Support for artists in 2021
Following last year’s first round of ‘Artists Respond’ grants made to artists in the City of Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire (including North and North East Lincolnshire), the St Hugh’s Foundation for the Arts is pleased to announce that it is making 5 more of these grants to support artists to engage in their practice at this challenging time.
Luke Dankoff, based in Hull, will use the award to contribute to artist fees during a period of development time for Same Circle Productions, working with a director and actor and with Hull LGBTQ+ organisations to develop a conversational and queer show which explores the issues of hyper-masculinity within the gay community.
Annie Griffith, a community music practitioner, will use the Artists Respond award to help her restart her Steampunk singing group in Lincoln, contributing to costs of hiring an accessible venue and recommencing the process of recording an album of original music with the group.
Josie Moon, a writer based in Grimsby, will use the funding to enable her to take time to think, read, and talk to fellow artists. Josie will reflect on necessary changes to her practice, seeking to understand what has happened and to express her response through new writing, including poetry.
Michael Sanders, a sculptor and photographer based in Manby, will return to ideas initiated in his ‘We Pump Unseen’ project in 2017. He will return to Scotland, developing new artwork, undertaking discussions with curators at national museums, and working with partners to take his work to the next stage.
Simon-Mary Vincent, a composer and performer based in Lincoln, will recommence work on two major composition projects: ‘Sister Moon’, a composition for 4-channel audio with live percussion, and ‘For Those Who Are Yet To Fall’, for 5-channel audio with live piano, which is an anti-war ‘piano concerto’, whose form and sonic materials are used both as a critique of war and as a ‘prayer’ for those affected by wars globally.
The Foundation is also pleased to announce that the second Claire Frances Peasnall Memorial Award has been given to Bridlington-based fine artist Anna Kirk-Smith. This Award is made possible thanks to generous support from the Claire Peasnall Trust, and given in memory of former St Hugh’s Arts Award recipient, Claire Peasnall.
Anna will be using the Award to spend a period of 28 days wild camping in the remote western Highlands. She describes this as a period of questioning, rethinking, refining; “working within and with the environment, reframing ideas of what ‘landscape painting’ can be and what it has the potential to communicate.” Anna has the ambition to share the work she will make on her return in informal community spaces such as “bothies, barns, campsites, living rooms and pubs”.
Katie Green, Chair of the St Hugh’s Foundation for the Arts describes: “We have been pleased to get our 30th anniversary year off to a great start by being able to make these six awards. However, there were so many other applicants whose ideas were of a high standard, making it very difficult for Trustees to reach our decisions. We were impressed with the range of creative and reflective responses to our Artist Respond and Claire Peasnall Memorial Fund invitations, with many artists paying particular attention this time to developing a sustainable practice, and projects deeply rooted in local communities, but also making the most of new-found opportunities to connect globally.”
Details about future award programmes will be published online at https://www.sthughsfoundation.co.uk/awards.