upon request.

Arts Council England champions, develops and invests in artistic and cultural experiences that enrich people’s lives. We support a range of activities across the arts, museums and libraries – from theatre to digital art, reading to dance, music to literature, and crafts to collections. Great art and culture inspires us, brings us together and teaches us about ourselves and the world around us. In short, it makes life better. Between 2015 and 2018, we plan to invest £1.1 billion of public money from government and an estimated £700 million from the National Lottery to help create these experiences for as many people as possible across the country. www.artscouncil.org.uk