Thursday April 1st 2021
Made in Midlothian awards over £23k to Freelance Artists for its 2021 Youth Arts Programme.
The Social Enterprise will deliver an “eclectic” programme of projects in Midlothian with children and young people most affected by Covid-19.
Made in Midlothian, in partnership with Midlothian Voluntary Action, selected seven freelance artists to deliver six creative, literary, and performance arts projects with young people. MiM’s Youth Arts Programme is funded by Creative Scotland’s Youth Arts Small Grants Scheme, as part of the Scottish Government Covid-19 Emergency Fund to support the arts.
The selection panel, led by Midlothian Voluntary Action, invited two members of the Bill Russell Woodburn Youth Project’s Amazing Brains Committee to sit on the panel to ensure that young people were involved in the process from the start. “The young people were superb in the panel discussion”, said Natalie Thomsom. She adds, “I would like to thank all of the Amazing Brain Committee who gave their fantastic feedback and took the time to give thoughtful consideration to the applicants.”
Nikki Kilburn, Trauma Specialist and Founder of True & Woke, also sat on the panel. “There was an exceptionally high calibre of applications. It was a pleasure to read through such commitment and creativity towards making a difference to young people,” she adds.
Shondra Riley, Made in Midlothian Managing Director confirms,” It was a very competitive fund, with lots of wonderful projects. The scoring process was not an easy task!”
The successful applicants are as follows:
Adie Baako, West African Dancer of Akrowa UK
Ailis Paterson, Drama Facilitator
Annie Lord, Artist and Performer
Hannah Edi, Actor and Teacher
Laura Baigrie, Play Services Manager and Arts Practitioner
Lea Taylor, Professional Storyteller and Author” Beside the Cherry Tree”, “Midlothian Folk Tales” and the children’s book “Animals Beasties and Monsters of Scotland”
Mary Turner Thomson, Author of International Best Sellers, The “Bigamist” and “The Psychopath”
Each Artist will shape their projects with young people taking the lead on what’s created. The programme will culminate in a showcase in March 2022 where young people will have a chance to display or perform their art. In addition to this, they will have an opportunity to list their art on Made in Midlothian’s online marketplace.
“I’m looking forward to seeing how these youth-led projects evolve from how we saw them on paper. With such an eclectic range of projects, our showcase next March will be very exciting!”, said Shondra Riley
To learn more about these exciting projects please visit CLICK HERE.
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