The National Art Collection Fund’s Art Fund Reimagine Programme is designed to inspire creativity and increase stability in the creative sector. The Fund will support organisations to develop or refresh their work in response to their current situation by supporting a range of activities that enable applicants to develop, diversify and/or sustain the sector in the face of the most pressing challenges.

While 2022's themes was recovery from COVID, in 2023, the key aim of the Reimagine programme is to help organisations reimagine their support for the workforce. ‘Workforce’ could include colleagues, volunteers and/or professional networks. Projects should be:

o Context-specific
o Creative or innovative.
o Engaging, and
o Impactful.

Art Fund wants to support your colleagues, volunteers and/or partners working in these priority areas:

o Collections.
o Exhibitions, and
o Learning.

The Fund’s priority outcomes are:

o Strengthening Equity, Diversity and Inclusion within the sector.
o Creating and improving opportunities for people to work in the sector, and
o Increasing and enhancing partnerships.

The funder has provided the following examples on its website of the type of project that could be supported through the Reimaging programme (please note that this is not an exclusive list):

o New staff members or tailored support from freelancers/external partners
o Joint programming or knowledge- and skills-sharing via a professional network.
o Mentoring schemes, training or placements to open up new pathways into the sector
o In-house training or wellbeing offers for staff and volunteers to boost skills, morale and retention over the longer term
o Volunteer recruitment through outreach and events
o Access and skills audits, along with new policies, strategies or advisory groups
o New toolkits or updated best practice guidance for the sector, and
o Some improvements to infrastructure, systems or equipment to enhance hybrid or remote working

In 2023, the Art Fund will be offering grants of between £10,000 and £50,000.

Matched funding is not an essential requirement for the Reimagine Programme. However, applicants should evidence what other funding has been sought and secured in support of their proposal.

Funding is not available for:

o Arts organisations operating in a hospital or clinical setting. o Commercial or ‘for-profit’ organisations. o General Partnerships, Limited Partnerships, or Limited Liability Partnerships. o Hospitals and places of worship. o Individuals. o Large-scale capital work and/or repairs projects. o Long-term running costs. o Organisations with a focus on music, drama, dance and art forms outside the visual arts. o Overheads, unless specific to the project and calculated using full cost recovery. o Retrospective activity. o Schools or higher education institutions, or o Unincorporated organisations. To apply, applicants will be required to create a “My Art Fund” account at the Art Fund website. Guidance notes and an online application process are then made available to help complete the application form.

The next application deadline is Friday 26th May 2023.

Please note that projects should be concluded within 24 months of funding being approved (this can be extended to 36 months in exceptional circumstances).