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Arts Grants Announced

The people of four West Lothian communities ? Boghall, Broxburn, Armadale and Dedridge in Livingston - have been awarded grants totalling £90,300 to develop original and very different pieces of art to help them improve or reclaim some of the public spaces where they live. 

The grants are the first to be approved under a new scheme called Grassroots Public Art launched in September last year that invited local groups or individuals to apply for grants of between £10,000 and £24,000.

Nine applications were considered and the first four selected were Mayfield Community House in Armadale (£24,000), The Shale People Project in Broxburn/Uphall (£24,000), Dedridge Burn Plantation in Livingston (£21,600) and The pARTners in the Park in Boghall (£20,700).

Mayfield Community House intends to transform it's communal garden.   The Sunny Dale Association will work with  volunteers and an artist to create a quiet, calm garden space that can be used by different local groups and bring the whole community coming together.

 
The Shale People Project will create five new pieces of art to form a creative trail through the communities of Broxburn and Uphall and.   Made up of  two murals, a large scale banner, a people trail, online blog and facebook sites,  this exciting project will be led by local artist Shirley-Anne Murdoch.

 
Dedridge Burn Plantation, already developed as an important green space, will be further improved by the addition of high quality artworks.   These will be strong, sustainable features created by an artist working with members of Dedridge Environment Ecology Project (DEEP) for locals to enjoy. 

 
The pARTners in the Park plan to deliver a sculpture in the heart of Boghall.   The sculpture will be shaped by the community.  It is intended as a beacon that will help the community to reclaim a neglected patch of ground and create a focus for families.

Councillor Jim Walker, Executive Councillor for Culture and Leisure said "I am delighted that this first round of the Grassroots Public Art Project has produced such exciting results.   The ideas for these projects are very different because they are rooted in communities with very different histories and ideas for the future.   I congratulate the individuals who put the applications together and look forward to seeing how these first ideas are developed into real works of art that will help make our communities better, brighter and stronger".  

The funding for this round of Grassroots Public Art Grants is made up of £44,000 generated from contributions made by developers to West Lothian Council?s Public Art Fund, £50,000 from the Scottish Arts Council and £5,000 from both Arts Services and West Lothian on the Move.    The scheme is administered by West Lothian Council?s Arts Services.

Date Published: Thu Mar 11 09:33:00 GMT 2010