2022 grants
A full breakdown of grants made can also be found here.
The Arts
Saving Lives - £5,000
The Cover Up community engagement project will accompany the Birmingham AIDS & HIV Memorial. Inspired by the Names project in the USA it will involve artists working with individuals, HIV groups, schools & colleges to create panels that will form the cover for the memorial unveiling.
ACE Dance & Music - £3,000
ACE Dance & Music and Black Voices will deliver a Doorstep Carnival at Grosvenor Road Studios as part of the Commonwealth Games celebrations. This singing and dancing extravaganza will feature elaborate carnival costumes, choreographed dance routines, and a specially commissioned Anthem - performed by professional dancers, singers, children, and Birchfield residents.
Orchestra of the Swan - £3,000
Orchestra of the Swan musicians will give blind primary school children initial instrumental lessons and will lead composition workshops with blind secondary students attending Priestley Smith Specialist School and those who go to SENSE’s Touchbase Pears centre in Birmingham.
The People’s Orchestra - £5,000
The Arts Leadership Programme aims to provide music education and career opportunities for young aspiring musicians aged 16-25 years old from diverse backgrounds. These musicians will be mentored to take on leadership roles within our orchestras and choirs in Birmingham.
Women & Theatre - £4,000
Inspired by Women’s Cricket featuring in the 2022 Commonwealth Games, A Thousand Threads is an intergenerational community production about women, girls, and cricket. Developed from research, it explores women and girls’ lives and aspirations, both on and off the pitch.
Surge Forward Music and Arts - £3,500
From September - November 2022 Ainu artist/musician Mayunkiki from Japan will be presenting an exhibition at IKON Gallery. Surge Forward will bring a group of professional local musicians to collaborate with Mayunkiki to create music for a sharing event at the gallery.
Black Country Touring - £4,400
Black Country Touring will employ three Birmingham artists to perform new and existing micro-productions as part of What’s In Store in 2022. It will see shops and cafes along Bearwood High Street animated with performances over two days in June.
The Bone Ensemble - £2,799
This project will enable four multi-generational community groups in Bournville and Stirchley to take part in ChocFest, a Commonwealth Games culture programme project. Groups will create and perform their own original writing and stories alongside international performers from Ghana and Birmingham.
Birmingham Dance Network - £4215 will deliver the ‘What You Need To Know’ programme of free workshops for early career dancers and those looking to establish a career in dance (age 18-29). It will be facilitated by professional dance artists and industry specialists and will focus on practical skills including video editing, financial management, well-being and understanding inclusive dance practice.
Heritage
National Trust - £5,000
National Trust and Mykal Wassifa Brown Heritage Foundation will celebrate the lives of the Windrush Generation in Birmingham. The sound and visual culture installation will launch in Windrush Week and run throughout the Commonwealth Games and Black History Month.
Open Spaces
Warley Woods Community Trust - £4,022
Wild Woodland: a project to engage local people in practical conservation work at Warley Woods in the various stages of managing a woodland for biodiversity– from planting to using cut wood for crafts.