EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND.- Six exceptional arts projects that will have a transforming impact for artists, audiences and local communities across Scotland have been awarded Scottish Arts Council National Lottery funding to develop their plans.

Shetland Arts Trust, Peacock Visual Arts, Greenock Arts Guild, Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop, Scottish Ballet and Stevenson College have all received Scottish Arts Council capital development funding for major and exciting artistic and cultural centres that will transform and inspire local people and contribute to Scotland’s artistic excellence.

The latest awards will contribute to the development costs of the projects, allowing each organisation to develop rigorous and tested business plans, building designs, project plans as well as employing any consultancy and management support required to ensure that these projects will succeed in having a profound impact on Scotland’s artistic infrastructure.

The successful projects are: A new visionary centre for public participation in contemporary art for Peacock Visual Arts (PVA) in Aberdeen as part of a wider regeneration of the city’s Castlegate area. The ambitious project will create a purpose-built facility housing new gallery spaces and public facilities including project rooms, library, bookshop, screening and meeting rooms as well as a café bar.

A state-of-the-art combined cinema and music venue for the Shetland Isles, providing high quality and flexible arts facilities, which have never before been available in the area. The project, led by Shetland Arts Trust and Shetland Council will see the creation of a brand new facility that will have an enormous cultural impact on the people of Shetland offering new cultural experiences and contributing towards the social and economic cohesion of the islands.

The redevelopment, refurbishment and extension to the Greenock Arts Guild’s existing premises to provide a fully-equipped and custom-built arts centre. It will play a pivotal role in supporting Inverclyde Council’s arts development programme to address social inclusion, lifelong learning, pre-vocational courses, support the school curriculum, youth theatre, and special needs groups, having a profound impact on the local community.

A new, dedicated, purpose-built and contemporary facility for sculpture and contemporary visual arts for Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop (ESW), more than doubling the number of studios and workshop areas for artists. It will also create new facilities that will establish ESW as a leading international open-access sculpture centre while also providing a valuable community resource for local people wishing to engage with sculpture and contemporary visual arts.

The relocation of Scottish Ballet from its current home at West Princes Street to new premises adjacent to, and sharing some facilities with, Tramway. The project, which is being developed in partnership with Glasgow City Council, will provide a range of state-of-the-art and facilities, helping the company to continue its artistic success. It will also improve facilities for the independent dance community in Scotland and increasing the level of education and outreach activity the company can undertake with the wider community.

The creation of a new music and performing arts venue for Stevenson College and the surrounding areas, allowing community and professional groups to access the college and allow Stevenson College to develop partnerships with other performing arts organisations. It is part of the college’s wider estate regeneration project, which will radically improve the facilities for students at Stevenson College by allowing out-of-teaching-hours access and supporting informal music making.

The projects announced today come from a diverse range of geographic locations and continues the significant investment made by the Scottish Arts Council in capital projects for arts organisations. Since the inception of the National Lottery in 1995, more than £125 million has been invested in Scotland’s arts infrastructure including many award-winning venues such as Dance Base and Scottish Poetry Library in Edinburgh, the Tolbooth in Stirling and the Birnam Institute.

The Scottish Arts Council capital department will now work alongside these organisations and other partners to help further develop their plans, in preparation of their Stage 2 application for National Lottery funding.

Iain Munro, Head of Capital at the Scottish Arts Council, says: ‘All of these projects represent a really exciting opportunity for these organisations to create a facility or venue that will have a profound and positive impact on arts provision in their local area while also contributing to the artistic excellence of Scotland as a whole.

‘When we decided to consolidate our funding for the next three years into one funding round, we wanted to support exciting and ambitious projects that will contribute to the development of Scottish artistic and public life for many years to come. Providing development funding will now allow these organisations to examine the proposals in more detail, looking at things such as business plans and sustainability as well as their architectural ambitions to develop projects that will excite, inspire and transform the lives of people across Scotland.