Funding in the UK arts is hard to achieve and gain. Competition is rife and most have boxes you need to tick to achieve or be considered.
I am going to get a part time job in my area and plan to send my cv and spotlight page to theatres in order to acquire a job and spread my name. I am lucky to be able to drive so have the advantage of being able to spread my search more wide for opportunities.
Arts council funding has multiple open fund schemes people can apply for. The ‘National Lottery Project Grants’ is one that is always open to apply for and supports individual practitioners for a range of sums. They have a how to apply guide which will aide me in applying for grants and making my application clear, understandable and professional. Another fund the arts council offers is the ‘Developing Your Creative Practice’ (DYCP) funding programme which encourages development, learning and risk taking. Once an idea is ready, this is a grant I could apply for.
https://www.artscouncil.org.uk
The Arts council of Wales (Cyngor Celfyddydau Cymru) has a range of funding grants individual creatives can apply for to support the development of their practice and projects! The Create and Engage fund would be suitable for me to apply for in the future.
https://arts.wales/funding/individuals
I’ve also looked into how I should go about pricing my performances and work as an emerging artist. As I approach venues it will be important for me to be able to know the expected fair pay and negotiate what I will work for. I gathered this information from https://www.artistsunionengland.org.uk/rates-of-pay/ And
https://www.equity.org.uk/advice-and-support/rates-and-agreements - the UK’s performing arts trade union.
This informed me that an expected day rate would be £216.63. I also plan on taking a short course about self-employment and tax to better understand how to manage my money moving forwards as a freelance creator.
