We are delighted to announce the recipients of our seed funding opportunities.
The purpose of this funding is to support artists from the early stages of research, development and creation of new outdoor performance works.
Priority was given to underrepresented artists in the Creative Estuary region. Assisting artists from a wide spectrum of backgrounds will not only enhance the artists’ creative practice but will also broaden the range of work currently on offer for small-scale touring environments.
Aeriel Mel Stevens
“This funding is positively enabling the global majority of intersectional artists to begin telling our own truths and narratives. Our work has been encouraged over the years, but never fully supported for artists like myself in this way in my experience. This funding will allow me to further develop my art, practice and act. It will encourage more people to be confident to share their stories and create something new, innovative and truly reflective of our society through arts, and that will be safely housed and supported within the existing frame of Applause.”
Emma Saunders
“I’m very excited to have been given this funding by Applause. As an emerging artist who’s just graduated from circus school, the timing couldn’t be more perfect to have the opportunity to develop my creative practice. I plan to use the funding to attend Vogue classes and workshops across the UK to learn this style of movement and research combining it with my circus practice.”
Photo credit – Tim Booth
Chris Yarnell
“This incredibly exciting seed funding will enable me to take artistic risks, explore new territory within my practice and (hopefully) develop an exciting piece of outdoor work. I am incredibly grateful for this opportunity and can’t wait to get stuck in”
Photo Credit Walter Borghetti
Julia Vita
“We wanted to inspire conversation around sometimes heavy topics in a way that was more approachable and lighthearted to begin with. We have tried out a very improvised Dodo and Pango on the streets of London to test out the concept, and we came away from that with a wealth of ideas to develop further. This funding will allow us to dive deeper into our material and test our ideas out in public”
Randolph Matthews
“It’s fantastic to receive Applause Seed money to support the time and development of ideas for my outdoor piece of art. The support of seed funding will enable me to research and explore with a dramature ideas for a solo live outdoor piece of work. The piece will take audiences on a journey using sound with the aid of portable immersive sound technology.”
Molly Anne Sweeney/Sofia Bagge
“We’re so excited to receive this funding, so that we can explore how to create entertaining inclusive theatre for younger audiences about climate anxiety. We know that climate anxiety is a growing concern among young people, and we can’t wait to try out some ideas that we can share with audiences.”
Caroline Millar
“I’m really interested in how experiences of place can be created through walking, writing and thinking through the histories of the Thames Estuary landscape. I’m thrilled to receive this seed funding from Applause, which will help me engage with local communities and test out how creative writing and walking can reimagine and reinvigorate our relationships to place and begin to develop a site-specific performance, moving through the spaces of the Thames Estuary.”
CREATIVE ESTUARY has a vision to forge a new future founded on creative energy and innovation, along the length of the Thames Estuary. The project is supported by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and led by the University of Kent on behalf of a consortium of public sector and cultural organisations. They include the South East Local Enterprise Partnership (SELEP), Kent and Essex County Councils, the Greater London Authority, 11 local authority areas represented by Greater North Kent and Opportunity South Essex, South East Creative Economy Network (SECEN), University of Essex, Locate in Kent and cultural organisations Metal and Cement Fields. In early 2019 the University of Kent was awarded £4.3m from the DCMS Cultural Development Fund on behalf of the partners. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport funds the Cultural Development Fund which is administered by Arts Council England.
