Partners announced for Weston Jerwood Creative Bursaries:
The new programme will be launched in June to provide paid placements for graduates from lower income backgrounds.
The programme commits £430,000 directly to young people undertaking placements in 40 arts organisations across the UK and we are delighted to announce that Activate have been especially invited to be one of those 40 prestigious partners.
Jerwood Charitable Foundation announced on 8th April 2015 the organisations that have been selected to take part in the latest programme to develop talent in the arts.
Activate Performing Arts are the only Dorset based organisation to be selected as a partner. With the combined support of Jerwood Charitable Foundation, Garfield Weston Foundation, Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation and J Paul Getty Jnr Charitable Trust, the Weston Jerwood Creative Bursaries programme will create work and training opportunities for 40 outstanding new graduates in 40 arts organisations across the UK.
This talent development initiative will identify gifted recent graduates who would otherwise not be in a financial position to work for free in order to get a foot on the competitive career ladder in the arts. With unpaid internships or work experience still a major barrier to securing the diversity and vibrancy of our future arts workforce, the Weston Jerwood Creative Bursaries programme will champion new voices.
The fund will promote the potential for positive change through sharing evidence of best practice in recruitment and talent development. Providing bursaries will go some way to making entry into the arts a level playing field and ensure those with talent, if not financial backing, are given the opportunity to succeed.
There has rarely been a tougher time to enter the workforce as a young person. Youth unemployment rates as a proportion of jobless figures are the worst they have been for 20 years, with people aged 16-24 three times as likely to be unemployed than the rest of the population.
The practice of offering unpaid arts internships, whilst often illegal, is still a divisive issue, often supporting wealth and privilege at entry level over talent and skill, damaging diversity and potential for the sector.
The pilot to this programme, the DCMS Jerwood Creative Bursaries Scheme, which concluded in 2012, also provided entry level roles for talented young graduates who could not afford to work for free. It yielded outstanding results, providing 44 new job roles with 43 of the best arts organisations across England. 90% of bursary recipients were employed in the arts at conclusion of the evaluation, compared to 39% of the control group.
Of the organisations who were hosts, 90% confirmed they would target less affluent applicants again, 60% extended their placement’s contract and 33% made the new roles permanent, making job creation another major success of the Scheme.
“The scheme should continue because it is blazing a trail in terms of creating some equality in the arts. The arts sector still feels primarily like unequal and middle-class territory to people like myself who are from mixed backgrounds and whilst it would be nice to think that a sector like the arts is equal and embracing to all, I don’t think it is there yet.” DCMS Jerwood Creative Bursaries recipient.
During this first UK-wide edition of the programme, the 40 selected arts organisations from across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales will host new entry level roles through the Weston Jerwood Creative Bursaries. Organisations have been selected on the basis of their outstanding proposals for roles which will develop recent graduates, giving each bursary recipient the best possible start to their career in the arts.
The programme will create geographic and sector ‘cohorts’, facilitating valuable networking and peer support for the placements and the hosts. In addition, bursary recipients will receive support outside their host organisations through a dedicated mentor, and professional development through the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation Training Programme, which will run as a key strand of the Weston Jerwood Creative Bursaries.
Whilst recruitment for each placement will be carried out by host organisations directly, all roles will be advertised on the Jerwood Charitable Foundation website: www.jerwoodcharitablefoundation.org/weston-jerwood-creative-bursaries. These will appear between now and early autumn 2015, with the programme concluding in September 2016.
To find out more about the programme, including eligibility criteria for bursary recipients, please visit: www.jerwoodcharitablefoundation.org/weston-jerwood-creative-bursaries. #Creativebursaries
For more information, please contact Kate Danielson, Programme Director, jerwood@katedanielson.co.uk/ 07815 736156.
The Weston Jerwood Foundation is dedicated to imaginative and responsible revenue funding of the arts, supporting artists to develop and grow at important stages in their careers. The aim of its funding is to allow artists and arts organisations to thrive; to continue to develop their skills, imagination and creativity with integrity. It works with artists across art forms, from dance and theatre to literature, music and the visual arts. www.jerwoodcharitablefoundation.org Garfield Weston Foundation The Garfield Weston Foundation is a family-founded charitable grant-making foundation which supports a wide range of causes across the UK, donating over £54million in the most recent financial year. It was established in 1958 by Willard Garfield Weston and has donated over £785 million, becoming one of the largest and most respected charitable institutions in the UK. The trustees are descendants of the founder and the Weston Family takes a highly active and hands-on approach. www.garfieldweston.org Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation The Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation was set up by Andrew in 1992 to promote the arts, culture and heritage for the public benefit; since inception Andrew has been the principle provider of funding for all its charitable activities. In 2010, the Foundation embarked on an active grant giving programme and has now awarded grants of over £9m to support high quality training and personal development as well as other projects that make a real difference to enrich the quality of life both for individuals and within local communities. Significant grants include £3.5m to Arts Educational Schools, London to create a state of the art professional theatre, £1m to The Architectural Heritage Fund, £1m to The Music in Secondary Schools Trust and over £350,000 annually to fund 30 performing arts scholarships for talented students in financial need. The Foundation owns two important paintings, a Canaletto Old Horse Guards from St James’s Park, currently on exhibition at Compton Verney and a Stanley Spencer The Garage on exhibition at The Stanley Spencer Gallery in Cookham, Berkshire. www.andrewlloydwebberfoundation.com J Paul Getty Jnr Charitable Trust The J Paul Getty Jnr Charitable Trust was endowed by Sir John Paul Getty, KBE, who died in April 2003 in London, where he had lived since the 1970s. The Trust started distributing funds in 1986, and since then it has awarded over £80 million in grants to thousands of charities across the United Kingdom. The Trust is in the process of winding down and will close permanently in the near future and is no longer accepting applications. www.jpgettytrust.org.uk