Arts Council England has announced that CAST has been awarded support from the Ambition for Excellence scheme.
The scheme is a £35.2 million Arts Council funding programme that aims to have a significant impact on the growth of an ambitious arts infrastructure outside London. The funding also supports leadership across art forms and gives an international dimension to the creation of new work. The £500,000 grant to CAST is the first Ambition for Excellence award in Cornwall and only the second in the whole South West region.
CAST will use the award for Groundwork, a three year a project that will bring outstanding international artists to Cornwall and support creative education for young people, culminating in an ambitious programme of international contemporary art. The programme will be developed with partners Kestle Barton, Newlyn Art Gallery & The Exchange and Tate St Ives and will comprise events and activities that are additional to the regular programmes of all these organisations, with many taking place beyond gallery walls.
We are thrilled to win this major award, which builds on the strong relationships with artists and cultural organisations based in Cornwall. Ambition for Excellence will enable CAST and its partners to develop projects that will make links with Cornwall’s rich social, economic, geological and artistic history, as well as its contemporary cultural life, encouraging national and international connection and exchange.
Huge thanks to all who contributed to the Ambition for Excellence bid through conversations, workshop discussions, letters of support, partnerships and collaborations. We look forward to working with you to make Groundwork a reality.