Funded through the National Lottery, the Creative Wales Awards represent a significant investment by The Arts Council of Wales in individual artists living and working in Wales. The Awards aim to develop excellence and to build sustainability in the arts by supporting artists in creating new, experimental and innovative work that takes forward their art form and artistic practice. For many of the successful artists, the Award represents the gift of a year to focus on creativity away from other work and financial commitments - room to breathe, a chance to evaluate, to experiment and innovate. Essentially, it's an opportunity to create anew and to explore new avenues. In total, these 19 artists will share a total funding of £300,000 from The Arts Council of Wales in the form of individual Creative Wales Awards of up to £25,000. David Alston, Arts Director of The Arts Council of Wales, chairs the panel of Arts Council officers, National Advisers and Academi Panellists who adjudicate the Creative Wales Awards. He commented on the process of choosing this year's recipients: "The panel faced a really difficult task this year owing to the strength of the submissions. However, each of the Award recipients has something special which gave them an edge in the final round." The recipients of the Creative Wales Awards 2007 are: MAJOR AWARDS: (£20,000 - £25,000) Applied Arts and Crafts: Michael Flynn, Catrin Howell Visual Arts: Michael Cousin Music: Simon Thorne Drama: Jill Greenhalgh Literature: James Hawes, Gwyneth Lewis and Manon Rhys CREATIVE WALES AWARDS: Applied Arts and Crafts: Virginia Graham, Phil Rogers, Laura Thomas Visual Arts: Mike Brookes, Neale Howells Music: Sioned Jones, Iwan Llewelyn-Jones Dance: Belinda Neave, Tanja Råman Drama: Sarah Argent, Phillip Mackenzie Professor Dai Smith, Chairman of ACW, congratulated this year's successful Creative Wales artists, saying: "The Creative Wales Award is a vitally important investment in the future success of the arts in Wales. Each of the awards demonstrates The Arts Council of Wales's continued commitment to developing the talents of individual artists who are the foundation of everything in the arts. The nineteen recipients display excellence and innovation across the range of art forms and I look forward to watching their progress and discussing the results of their year to create in the months to come." Alun Pugh, Minister for Culture, Welsh Language and Sport said: "For a small nation, Wales produces an extraordinary number of artists, musicians and performers with an international reputation. They act as excellent ambassadors for Wales on the world stage." The event will commence at 6.30pm this evening at the Senedd. Some 250 guests will be entertained by musicians, brought together especially for the occasion, including two previous recipients of Creative Wales Awards, Huw Warren and Maria Lamburn. As part of this year's event, and with support from the British Council in Wales, ACW has commissioned and will broadcast tonight a short documentary film from Jon Gower and Boomerang presenting the work and ambitions of the Major Creative Wales artists. These films are also available to download from the Creative Wales micro-site. Full details of all the Creative Wales Award recipients 2006/07 including background information, biographical notes and project details are available on the Creative Wales Awards micro-site www.artswales.org.uk/creativewales |
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Thursday, March 1, 2007 |
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