Arts Funding and Grants

Arts Bursaries

Each year the Royal Borough makes bursaries available to young people involved in the Arts in order to give them a practical helping hand and encourage them to go on to even greater achievements.  To qualify for consideration for grant aid, individuals must be resident in the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead.  The Council will favour those applicants aged 25 or below as the scheme is designed to encourage and develop the talents of young people.  Applications are sought from those working in the following categories and art forms:

• Performing Arts [eg Music, Dance & Theatre]
• Fine, Decorative & Plastic Arts [eg Photography, Sculpture, Ceramics, Drawing, Painting]
• New Media – including film and video

Each year the demand for assistance through the bursary scheme is substantial and invariably exceeds the resources available.  This may mean that applicants will not receive the sum requested or, in some instances, may not receive any assistance at all.

Applications are considered en-bloc once each year and all documentation should be returned by the deadline as advised.  When assessing each application, the Council will consider such matters as:

• the level of achievement and/or potential in relation to your chosen art form
• any assistance, which it may already give to you, and any grant aid awarded previously
• first time applicants will be favoured over applicants who have received awards in previous years

Please note that we require all applicants to submit evidence of their work for assessment by the Awards panel. Applicants will need to provide a sequence of no more than 2 minutes of their work on CD, video, audio tape, or a portfolio of 10 significant works. These items will be used for consideration by the panel, together with the application, and will be returned when the award decisions have been made. We also require 2 recent photographs of each applicant.

Applicants who require extra support for creating their submissions for the award should ask teaching staff at their school or college, or at their local arts centre, or email arts@rbwm.gov.uk

An application form including guidance and conditions for the Arts Bursary scheme will be available to download at the end of November 2008. For further information, please call 01628 796227 or email arts@rbwm.gov.uk