FACT Together offers Northern artists support during lockdown

FACT is offering financial support to Northern artists during the Coronavirus pandemic.

The Wood Street-based arts organisation will commission 10 early-career artists to produce a piece of work during the current lockdown in support worth £1,500 each.

The scheme, FACT Together, will enable the chosen artists to develop an idea over a three-month period that will then be presented online.

The open call welcomes all forms of online work including audio, video, text, games, performance, animation, social media and workshops.

And in addition to the grant, the artists will receive individual and group online mentorship including technical expertise, professional development, production support and promotion of their work.

Each new digital work created will become part of The Living Planet, FACT’s 12-month online programme that explores our relationship with the natural world. The programme will consist of newly commissioned artworks, live stream events, podcasts, interviews and activities, and has been created for people to interact with and enjoy remotely.

The 10 FACT Together artists will join a host of others, both internationally renowned and emerging, who will respond to The Living Planet theme, exploring ways in which wildlife, plant life and ecological systems have responded to the impact of human actions.

FACT head of programme Maitreyi Maheshwari said: “The North of England has such a vibrant cultural scene and it is vital during this time of uncertainty that we look after our creative community.

“FACT Together will offer both financial and professional support that will enable early career artists working in a range of media the opportunity to make new work and become part of a peer network.

“The selected artists will work alongside each other and the team at FACT as part of this pilot initiative to experiment and reimagine how art can exist online, and address some of the most urgent issues of our time.”

The closing date for submissions is April 26. More details HERE

Photo: Keiken, George Jasper and Sakeema Crook, Feel My Metaverse - Mind, Body and Screen. Courtesy of the artists and Jerwood Arts.