£30,000 bursary for young artists

Posted on June 7, 2011

IdeasTap, the online arts and funding organisation, has teamed up with Sky Arts to launch a new bursary for young artists.

The Sky Arts Ignition: Futures Fund will offer five young artists £30,000 each to support their work for a full year. The bursaries are designed to bridge the gap between formal education and becoming a working artist. They are open to artists aged 18–30 and living in the UK and Ireland, working in visual art, theatre, performance art, film, music, dance or literature.

The scheme will also provide each artist with a mentor from Sky, who will help develop their skills and knowledge in the arts and commercial sector. The artists will also have the opportunity to showcase their work on Sky Arts, which has platforms on television, online and on demand.

The deadline for application is September 19, 2011. Two winners will be selected during this round of funding. The next round will open in early 2012, from which three further winners will be chosen. For more information, and to apply, see www.ideastap.com/skyartsfuturesfund.

Zoe Anderson

Zoë was born in Edinburgh, and saw her first dance performances at the Festival there. She is the dance critic of The Independent, and has also written for The Independent on Sunday, The Scotsman and Dancing Times. In 2002, she received her doctorate from the University of York for a thesis on “Nationhood and epic romance: Ariosto, Sidney, Spenser”. She is the author of The Royal Ballet: 75 Years and The Ballet Lover’s Companion.