Creative career opportunities will follow grant awards.
Arts Connect WM has awarded Partnership Investment to three regional cultural organisations: Imagineer Productions; Motionhouse; and Ikon. The investment, totalling £54,030 will enable the organisations to develop and expand their work with children and young people. Arts Connect investment also enables these organisations to secure new investment from their partners.
Arts Connect WM is one of ten Bridge organisations, funded by Arts Council England and working across the whole of the West Midlands, whose role is to connect children and young people to great arts and cultural experiences.
Arts Connect WM has awarded Partnership Investment Funding for the following:
Imagineer Productions: Award £20,000
Imagineer are working with industry partners to create a resource that will enable young people to learn, through experience, how arts and science can connect to create amazing things. The programme aims to generate significant future employment and economic potential for participants through offering progression routes to engineering academies and apprenticeships.
Motionhouse: Award £24,030
Motionhouse will develop their youth dance activity through Motionhouse Youth Mix, a youth centred dance initiative inspiring young people both within and outside educational settings. Motionhouse will work with education partners to combine both formal education and a vibrant community programme offering young people progression from play through to serious training, work placements and career opportunities.
Ikon Gallery: Award £10,000
Ikon will deliver a creative programme, devised and led by young people aged 16-19 who are not in education, employment or training, identifying gaps in provision and finding ways to tackle exclusion, improving young people’s employability and wellbeing. Ikon will research and develop sustainable models with regional partners and provide new opportunities for young people from the City to develop their creativity, skills, knowledge and understanding working alongside professional artists.
Rob Elkington, Director of Arts Connect WM said: “We are delighted to be supporting the ambitions of Imagineer, Motionhouse and Ikon in creating new opportunities for young people to engage in their high quality arts activity. They are all developing new ways to make these projects financially sustainable in order to benefit more young people over the long term. Our investment comes at the right time for them to access resources that will be crucial to their future success.”This is the second round of Partnership Investment. To-date, in addition to Imagineer, Motionhouse and Ikon Gallery, Arts Connect WM have awarded funding to nine regional arts and cultural organisations.
For further information visit www.artsconnectwm.co.uk