Culture Secretary praises ‘incredible success’ of business sponsorship scheme

A hugely successful scheme to encourage business sponsorship of the arts is being extended, the Culture Secretary has announced.

An additional £150,000 has been allocated to the New Arts Sponsorship Grants scheme by Fiona Hyslop, bringing the total level of Government support this financial year to £450,000.
The popular programme, which is administered by Arts & Business Scotland, provides arts organisations with £1 of funding for each £1 of sponsorship obtained. Since 2006, it has generated over £4.5 million extra investment in Scotland’s cultural sector.

Speaking on the final day of the Edinburgh International Festival, Ms Hyslop said:
“The New Arts Sponsorship Grants scheme is an incredible success. It has attracted a remarkable £300,000 of additional investment from 45 new businesses across Scotland and beyond since the start of this financial year alone.

“This exceptional demand is why I am allocating additional funds to extend the scheme in our Year of Creative Scotland and attract even more business support for arts organisations in Scotland.”

Read more about the New Arts Sponsorship Grants

Examples of New Arts Sponsorship Grants in the past six months:

• £11,000 to match sponsorship from Laing O’Rourke Scotland to Art in Healthcare towards installing 156 paintings in four NHS Lothian hospitals – Royal Edinburgh Hospital (4), Edinburgh Royal Infirmary (47), Royal Victoria Building (69) and the Western General Hospital (36). Art in Healthcare is also rolling out art talks for NHS staff at the hospitals to further engage the audience.

Geoff Morris from Art in Healthcare said: “The support from Arts & Business Scotland was instrumental in helping us attract sponsorship from Laing O’Rourke, the largest privately owned construction solutions provider in the UK. As a direct result of this support from Arts & Business Scotland and Laing O’Rourke, over 150 works from our Collection are contributing to the well-being of patients, staff and visitors across the NHS in Lothian.

“We’re especially pleased with the Royal Victoria building, a state-of-the-art £43 million building, which just opened recently, as we were able to fill all six wards with wonderful, original artwork, transforming the space and adding colour and conversation pieces throughout. The response by staff and patients has been excellent.”

• £15,000 to match sponsorship from Tony Macaroni restaurants to Stills Gallery towards art projects informed by the historical and contemporary contexts of Italian people and their culture in Scotland. The arts projects will take place at the Italian Institute in Edinburgh and Glasgow, Stills Gallery in Edinburgh and Tony Macaroni restaurants throughout Central Scotland.

Deirdre MacKenna, Stills Gallery Director, said: “The grant will enable Stills to significantly increase engagement with the project for much longer than one exhibition is capable of achieving. A series of events, publications and a website will allow people to be an observer, contributor and reviewer over long periods of time as the project evolves. Bringing the Tony Macaroni business to the attention of art audiences offers a completely different opportunity to standard promotional routes.“

• £18,000 to match sponsorship from Mazars Chartered Accountants Glasgow to support Bloody Scotland, Scotland’s first ever Crime Writing Festival in Stirling.

Jenny Brown, chair of Bloody Scotland, said: “We were delighted to receive the New Arts Sponsorship Grant as it has increased brand recognition for Bloody Scotland in the UK and beyond by attracting the cream of Scottish and international talent. It has also enabled us to link Mazars’ sponsorship to the inaugural Scottish Crime Book of the Year Awards, recognising the highest standards in crime fiction, as well as to our programme to nurture the next generation of crime writers.”

Peter Jibson, Scotland managing partner for Mazars, international accountancy and business firm and headline sponsor of Bloody Scotland, added: “Crime fiction is the single most popular genre amongst Scottish readers, and we believe Bloody Scotland is a truly fitting way to celebrate the nation’s burgeoning literary talent. The New Arts Sponsorship Grant and our sponsorship of such an ambitious event in the literature calendar is crucial in supporting such a vital part of Scotland’s cultural identity and heritage.”

• £14,719 to match sponsorship from Murray Donald Drummond Cook LLP, St Andrews, to Byre Theatre towards a year round film programme.

Jacqueline McKay, CEO, The Byre Theatre, said: “In a challenging financial climate we are delighted that Murray Donald Drummond Cook is working with us over the next three years in a community and corporate partnership that benefits the artistic developments and community reach of the theatre whilst supporting the business ambitions of MDDC. We are equally delighted that this sponsorship partnership has been recognised by Arts & Business Scotland. ”

Ken Gray, Partner at Murray Donald Drummond Cook, added: “This new partnership offers us the opportunity to combine support for local arts, film, dance and theatre with our aspirations for improved skills training for our staff and a new client information interface so that we can communicate more effectively with our clients and professional partners.”

• £3,000 to match sponsorships from the Bush Bar and the West Port Bar to Dundee Blues Bonanza towards the Big Bonanza Party.

Harry Bradley from the Bush Bar said: “We at the Bush found this year’s Bonanza an incredible success, with the launch in the Friary, I believe one of the best yet! It was all enhanced and made possible by the additional Arts & Business Scotland funding, which made it possible to work with the acts Deitra Farr and Band and Dago Red.”

• £3,500 to match sponsorship from West10 to The Bakehouse in Dumfries towards three outdoor performances of Hamlet by Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre at The Crichton.

Chrys Salt, Artistic Director of The Bakehouse, said: “The New Arts Sponsorship Grant-matched funding is fantastically helpful in enabling The Bakehouse, as a small rural arts organisation, to continue to work with Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre to bring a touring production to Dumfries – their only Scottish performance. The potential of increased profile through Arts & Business Scotland is influential in persuading sponsors like London-based West 10 Entertainment to commit funding to our work in Dumfries and Galloway which enables us to give local people – including several hundred school-children – access to one of the World’s top Shakespeare companies on their doorstep. We are extremely grateful for the New Arts Sponsorship Grant support.”

• £1,300 to match sponsorship from Ffordes Photographic, Balblair by Beauly to Cromarty Film Festival towards festival activities.

Tanya Kraleback, Cromarty Film Festival, said: “Our experience with New Arts Sponsorship Grants was great. We are a very small community festival so the match funding really makes a difference to our budget. The Ffordes sponsorship allowed us to have a dedicated main venue which was idea for us but also allowed Ffordes a chance to display some of their gallery material. Although we are all from the same region Ffordes’ involvement also broadened our audience reach and gave them a better idea about opportunities in relation to the festival. We are currently planning the 2012 festival and will definitely being using our New Arts Sponsorship Grant experience to try and draw in greater local business support.”