Additional funds like the new grants from the Garfield Weston Foundation and open call from Historic England’s High Streets Heritage Action Zone programme (North Walsham’s high street, pictured) are providing a lifeline to artists and arts organisations
© North Norfolk District Council
Cultural institutions in the UK struggling in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic can apply for grants from a new £25m fund set up by the Garfield Weston foundation. The one-off Weston Culture fund will give out grants ranging from £100,000 up to a maximum of £2m based on the size of the organisation; applications can be submitted from 5 October.
According to a statement, “the Weston Culture Fund is open to performing and visual arts organisations, arts centres, accredited museums and galleries (excluding those who are local authority maintained) with a minimum annual income of £500,000 in a typical year.”
The Garfield Weston Foundation, a grant-making charity based in London, was established in 1958 by the Canadian businessman William Garfield Weston, the founder of Associated British Foods.
The Foundation’s funding comes from an endowment of shares in the Weston family business which includes Twinings, Primark, Kingsmill (all part of Associated British Foods Plc) and Fortnum & Mason, amongst others. All of the trustees are lineal descendants of Garfield Weston. According to its 2019 annual review, the foundation awarded 65 grants to museums and heritage projects totalling £5.6m.
Organisations that have applied to the UK government’s £1.57bn Cultural Recovery Fund expect to be notified by the end of October.
Meanwhile, artists are invited to transform dilapidated high street buildings and shopping areas across England as part of the High Streets Heritage Action Zone programme. The new £7.4m initiative will be delivered by Historic England, which has launched “an open call for five artists to propose projects that join and connect high streets that may be distant geographically, but close in experiences and spirit” (the works will be unveiled November next year). A four-year photography commission to document the changing face of the high street also forms part of the programme.
