Funding used to train in welding practices with a local welder and software to produce professional documentation of practice as well as digital practice.

"The award allowed me to be much more ambitious with my expectations and with the scale of my work. The project has been a good stepping stone to other opportunities as the work was exposed to such a wide audience and I have gone on to collaborate with other artists and organisations I met subsequent to the exhibition."

Funding granted for establishing ways to use intaglio in particular etching processes without impact on adjacent aquatic environments by developing an ecologically sound approach to intaglio etching.

"The process of investigation has sharpened the issues that I and other creative practitioners face living on a small island. Certainly receiving the award acted as a direct stimulus to action and provided a (rare) sense of validation."

Funding granted to work with a mentor to improve knowledge and understanding of making glazes from raw materials to enable the creation of new colours and finishes in her ceramic practice.

"I couldn't have done this project without the award. I could have made some basic glazes...but it would not have been successful and therefore not have had such an impact on my work."

Again this year Orkney took part in the Doors Open Days. Scotland’s biggest free festival of architecture presented its largest ever digital offering in September, as we celebrated Scotland’s buildings and stories online, through tours, lectures, DIY learning events and more. In response to current concerns surrounding COVID-19 Doors Open Days 2020 was digital so that people across Scotland and the world can continue to safely explore Scotland’s buildings, spaces and places. This year we had 17 participants which is the largest number of Doors Open participants from Orkney.

"The Covid-19 pandemic struck the UK in late 2019 and increased to the extent that the country was put into lockdown by late March 2020. The 2020 Orkney Storytelling Festival had already booked the storytellers Anne Hunter and Mio Shudo as our guests and hired venues. It was agreed that we would wait to see how things would develop with Covid, but by the late summer it looked like things...