Arts Council opens £40,000 Organisations Digital Evolution Awards, supported by The National Lottery

The Organisations Digital Evolution Awards, worth £40,000, from The National Lottery, offers arts organisations the opportunity to apply for grants of up to £10,000 each and prospective applicants are encouraged to contact the Arts Council’s Creative Industries Officer if they wish to discuss eligibility of their project concepts.

The Organisations Digital Evolution Awards aims to support those arts organisations who are making digital art for the first time or are working with digital or immersive technology which they have not used previously. Collaborative applications from organisations working together in cross-discipline projects and activities are also encouraged. Examples of the types of project that this scheme will support includes:

• Creation of a virtual environment or augmented reality environment; such as augmented reality visual arts or sound overlay on venues or geographical spaces.
• Using technology, such as 3D rendering and printing, to create artwork digitally which can either exist digitally or be manufactured into 3D physical objects.
• Using technology to translate data into artistic content; for example algorithms that create music or visual content from data input
• App development for the delivery of artistic content; this could include gamification or making an artistic experience for consumption on digital devices. (Note: this does not include streaming of filmed / recorded performances)
• Piloting new forms of support to individual artists or organisations that results in the creation of digital art.

Roisin McDonough, Chief Executive, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, commented,

“The opening of the Organisations Digital Evolution Awards is welcome news. Thanks to the National Lottery players, the programme will support arts organisations in the creation of art using digital and immersive technologies, and will also help organisations develop skills in the use of these new technologies. This programme reflects the Arts Council’s commitment to encouraging innovative practices that cross artform boundaries and build digital capabilities within the Northern Ireland arts sector.”

The Organisations Digital Evolution Awards scheme is now open for online applications and will close at 12noon on Monday 14th November. To view the Guidance Notes and make an application visit http://www.artscouncil-ni.org/funding/scheme/organisations-digital-evolution-awards

Please note guidance notes are also available on request in large print format and disk.