Projects celebrating local landmarks and coal mining heritage among recipients of latest Culture Grants

Wakefield Council has announced the latest recipients of this year’s Culture Grants, as part of Our Year – Wakefield District 2024.

The funding is available for Wakefield district creatives, cultural organisations and community groups to support innovative and high-quality creative and heritage projects and nurture the thriving creative spirit of Wakefield district.

In the latest round of funding, grants have been awarded to projects that celebrate our coal mining history, including a podcast series looking at the ways in which coal mining influenced and continues to influence the culture of Wakefield district.

There are also projects that showcase local landmarks and community spaces. There’ll be workshops available to help create a mural display created in the Normanton Library garden, and a lime mortar workshop for volunteers to gain skills to assist in future heritage volunteer restoration of Waterton’s Wall.

Culture Grants have two main grant strands - Made in Wakefield for the creative sector, and Culture Everywhere for community groups.

Made in Wakefield grants offer support from £1,500 to £15,000 to support new creative work, and ambitious participatory projects.

Culture Everywhere grants support constituted community groups and charities, with up to £1,500 to run small arts and culture activities and events with their local communities. These grants are intended to support residents across the district to have the opportunity to experience culture in their communities during Our Year – Wakefield District 2024.

Applications for Culture Grants 2024 are open, with monthly deadlines throughout the year for Culture Everywhere grants, and the 10 June for Made in Wakefield grants. 

Interested applicants can visit www.wakefield.gov.uk/CultureGrants to find out more. Anyone requiring further information should email culturegrants@wakefield.gov.uk

Culture Grants are a part of Our Year – Wakefield District 2024, an inclusive year-long celebration of Wakefield district and an invitation to enjoy 366 days of culture, creativity and connection for everyone, everywhere. To find out more about Our Year – Wakefield District 2024 visit www.ouryear2024.co.uk  

 

The 10 Made in Wakefield grants that we are delighted to announce today are:

•    Actual Size Theatre - Memory Palace – A new immersive family-friendly musical performance in collaboration with Illuminos, on the journey of both living with and caring for someone with dementia, performed at Tileyard North on 30th May, 31st May, and 1st June.

•    Alfie Norris - Culture of Coal: Wakefield’s stories – A podcast series looking at the ways in which coal mining influenced and continues to influence the culture of Wakefield district. 

•    Bijan Amini-Alavijeh - A Slow Evening - A visual art project involving creation of new sculptures and a process film, culminating in an 8-week exhibition in Wakefield, artist talk and open studio. 

•    Claire Walker - Altofts in Silk – Working with the local community and young people in Altofts to create 4 x large silk paintings based on landmarks in Altofts.

•    CoActive Arts - Do You See Me? Pride and Protest – Exploring self-portraits through a variety of media and performing with a dance company across events in 2024 including Light Up 2024.

•    Frankie Mazzotta - Unearthing Identities - A short documentary about South Elmsall and South Kirkby's history of community solidarity around the 1984/5 Miners' Strikes, with debut screened at local WMC The Empire.

•    Friends of Normanton Library - Normanton Library Garden Community Artwork – Working with Edgelands Arts CIC to delivery 4 x workshops to create art, printed onto 10 circular aluminium panels to form a mural display in the Normanton Library garden space.

•    Inspiring Community CIC - Wellness Through Art - A series of weekly 2 hour creative workshops over 12 weeks focused on journaling and art making.

•    Love 2 Act - Arts and Culture Day – An arts day celebrating with free workshops for families with invited creatives, in poetry, rap and singing, paper crafting, and drama.

•    Spectrum People - In Cahoots Collective - movement and dance in creative health – An international collaboration between the Dutch Cultural Participation Fund (DCPF) and Spectrum People CIC. 3 x dance and music workshops for older people, especially those living with a dementia condition and their carers

The 11 Culture Everywhere grants that we are delighted to announce today are:

•    Black Horse Poets - Writing For Wellbeing – A day-long writing workshop and performance event in Wakefield city

•    Featherstone Male Voice Choir - Pontefract and District Choral Celebration Event – A free drop-in celebration event at Pontefract Town Hall on 7 September during Heritage Open Days

•    Friends of Waterton's Wall - Lime Mortar Workshop at Waterton’s Wall – A heritage lime mortar workshop for volunteers to gain skills to assist in future heritage volunteer restoration of the wall 

•    Glasshoughton and Redhill Environment Action Team (GREAT) – 20th Annual Fun Day community event with free arts activities including circus, henna and dance workshops.

•    One Ummah Community CIC – Celebrating Cultures – A one-day celebration event for women, sharing Sudanese, Syrian and Kurdish cultures, taking place during Refugee Week through traditional arts.

•    Pontefract Calligraphers - Working with accredited tutors to deliver open sessions for the people of Pontefract and East Hardwick, and a showcase at Pontefract Library.

•    Pontefract Civic Society - Friendship – The first ever Pontefract Schools' Public Art Exhibition at Pontefract Library, 20 May - 14 June.

•    The Friends of Horbury Library - The Horbury Tapestry: Then and Now – Marking the 20th anniversary of The Horbury Tapestry, collaborating with One to One Development Trust to create an online, interactive gallery of the piece.

•    Wakefield Railway Modellers Society - Tom Puddings at Stanley Ferry – A research project focusing on the historic local transportation of coal via Tom Puddings boats, with creation of a scale model diorama and display.

•    Wilderness Adventures CIC - Journeys & Journaling – 2 sets of 3 x 2hr monthly journaling workshops for parents / guardians / carers to attend with their teenage child or family member (ages 12-16).

•    Wrenthorpe Community Association - Our Year Wrenthorpe Events – A series of seasonal events for all ages, including Wrenthorpe Gala, a mystery play, and live entertainment for a seniors lunch.