The Australia Council's grants to 166 individual artists, groups and small to medium arts organisations will provide a boost for creativity at a critical time.
Executive Director Arts Investment Alice Nash said:
"Creativity will be crucial to Australia's recovery from the impact of COVID-19, and this is a timely investment in creative activity that connects all Australians during and beyond the current crisis."
Ms Nash also noted the strong success of First Nations artists and the diverse range of projects and activity supported.
"It is wonderful to be able to deliver this good news to successful artists and organisations to support the continued development of new work and artistic practice at this challenging time."
Among the 166 diverse projects funded, the grants will support:
- Backbone Youth Arts Association toward its 2020 program Lingua.
- Vitalstatistix Inc toward its Bodies of Work (2020-2023): creative development lab.
- Rhyan Clapham aka DOBBY toward the development of his first full album Marshmallow.
- Kill Your Darlings literary journal to support payments for emerging and established contributing writers.
The Australia Council received a total of 1,183 applications for this grant round, which were peer assessed by more than 100 industry experts from across the country.
The Australia Council has worked with applicants to assess the viability of projects in the context of COVID-19 and will continue to assist artists to vary and extend timelines as needed.
In addition to the above, the Australia Council Resilience Fund, which opened in April, has already delivered a further $1.8 million to 485 artists and organisations. The Fund provides immediate relief to support livelihoods and practice during COVID-19. The Fund will provide more than $5 million to artists and projects across Australia.
Applications for the Resilience Fund remain open until May 28.
