Council’s Culture Fund helps blow trumpet for local arts scene

OIC’s Arts Development service is reminding local groups that applications to the Council’s  Culture Fund – for arts, heritage or Orkney dialect projects in 2026/27- closes on 31 October.

Orkney’s very own small chamber orchestra, Orkney Camerata, is one of eight local arts groups who’ve hit new highs this year thanks to assistance from the Council’s Culture Fund.

£23k was allocated to local groups through the Culture Fund for 2025-26, to support the delivery of local cultural projects.

The fund is now open for applications for projects taking place in 2026-27 – with a closing date of 31 October.

Beneficiaries in the last round included Orkney Camerata, founded in 1994 through a collaboration with the Mayfield Singers - and quickly established as Orkney’s small chamber orchestra.

In this their 30th year, their £1.6k grant helped bring renowned conductor Michael Bawtree to Orkney to conduct a special anniversary concert. Michael spent three sessions in Orkney coaching, rehearsing and conducting Orkney Camerata - and also performed a harpsichord concerto with the ensemble.

Sandy Dennison, Chair of Orkney Camerata, said: “We’ve also been able to have a full wind section this year, enabling us to include works from the classical period for the first time.

“Being able to offer members of Orkney Camerata the incredible opportunity of coaching by an eminent conductor such as Michael has been incredibly inspiring.

Sandy recommends groups developing cultural projects in 2026-27 look into the Culture Fund, which closes for applications on 31 October: “The whole experience has enhanced and developed the musical skills and confidence of our members  - and enriched the future of this corner of culture in Orkney.”

Others who received a Culture Fund grant for 2025-26 are:

• Soulisquoy Printmakers – £3,000 to hold a Master printmaking residency for experienced and beginner printmakers alike.
• Orkney Traditional Music Project – £1,500 towards running costs of a week long ‘Summer School’ for up to 60 pupils in 2025 – with tutors from Orkney and beyond.
• Orkney Japan Association - £2k towards a project exploring Japanese textile art including how the philosophy of mottainai (zero waste) can be applied to clothing - and how Japanese jewellery compares with Orkney design, themes and materials.
• Hoy Heritage Centre - £2.5k towards the ‘A Window on Hoy Project’ which will see pupils from Hoy and Walls Community School working with a professional glass artist to create vibrant new glass windows over the entrance to the Centre.
• Inclusive Orkney - £3k for the Orkney Heritage for Young People course, a series of short practical ‘Orcadian Heritage Skills’ workshops for young people with learning needs (and their siblings and carers) covering how to make an Orkney chair and rebuild an Orkney stone dyke! The project will run in conjunction with UHI Orkney’s Construction Department.
• Orkney Arts Society - £3k towards a 2025-26 programme of five public concerts featuring solo pianist Jack Tait Westwell, Geithrudur Gudmundsdottir (cello) and Antoine Peat (piano), Chloe Piano trio, Sirocco Winds quintet and Mark O’Keefe (trumpet) and Sasha Savaloni (guitar) - and workshops for young pianists and brass players.
• Another Orkney Production - £3k towards a series of events leading up to 12 May 2025 to mark the 80th anniversary of the completion of the Churchill Barriers including a pre-1946 vintage car run across the barriers, and an exhibition trail between Celine Rupp Jewellery, the Burray Fossil and Heritage Centre, and Cromarty Square in the Hope.

The Council’s Culture Fund is managed by its Arts Development service, with grants decided each year through a competitive process and a review panel consisting of OIC Officers, Councillors, and representatives from stakeholder organisations including Creative Scotland, Museums Galleries Scotland and Voluntary Action Orkney.
 
Grants can be awarded for projects related to arts, heritage or Orkney dialect, and can support new or existing projects. The Fund has supported 72 projects, to the tune of £126k, between 2019-20 and 2024-25.

Councillor Gwenda Shearer is Chair of OIC’s Education, Communities Leisure and Housing Committee: “Time and again we see how support from our Culture Fund can help local groups deliver exciting projects, take new directions, build participation and blow the trumpet for Orkney’s arts and heritage scene. We’d urge groups to get in touch sooner than later with potential projects – the end of October deadline is not far away!”

Find out more at www.orkney.gov.uk/culturefund