Behind the ZigZag
Arts NSW provides funding opportunities to support artists and arts and cultural organisations in NSW.
Listed below are the funding categories on offer for 2014.
For more information about any of the funding categories please see the NSW Arts Funding Program Guide 2014 or contact the Funding Programs staff
Program Funding
Program Funding is funding towards an organisation’s costs of delivering its program of arts and cultural activities on an annual or multi-year basis.
- Annual Program Funding
- Annual Program Funding is a contribution towards an organisation’s costs of delivering its principal annual program of arts and cultural activities. Funding can contribute to any aspect of the annual program
- For more information about Program Funding please see the current NSW Arts Funding Program Guide
- Multi-year Program Funding
- Multi-year Program Funding is for arts and cultural organisations that are central to the cultural life of NSW. Funding contributes towards an organisation’s costs of delivering its principal annual program and activities over three years.
- Applications to the Multi-year Program Funding category are peer assessed and by invitation. However, new Multi-year Program funding is not on offer for 2014.
- Organisations in receipt of funding that expires in 2013 will be provided with an additional years funding for 2014 at current levels. This will ensure operational stability while the Review of the Arts Funding Program is undertaken.
- Other existing Multi-year contracts will remain in place.
- Negotiated Program Funding
- Negotiated Program Funding is by invitation only and negotiated directly with Arts NSW. The types of organisations funded under this category are:
- * Major organisations jointly funded with the Australia Council
- * State significant organisations including the Museum of Contemporary Art, Carriageworks, Sydney Festival, Biennale of Sydney and Sydney Writers’ Festival
- * Peak bodies and service organisations
- * Organisations delivering Devolved Funding programs on behalf of Arts NSW.
- For more information about Program Funding please see the current NSW Arts Funding Program Guide
Project Funding
Project Funding is for one-off activities or events with specific goals that support arts and cultural activities in NSW and NSW artists and professional arts practitioners.
- Artist Support (formerly Quick Response)
- Artist Support Project Funding is available for individual professional artists, small-to-medium sized organisations, partnerships and groups of professional artists, who have received an invitation to participate in a recognised national or international arts and cultural event of activity.
- New Projects
- New Project Funding supports time-limited arts and cultural projects at any stage in their creative development and/or public presentation.
- Young People
- Young People is an arts and education category designed to increase engagement with arts and culture for students attending geographically and/or socio economically disadvantaged schools.
- For more information about Project Funding please see the current NSW Arts Funding Program Guide
Regional Project Funding
Five Regional Project Funding categories are available to support and develop arts and cultural activities and infrastructure in regional NSW.
- Aboriginal Regional Arts Fund
- The Aboriginal Regional Arts Fund supports arts projects that celebrate and promote Aboriginal cultural identities in regional NSW and, by doing so, make the rich and diverse Aboriginal cultures of regional NSW more visible and accessible.
- Performing Arts Touring
- Performing Arts Touring supports projects that provide access to performing arts programs to audiences living in regional NSW.
- Regional Capital
- Regional Capital Project Funding supports the development of arts and cultural infrastructure that increases access to purpose-designed and well-managed facilities.
- Regional Conservatorium
- Regional Conservatorium Funding is for time-limited music projects that are additional to the conservatorium’s core program, and that support the role of conservatoriums as key arts organisations in regional NSW.
- Regional Partnerships
- Regional Partnerships Funding supports arts and cultural development partnerships in regional NSW.
In addition to these project categories, a number of Arts NSW Devolved Funding Programs are available for regional applicants.
Regional applicants are encouraged to contact the Regional Arts Development Officer (RADO) in their area for further advice.
For more information about any of these funding categories please see the current NSW Arts Funding Program Guide
Professional Development – Fellowships & Awards
The Fellowships program recognises excellence and leadership by supporting a limited number of outstanding individuals each year.
Arts NSW supports literature and history through the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards and the Premier’s History Awards.
- Fellowships
- Arts NSW has supported the professional growth of arts practitioners and acknowledged their contribution to the arts sector through a program of fellowships and scholarships.
- Arts NSW has reviewed this support and designed a new Fellowships program to recognise excellence and leadership by supporting a limited number of outstanding individuals each year.
- The findings and recommendations of the review are available here
- Public comments received are under consideration before the review and the program are finalised.
- Subscribe to Arts NSW e-News to be kept informed of the program.
- Awards
- The Premier’s Literary Awards provide an opportunity to highlight the importance of literacy and to encourage everyone to enjoy and learn from the work of our writers.
- The Premier’s History Awards honour distinguished achievement in history by Australian
- citizens and permanent residents.
