Cork County Council has this week announced arts funding to over 145 organisations and individual artists thrpoughout County Cork. Grant funding totaling €155,000 has been approved by members of Cork County Council at its meeting today, 13th February 2017.
This year’s Cork County Council Arts Grants Scheme will support the work of many of the county’s arts groups including Pipe and Brass Bands, Choirs, Traditional Music and Creative Writing groups to name but a few.
Welcoming the allocations, North Cork Independent Councillor, Cllr. John Paul O’Shea said that it was important that the Council should support arts activity at community level, particularly in view of the fact that so much activity is generated by the work of voluntary arts organisations. “Voluntary effort plays a huge role in the county’s arts scene, providing opportunities for young people to gain confidence through performance in music and drama and for older members of society to engage in beneficial social activity through the arts”.#
Kanturk Arts Festival is to be support again in 2017 by Cork County Council’s Arts Grant Scheme.
Cllr. O’Shea also noted that the Arts Grants Scheme would provide support to a number of youth organisations, groups working with the elderly and with special needs to create new opportunities for creative projects specifically catering for these sometimes marginalised groups.
Allocations to 37 arts festivals account for the largest share of arts funding provided by the Council in 2017. The range of festival activity supported is wide ranging, including classical music (North Cork Classical Music Festival) Traditional music (Scullyfest in Newmarket), as well as multi disciplinery arts festivals such as Kanturk Arts Festival. The Racing Home for Easter while not a specific arts festivals is supported as it has developed proposals for ancillary events that have a strong arts programme. Cork County Council is also supporting new festival activity in 2017 with funding provided to support a stand alone arts festival for the Mallow area led by Mallow Arts Collective.
Some of the art projects funded through the scheme in North Cork during 2017 are as follows:
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Village Arts Centre Kilworth – €4,500
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Castlemagner Sinsir Club – €300
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CBS Charleville – €1,500
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Dromina Community Council – €2,000
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Mallow Arts Collective – €1,500
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Katie Holly (Charleville) – €1,000
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Mark Kent (Mallow) – €1,500
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Mallow Intergration Forum – €600
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Racing Home for Easter Festival – €1,000
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North Cork Classic Music Festival – €1,600
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Kanturk Arts Festival – €1,500
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Scully’s Traditional Music Festival (Newmarket) – €1,200
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Wild Boar Promotions (Kanturk) – €500
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North Cork Drama Festival – €800
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Newmarket Pipe Band – €800
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Kiskeam Brass Band – €1,000
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Cullen Pipe Band – €800
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Irish Wheelchair Association (Mallow) – €600
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Include me in “Kaleidoscope Theatre” Mallow – €600
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Shandrum Ceilí Band – €1,000
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Freemount Comhaltas Ceoltoirí Eireann – €700
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Rockchapel Comhaltas Ceoltoirí Eireann – €1,000
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Malow Art Club – €400
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Mallow Camera Club – €800
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CDYS Mallow – €800
The annual Cork County Council Arts Grants Scheme is just one of an array of financial supports that Cork County Council now has in place to help drive community development in the Arts. Looking back at 2016, similar funding for that scheme has:
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supported activites by 132 art organisations and artists
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Supported the involvement of over 1,300 volunteers
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Enabled over 8,000 people to participate in the arts activities including older people, young people and people with disabilities
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Attracting combined audiences of over 125,000 people
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Formed part of a combined expenditure of over €900,000 on the arts in Cork
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Contributed to the Economic benefit of the County in the region of €1.5m through the many arts festivals.
Cllr. O’ Shea added “I wish all these groups and individuals every success in the events and activities which they have planned during 2017. Council funding will go some way to ensuring that our communities continue to have access to and the possibility of participating in a wide range of art forms”.
