Art Fund announces Opportunities for Student (UK)

The aim of this funding is to help museums, galleries and visual arts organisations provide paid opportunities for full-time university students to gain meaningful, developmental work-experience that enables them to further explore their interest in the arts, and related future career options before they graduate.

Student Opportunities benefit both visual arts organisations and students in a range of exciting and transformative ways. Students can explore an interest in the arts alongside future career options, while providing organisations with a skilled and accountable resource.

Benefits

• Student Opportunities can benefit visual arts organisations in the following ways:
  • build knowledge of how to effectively engage youth/student audiences by working directly with students
  • develop a wider and more diverse range of voices within your organisation
  • help develop the diversity of the whole cultural sector, creating a fit for purpose and engaged workforce
  • payment assures students take their responsibilities seriously and are a reliable and accountable resource.
• Student Opportunities benefit students by providing:
  • training that empowers them to feel confident in their area of responsibility and develop skills
  • practical experience of working within an arts organisation, helping them to build their CV
  • an increased awareness of the range of careers available in the cultural sector
  • networking opportunities with arts professionals and other students across the UK
  • the opportunity to help diversify the voices that contribute to how arts organisations operate, enhancing cultural experiences for all young people.

Funding Information

• They will consider applications for up to £10,000.
• They will consider 100% funding towards the costs associated with paying students for their time to help cultural organisations deliver projects.

Eligible Activities

• They encourage applications that focus on facilitating public engagement with art – whether that be online or in real life. They will fund the costs associated with paying students for the time they spend supporting your organisation in delivering projects.
• Please base your hourly wage rates on the most up to date figure for the relevant Living wage for your area or the National Living wage, stating in your budget where you got the figure.

Ineligible Activities

• Core staff costs
• Costs relating to ongoing overheads
• Retrospective funding for projects that have already been delivered.

Eligibility Criteria

• They will consider applications from UK public museums, galleries, historic houses, libraries and archives, agencies and other visual arts organisations that:
  • have a public presence (eg a building open to the public) or a public outcome (eg a festival or public art programme)
  • can demonstrate that they operate to standards of best practice within the sector (eg through Arts Council England accreditation)
• Please note that all participating students will be contracted to work for you, the applicant organisation, via your HR team.
• All grant recipients will be asked to sign their conditions for this programme.
• Art Fund exists to support museums and galleries. They can only accept application from organisations whose primary purpose relates to objects and works of art. As a registered charity they can only pay grants to organisations who are registered for public interest, these include:
  • Charities
  • Community Incorporated Organisations (CIO)
  • Community Interest Companies (CIC)
  • Charitable Community Benefit Societies.

Ineligibility Criteria

• Unfortunately, the following organisations are ineligible to apply:
  • Organisations that exist to make profit, including: Private Limited Companies, Public Limited Companies, Unlimited Companies, or Sole Traders
  • General Partnerships, Limited Partnerships, or Limited Liability Partnerships
  • Commercial organisations
  • Artists’ groups
  • Hospitals/healthcare settings
  • Places of worship
  • Organisations with a focus on music, drama, dance and art forms outside the visual arts.

For more information, visit Art Fund.