- The Awards are managed by the State Library of NSW, in association with Arts NSW. Find out more
Strategic Support
Limited and targeted strategic support is provided for specific priorities or to respond to new opportunities throughout the year. Support can be determined through direct negotiation, expressions of interest, invited competitive tender (requests for proposals) or open competitive rounds.
- Aboriginal Arts and Culture
- The NSW Aboriginal Arts and Cultural Strategy recognises Aboriginal arts and cultural expression is fundamental to the social, cultural and economic well-being of Aboriginal people in NSW.
- Strategic support for Aboriginal arts and culture is provided throughout the year through invited competitive tender (requests for proposals), negotiated funding, open competitive rounds and applications such as the Aboriginal Quick Response.
- Aboriginal Quick Response funding is aimed at increasing representation for NSW Aboriginal arts and culture at trade fairs and export markets and support for market development opportunities in creative industries.
- NSW Arts and Disability Partnership
- A focus for 2012 and 2013 was the NSW Arts and Disability Partnership between Arts NSW and Ageing, Disability and Home Care (ADHC) in the NSW Department of Family and Community Services.
- Central Coast Community Partnership
- For 2012 and 2013, the NSW Government has funded Art Central – an arts and community partnership program on the Central Coast of NSW. The funding has allowed for a Regional Community Creative Producer position, managed by Regional Development Australia Central Coast NSW (RDACC), to work closely with Gosford City Council and Wyong Shire Council to set up a local network of community and industry partners and to manage arts projects.
- Other Strategic Support
- Other strategic priorities are identified throughout the year
- For more information about Strategic Support offered by Arts NSW, visit our FAQs page
Devolved Funding
Some funds under the Arts Funding Program are devolved to arts and cultural organisations to support arts and cultural activities at the local and regional level.
- These organisations have broad networks across the arts sector, within specific art forms, and with the community.
- Current devolved funding opportunities:
- Amplify your art
- Amplify your art is a professional development grant program for NSW artists with disability.
- Asialink Arts Residency Program
- Arts NSW, in conjunction with Asialink, supports residencies in Asia for NSW artists, writers and arts managers.
- Collection Documentation Grants
- This grant program enables community museums and keeping places to bring in specialists to work with volunteers on documentation and or significance assessment of objects and collections.
- Community Band Development Grants
- The Community Band Documentation Grants support and promote banding by means of increasing activity within bands, increasing standards and growing audiences.
- Country Arts Support Program (CASP)
- CASP provides small grants to arts and community organisations and local arts councils in regional NSW for short term, locally initiated projects.
- Cultural Grants Program for Local History Research and Publication
- The Cultural Grants Program provides small grants to historical societies and community groups across NSW to assist with the research, writing and publication/production of a wide range of local history projects.
- Curatorial Support Initiative (CSI) Grants
- The CSI grant program offers NSW regional public galleries assistance towards supporting a professional curator (emerging or established) to research and/or develop exhibitions of contemporary visual arts, craft and design.
- Fellowship, Mentorship and Placement Program
- This program provides opportunities for museum and gallery staff and volunteers located in regional and remote areas to experience working in a major urban institution.
- Indent Partnership Grants
- Indent provides funding, workshops, resources, advice and information to an active network of young people throughout NSW to develop, encourage and facilitate entertainment for young people. They offer two grant categories: Grassroots Grants and Event Development Grants.
- Museum Advisor Program
- Through a co-funding agreement with local government, this program provides access to a museum specialist to work with museums and councils for twenty days per year to develop strategies to sustain local museums, gain recognition and awareness of needs, and raise standards of museum practice.
- MusicNSW Quick Response Program
- This program supports artists and artist managers in developing export opportunities whilst attending Australian industry conferences, trade fairs and other career defining opportunities.
- NSW Artists’ Grant Program
- The NSW Artists’ Grant Program provides financial assistance to professional visual arts, craft and design practitioners and groups in NSW to effectively produce, present and promote their work throughout NSW, interstate and overseas.
- Prop Ups Quick Response Grants Program
- Prop Ups is a Quick Response Grants Program aimed at supporting innovative performing arts programming in regional communities in NSW and encouraging new performance initiatives and audience development.
- Regional Museum Network Project
- This grant program will enable local government, regional museums with paid staff and Regional Arts Boards to bring in specialists to work with five or more volunteer-managed museums on a collaborative project that will increase public access to the collections, either real or virtual.
- Standards Program
- The Standards Program is a development program for museums and galleries utilizing a process of self review and external feedback.
- Volunteer Initiated Museums (VIM) Grant Program
- The Volunteer Initiated Museum (VIM) Grant Program provides assistance to volunteer-initiated community museums and keeping places in NSW.
