As we come to the end of 2022, it has been exciting to reflect on the year the Isle of Man Arts Council has had.
From supporting venues and the renovation of the Silverdale roundabout horses to funding British Sign Language performances and awarding travel grants for local theatre groups to perform at the Edinburgh festival; more than £200,000-worth of funding was awarded since March 2022, for entertaining, educational and engaging projects and events.
Funding also took a new direction this year with the establishment of a Film Fund and a Creative Industries Fund. The Film Fund is a match funding award open to anyone looking to make a short film of fiction or documentary on the island.
The Creative Industries Fund is an award of up to £5,000 which looks to help start up new creative business or steer an existing business in a new creative direction.
The year saw our second graduate intern, Sophie Linham, start with us. Sophie is a professional dancer, who has created and delivered a series of free dance and movement classes, which have visited many of the island’s primary schools.
Outside of education, we have developed physical and mental health workshops and delivered these with colleagues at Manx Care’s Creative Minds group, Hospice’s Forget Me Not group as well as partnering with Isle Listen to present dance for mental wellbeing.
The summer of 2022 was one of our busiest to date with the Isle of Man Arts Council being Education Partner for the Hospice Big Splash Dolphin trail, our summer concert series, which saw 34 concerts take place in the Villa Marina Arcade between June and September and the return of Manchester’s Hallé Orchestra with world renowned pianist Benjamin Grosvenor.
October saw Solar Winds, a woodwind group from the Royal Northern College of Music visit the island’s schools.
October also saw the return of the Isle of Man Arts Council lecture and in turn, one of the fastest sell out events of the year with our Louis Theroux in conversation selling out the Gaiety Theatre and Louis bringing a memorable night of stories, wit and ‘the rap.’
The Arts Team launched Kensington Arts, a community arts centre in Douglas. The centre has developed classes in art, music, dance, theatre and saw its Connections programme recognised and performed at the National Theatre in London. Schemes such as Theatre In Education were established, which looks to deliver new works of drama to high schools centred on social issues.
Here, centre manager Peter Shimmin looks back on his standout achievements of the centre in its first year.
‘My highlight is the range of projects we were involved in which supported our island’s queer community,’ he said. ‘Our “Schools OUT” event took place in February for LGBTQ+ History Month.
‘The Queer Artisan Market brought together 30 queer creators and businesses, in an event that was first of its kind.
‘Art Tank participants designed and created a timeline of LGBT+ history, and themed wax lanterns.
‘The evening programme included local drag queens and SoundCheck bands performing, introduced by queer poets.’
We also partnered with Manx National Heritage for the ‘Cabinet of Queeriosity’ exhibition in summer.
We co-curated a collection of highly personal treasured objects that represent individual queer journeys which celebrate where we are as an island today and recognise our diverse community.
Lastly, we were honoured to receive the award for Diversity Champion in the 2022 Awards for Excellence, solidifying our place as a welcoming safe space for all.
Plans have already begun for events in 2023 with new lectures, concerts and partnerships.
The first application deadline for 2023 is February 10 so if you have a project or event that you would like to do, get in touch at [email protected]