
We are beyond excited to announce that Procreate Project was awarded a grant from the National Lottery through Arts Council England Emergency Response funds.
Due to the COVID-19 breakout, our public programme had to be delayed and potentially cancelled for 2020. The grants received for the opening of the Mother House Studios have been frozen stopping us from developing operationally and increasing the support that our platforms offer to artists. At the brink of manifesting the vision we’ve been working towards for the past 7 years this pandemic put Procreate Project at risk of total collapse.
Therefore we are grateful for the support and trust received from Arts Council and the National Lottery and its players for making it possible for Arts Council England to fund us.
Our proposal and what we will invest the grants towards:
Now more than ever Procreate Project’s work it’s crucial for its community.
We support the work of an under-represented category, artists who are mothers/parents. Generally, talents are lost due to caring responsibilities and lack of support and/or because of their lower socio-economic background. Even more now the pressure for them increases hugely. For those with caring responsibilities, an infectious-disease outbreak is unlikely to give them time to develop new work, especially if they are not getting paid for it, or have no opportunities to show it. A pandemic magnifies all existing inequalities. As much of normal life is suspended for three months or more, job losses are inevitable, even more for artists and freelancers with caring responsibilities. The ones who already would have fewer opportunities for representation and networking are left, once more, at the edge of the feminist discourse and the economy responses to the pandemic.
School closures and household isolation are moving the work of caring for children from the paid economy—nurseries, schools, babysitters—to the unpaid one.
Mothers are at the root of a universal yet diverse community. We will work towards dissolving barriers between artists and audience, the domestic and the public; bringing art into people’s lives and bringing people into other’s lives, through art.
Having financial support from the National Lottery through Arts Council England will help us stay alive by:
– Covering essential operational costs
– Support artists in our community
– Review our business plan which is subject to fundamental changes due to the COVID-19 crisis
– Work on organizational development activities and strategies to strengthen its longer-term sustainability and widen its social and cultural impact.
We will:
– Pay artists to produce new work for a total of 10 commissions
– Work with sector specialists to increase our online presence and grow the art sales and network for our online shop. Via this platform we will be supporting and featuring up to 40 artists.
– Work with a fundraiser to secure the optimal strategic direction for the organisation.
* We will be advertising job opportunities in the next days.
** For the commissions and opportunity of a feature on our online shop we will priorities artists who have less or no access to addditonal support and grants.
