Applications now open for Sky Academy Arts Scholarships 2015; £150k fund for five emerging artists
Sky announced that Sky Academy Arts Scholarships, in partnership with IdeasTap, are now open for applications. Now in their fourth year, the Sky Academy Arts Scholarships are designed to support emerging artistic talent. Four artists living in the UK and one artist living in Ireland will each receive £30,000 and high level mentoring.
Sky Academy Arts Scholarships are part of Sky Academy; aground-breaking set of initiatives using the power of television, sport and creativity to create up to one million opportunities for young people by 2020.
Sky Academy Arts Scholarships give five talented artists, aged 18-30, the time and support to develop their creative practice and take their career to the next level. Since 2011, the Scholarships - formerly known as the Sky Arts Futures Fund - have supported fifteen young artists. Each scholar receives £30,000 towards the development of an artistic project and living costs for one year, as well as mentoring from Sky and the Arts industry, giving access to new skills and networks. In addition, each artist receives a short film about their project and practice, and wider developmental support from Sky and IdeasTap.
Bella Vuillermoz, Director, Sky Academy said: “Sky Academy is all about helping young people fulfil their potential and so we are thrilled to continue our support of emerging UK and Irish artistic talent. Supporting the development of young artists is crucial to the future vitality of the arts in the UK, and we are proud to once again be working with Sky Arts, and Ideas Tap, to do this. We can’t wait to support another five brilliant young artists.”
Peter De Haan, IdeasTap Chairman "IdeasTap exists to help creative people get to where they want to be so we're thrilled to be working on Sky Academy Arts Scholarships once again. The funding and associated mentoring provides artists with the financial freedom and business support to drive their work forward and really fulfil their potential."
Sky Academy Arts Scholarships are open to artists aged 18 to 30 living in the UK and Ireland. Applicants need to be a member of IdeasTap.com, which is free to join, and can submit either a written or filmed application in the categories of visual art, theatre, dance, music, creative writing (excluding film or TV scripts) and creative producing. Applications will then be assessed by industry professionals as well as individuals from Sky and IdeasTap, with winners announced at the South Bank Awards in June 2015.
Sky Academy Arts Scholar Kate Whitley who founded music charity Multi-Story with her Scholarship, said “My Sky Academy Arts Scholarship has been totally transformative for my work – as well as the financial support, it has offered a wealth of knowledge and experience that I would never have come across otherwise. It has completely turned my work around and helped it grow in ways that I couldn’t have even imagined.”
For more information and to apply, visit Sky.com/artsscholarships
For further information, please contact:
Ffion Williams
PR Manager, Sky Arts
020 7032 0599
SKY.COM/ACADEMY
Follow us on twitter @skyacademy @skyarts
For images, please go to Imagenet or email stills@bskyb.com
Notes to Editors
About Sky Academy
The Sky Academy Arts Scholarships are part of a set of initiatives that use the power of television, creativity and sport to inspire young people and help them reach their potential. Launched in 2013, Sky’s ambition is to create opportunities for up to one million young people to build skills and experience by 2020. Headquartered in a building at the heart of Sky’s West London campus, Sky Academy comprises: Sky Academy Skills Studios, Sky Sports Living for Sport, Sky Academy Scholarships and Sky Academy Starting Out.
Now in its tenth year, one-third of British secondary schools are taking part in Sky Sports Living for Sport, and it’s been launched in Ireland, with over 50,000 young people to benefit this year alone. Sky Academy Scholarships have helped almost 60talented artists and athletes achieve their goals. And through Sky Academy Starting Out, we're doubling the number of youth employment and work experience opportunities at Sky.
About Sky
Sky is the UK and Ireland’s leading home entertainment and communications company. Around 40% of all homes have a direct relationship with Sky through its range of TV, broadband and home telephony services. Sky is the UK’s biggest investor in television content, investing more than £2.5 billion a year in channels such as Sky 1, Sky Atlantic, Sky Living, Sky Arts, Sky Sports, SkyMovies and Sky News. Around two-thirds of Sky’s content spend is invested in the UK and Sky is the fastest-growing source of investment in original British programmes. More than 30 million people watch Sky content each week.
Alongside its commitment to offering customers a greater choice of high-quality content, Sky is a leading innovator. Customers enjoy total control and flexibility over their favourite TV through Sky+, watch TV on the move through Sky Go, and enjoy the best quality TV experience at home through High Definition and 3D. Sky distributes its content broadly over several platforms, including satellite, cable, IPTV, mobile and WiFi. NOW TV, Sky’s second consumer brand, builds on the company’s leadership in internet TV. Sky is also the UK's fastest-growing home communications company and favourite ‘triple-play’ provider of TV, broadband and home phone.
Sky believes in making a wider contribution to the communities in which it operates by taking positive action on the environment, supporting grassroots sports and increasing access to, and participation in, the arts. Sky employs 24,000 people, has annual revenues of £7.2 billion and is estimated to support a £5.9 billion contribution to UK GDP. Sky is listed on the London Stock Exchange (BSY).
About IdeasTap
IdeasTap is an arts charity that helps creative people get to where they want to be. IdeasTap works with leading arts organisations to create industry opportunities for its members as well as providing access to funding, competitions, jobs, training and advice. Since launching in December 2008, IdeasTap has awarded more than £1.8 million worth of direct funding and accompanying expert mentoring to emerging artists. Its membership currently stands at 175,000+ and its partners include BAFTA, Magnum Photos, Mother London, The National Theatre, Rambert and Sky Academy.
