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FST Bursaries for Creative Artists

FST and the Scottish Arts Council are delighted to announce the launch of Unleashed and Unplugged 2009 – two bursaries for creative artists working in Scottish theatre.

The bursaries, Unleashed(£25,000) and Unplugged(£5,000) offer a unique opportunity to support two theatre artists to develop their potential by exploring, evolving and experimenting in their practice.

FST has established that many creative artists, when asked what would make a difference to the development of their practice, answer: “space and time”.  Unleashed and Unplugged helps to meet that need. The bursaries will enable two artists, currently working in Scottish theatre (whether freelance or employed) to disconnect from their regular routine or job and give them time to explore and consider new or alternative ways of approaching their thinking and practice.  FST and Scottish Arts Council see this award as a long term investment in the holistic artistic vision of the theatre community in Scotland.

The awards are open to all Scottish-based theatre artists (directors, performers, designers, choreographers, technicians, writers, dramaturges, multi-media artists, producers) who have reached a point in their career where time out to re-evaluate their own process and practice would be of creative benefit.  Unleashed is aimed at established practitioners, and Unplugged at mid-career.

In 2008 the bursaries recipients were Graham Eatough, who received a £25,000 bursary to develop his practice combining theatre with the visual arts, and Lorne Campbell who was awarded £5,000 to explore the concept of ‘liveness’ in performance.

Graham Eatough commented: ‘This bursary will provide me with an invaluable opportunity to develop some of the connections I’ve been making between my theatre work and the visual arts.  I’m very excited about being allowed the time and space to explore and experiment with new ideas.’

Lorne Campbell said: ‘I am delighted to receive this bursary which will give me the time and resources to develop some key areas of my practice and process. It is so rare and so valuable to be able to buy the time to look, by yourself, and with key collaborators at how your work can advance and evolve away from the pressures of the production process.’

A full outline of the programme and application details can be found on the FST website http://www.scottishtheatres.com/professionaldevelopment.php

The closing date for completed applications is the 30th September 2009.

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