CFAs: Minority Ethnic Artists Mentoring & Residency Programme (UK)

In working to create the conditions for the widest variety of art and creativity for both artists and audiences through the support for the Individual Artist Programme, they are seeking to address the barriers to access, progression and representation in the arts encountered by minority ethnic artists with this mentoring and residency scheme.

Through this Minority Ethnic Artists Mentoring and Residency Programme they wish to create opportunities for specialized training, research, cultural exchanges, networking and learning for individual artists, creative practitioners and arts administrators from minority ethnic and migrant backgrounds.

Programme Aims

• Increase opportunities for young and emerging minority ethnic artists.
  • The Arts Council particularly welcomes applications from emerging artists – an emerging artist is someone who is in the early stage of their career as a professional artist. They are developing their artist ‘voice’ and are in the process of establishing a reputation and recognition among critics, galleries, producers etc, and will have practised as a professional artist for less than 5 years.
  • Support arts workforce skill development and career pathways for young and emerging artists from minority ethnic and migrant backgrounds.
  • Inspire excellence through the support of high-quality, ambitious, innovative and imaginative opportunities for artists to collaborate with others.
  • Increase the capacity and opportunities for artists to take professional and creative risks.
  • Contribute to a vibrant and diverse workforce across the breadth of the creative and cultural industries.
  • Specifically, the scheme will fund residencies and mentoring opportunities through which applicants can develop their creative and professional practice.
  • Applicants are invited to shape a programme of support, tailored to their own needs and through wider collaboration.

What you can apply for?

• The maximum award will be up to £5,000.
• Art materials.
• Costs of your own time in undertaking the proposed activity.
• Residency costs, including travel costs, accommodation and subsistence (NB: if you are applying for a residency, you must provide evidence of an invitation or support from the host organization.).
• Fees for training courses.
• Artistic fees of Mentors.
• Artistic or technical fees including those towards production or post-production costs associated with presentation or exhibition of work.
• Venue hire e.g. rehearsal space.
• Project-related travel costs, including mileage costs (@25.7p per mile) and air travel.
• Subsistence costs @£25 per day.
• Technical equipment related to the project/proposal equipment requests cannot comprise more than 50% of the value of your request).
• IT Equipment: A maximum contribution of £1,200 will be made towards laptops and pcs, and £500 towards tablet computers.
• Translation costs.
• Documentation costs.
• Childcare costs.

Who can apply?

• Eligible applicants to the Minority Ethnic Artists Mentoring and Residency Scheme are as follows:
  • Artists of all disciplines and in all types of working practice (including DJs) from minority ethnic and migrant backgrounds, including people in need of international protection.
  • Creative practitioners and arts administrators from minority ethnic and migrant backgrounds.
  • Emerging artists from minority ethnic and migrant backgrounds: The Arts Council particularly welcomes applications from emerging artists – an emerging artist is someone who is in the early stage of their career as a professional artist. They are developing their artist ‘voice’ and are in the process of establishing a reputation and recognition among critics, galleries, producers etc, and will have practised as a professional artist for less than 5 years.
  • Practicing artists who are also undergraduates, postgraduates and academics employed at 3rd level educational institutions are eligible to apply but – where their project proposal lies within the same artform area as their study or work – they must prove that the funds which they are seeking are for costs which are not properly the concern of their employer and/or are not related to their work or academic study. They must submit evidence of this in the form of a letter on headed paper from their Head of Department.
  • In the case of post-graduate students, the letter must clearly state the title of the student’s PhD thesis and include a declaration by the Head of Department. This declaration must state “The project for which funds are being sought does not form part of any academic work undertaken in relation to the above-titled PhD nor will it be assessed as part of any academic course”.
  • Applicants undertaking a Masters or a PhD must also include a separate statement which provides information on how the project applied for differs from their Masters or PhD work.
• Eligible applicants must also
  • Have made a contribution to artistic activities in Northern Ireland for a minimum period of 1 year within the last 5 years.
  • Live in Northern Ireland.
  • Be at least 18yrs old and not in secondary education.

Who cannot apply?

• Applicants who have broken the conditions of any previous ACNI award and applicants who remain in breach of any previous letters of offer (regardless of the letter of offer date).
• Applicants who have already received 2 or more Minority Ethnic Artists’ Mentoring & Residency Scheme awards.

For more information, visit Arts Council of Northern Ireland.