CCA Derry~Londonderry awarded Art Fund's Respond and Reimagine grant

The Centre for Contemporary Art Derry~Londonderry has been awarded an Art Fund Respond and Reimagine grant to run dedicated online and remote programmes by creating paid opportunities for artists to participate in digital residencies, podcasts, takeovers, and risograph projects. We are also working with young people living in rural or deprived areas to collaborate with artists to create digital zines.

From the Art Fund statement:

A total of 40 UK museums, galleries, historic houses, trusts and professional networks will receive £1,144,655 to help them reimagine their activities following the pandemic. The latest two rounds of Reimagine grants for 2021 are supporting a range of institutions located across Britain – from the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides to Cardiff in Wales, Carlisle in Cumbria, to Derry/Londonderry in Northern Ireland.

These grants will support a range of projects and professional networks and will help recipients build expertise, capacity, connections and access as they navigate their way to recovery from the pandemic. Organisations were able to apply for support of between £5,000 and £50,000, and we received a total of 185 applications for the second and third rounds with a total ask of £6.2 million, demonstrating the continued level of need in the sector.

Art Fund’s director Jenny Waldman said: ‘Art Fund’s latest Reimagine grants will allow even more cultural organisations to deepen their resilience for the future, turning some of the challenges, but also learnings, of the last two years into even greater resources for their communities. Museums vitally need enhanced resources – such as in digital, specialist support and staffing - to truly build for the future. We are proud to support these impressive projects, something we could not have done without the exceptional generosity of our members and donors.’

Reimagine grants aim to increase creativity and stability in the sector with funding provided for projects that enable experimentation, deepen engagement with diverse audiences, and result in greater expertise. Areas of priority for the programme are collections, digital, engagement and the workforce.

The funding is being made available in direct response to Art Fund’s survey of over 300 Museum Directors in the UK, published in May 2021 and reflects the demand there is for Art Fund support. In response to this and because we wanted to make an impact at a critical time, Art Fund’s Together for Museums campaign in 2020/21 raised over £1.1 million through the generosity of over 4,000 funders, including The Headley Trust. This, together with the ongoing support of members, Art Partners, donors and legacy gifts, make the Reimagine grants possible. Alongside this, Art Fund continues to provide grants for acquisitions and professional development.

The fellow institutions that received round three funding alongside CCA Derry~Londonderry are Hastings Contemporary, Castlefield Gallery, Manchester; Grundy Art Gallery, Blackpool; Touchstones Rochdale; University of Salford Art Collection and Shezad Dawood Studios, Old Royal Naval College, London; Holburne Museum, Bath; g39, Cardiff; Museums and Heritage Highland, Scotland; Museum nan Eilean, Outer Hebrides; Judges' Lodgings, Lancaster; Jane Austen's House, Hampshire, and Turner Contemporary, Margate.