Funding news

Arts Council England (ACE) has opened applications for the latest round of Subject Specialist Network (SSN) project funding, which will support SSN activity taking place between January 2019 and June 2020. The £700,000 funding pot is intended to help SSNs in England with work relating to specialist collections, sharing skills and knowledge, and engaging and educating visitors. The arts council lowered the minimum grant threshold from £30,000 to £10,000 following consultation with SSNs last year. Grants of between £10,000 and £80,000 are available and applications must be submitted by 23 August.

ACE has also launched the second round of its new Developing Your Creative Practice fund, which offers grants of between £2,000 and £10,000 to individual creative practitioners – including curators -  to give them time and space to focus on their creative development. Applications can be made to fund activities such as periods of research, travel, training, networking and mentoring. The deadline for this round is 16 August. The first round of the fund attracted 894 applications. Of those, 103 were successful, receiving a combined total of £891,913.

Another scheme with an upcoming deadline is the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)/Wolfson Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund, with grants of up to £300,000 available for capital projects to improve the display and accessibility of museum collections in England. Apply by 31 August to avail of this year’s round of funding.

Museums in London are eligible to access finance to improve their energy efficiency through a new investment fund launched by the Mayor’s Office earlier this month. The Mayor’s Energy Efficiency Fund aims to help public sector organisations and small business to apply for finance at flexible and competitive rates. The scheme offers a range of funding options and is managed by the Amber Infrastructure Group. To find out more email meefinfo@amberinfrastructure.com.