Whether you are an accomplished practitioner, well versed in the facilitation of youth theatre or a complete newbie who has only just embarked upon the immensely rewarding, yet sometimes fretful, path of life as a freelancer - we need YOU!

After the success and positive response to the Youth Theatre Survey, Promote YT are delighted to launch their first survey specifically created for freelancers working in the youth theatre sector.

This is an oportunity to have your say and inform us of the state of play in the freelance sector today and which direction you would like to see it take in the future.

National Youth Organisations in Scotland have the opportunity to apply for grants of up to £50,000 through a new fund set up by the Scottish Government....

Please take this opportunity to make your views heard about the development of your local area. This survey should take no more than 5 minutes to complete.

Generous tax breaks exist to encourage you to support the arts as an individual or sponsor them as a business.

New Webpages for EU Funds

EUCLID now offers a range ofrevised and additional webpages for EU funds relevant to the cultural sector:

 As part of the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue 2008, the Intercultural Cities Conference will look at migration, diversity and urban life in a fresh way. The conference will not only provide an opportunity for International city leaders and experts to look at how different cultures can live together but how mixing can be turned to economic, social and cultural advantage. New thinking is needed on how diverse communities can co-operate in productive harmony instead of leading parallel or antagonistic lives.

Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop - Co-ordinator Artists Professional Development Programme

deadline: 31 August 2008

The Aesthetica Annual Creative Works Competition will champion new talent in the genres of visual arts, photography, poetry and fiction.

Details of the competition:
- The competition will accept entries of creative writing (poetry and fiction), artwork and photography.
- Each section will have one winner that will receive a prize of £500 and a subscription to Aesthetica Magazine.
- Winners and runners-up will be featured in the Aesthetica Annual, which will be a book, available from Borders stores nationwide.
- Entry allows the submission of either five images of artwork, three short stories (up to 2000 words each), or five poems (up to 40 lines each).
- The entry fee for the Aesthetica Annual Creative Works Competition is £10.

For further information please go to www.aestheticamagazine.com/submission_guide.htm.

Deadline: 6 June 2008

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has produced a consultation paper in response to Ofcom's recent review of community radio and to seeks views on the future scope of community radio funding. To contribute to the consultation, please visit http://tinyurl.com/2fn3kw.

FilmLive! is looking for a pair of individuals with editing experience to work on a daily 5-10 minute podcast during the Edinburgh International Film Festival.

We also require new crew members to be added to the existing production team. These crew members will be part of the team running a feature on the Edinburgh International Film Festival.

Fancy getting your own film up on the big screen? Filmlive.org has begun accepting submissions for it’s next film festival.

This is a chance for filmmakers of any age or ability to have their short films shown on one of the large screens at the Macrobert in Stirling.

click here for more info...

We're just putting together plans for this year's Forum, which is to be held on Saturday 7 June 08 at

Here Now, There Now is an art project taking place in the landscape along Scotland s busiest rail commuter routes linking Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow. Here Now, There Now explores notions of time, travel & utopia and will include a series of performances and artworks that will be viewed from the trains.

engage Scotland wishes to commission a researcher / programmer to develop the concept for the engage Scotland Interpretations Conference taking place in Edinburgh on Wednesday 10 and Thursday 11 September 2008 and to programme this important annual event. [more]

In the last month Peacock's have received two pieces of wonderful news.

First came the annoucement that the Scottish Government have approved the plans for Aberdeen's new centre for the contemporary arts.

Then, just last week the Scottish Arts Council announced they will be providing £4 million of capital funding for the centre. It's the largest single grant being awarded in Scotland and we are delighted!

Emails generated thousands of messages of support which sent a loud and clear message that the public were backing the new centre.

They are now on track to developing a magnificent new arts facility for everyone to enjoy.

The Gordon Highlanders led project: Camouflage'08 was successfully launched today (April 1st 2008).

Tim Newark, authour of "Camouflage: Now You See Me, Now You Don't" opened the event with an introduction to what camouflage was, is and can be...

Events run from April - October and the Gordon Highlanders would like Aberdeen's creative forces to join with them to create new work, projects, classes, workshops etc to make this event Aberdeen's most encompasing, engaging and interactive art experiences in a long time!

For more information, please visit : www.camouflagecity.co.uk

Creative Communities is the national conference for strategic decision-makers working in regeneration, neighbourhood renewal, housing, culture and leisure. Promoting participation in the arts, cultural and creative activities has a profound effect on deprived neighbourhoods and their communities. Embedding arts and cultural projects into community plans and Local Area Agreements can unlock new funding routes and help local authorities achieve statutory outcomes and shape places.

Leading speakers will explore the latest opportunities to meet Government targets through community-led creative programmes which successfully address issues of deprivation, diversity, cohesion, employability, health and wellbeing. The 2008 event will also celebrate the fantastic success of the Creative Communities programme led by Liverpool, European Capital of Culture 2008, which has rekindled Liverpool's famous enthusiasm for creativity and brought a new lease of life to some of the UK's most deprived areas.

Register at www.neilstewartassociates.com/se216/ or phone Laura Brownlee on 020 7324 4372 for more information.

deadline: 8 April 2008

The Elephant Trust was created in 1975 by Roland Penrose and Lee Miller with a view to develop and improve the knowledge, understanding and appreciation of the fine arts in the United Kingdom. Given the Trust’s modest resources, grants have usually been limited to £2,000 but larger grants may be considered. No grants are available for educational or other study purposes.

More information at www.elephanttrust.org.uk.

Community Cash Awards are grants of up to £5,000 to help young people set up a project that will benefit their community. You just have to come up with an idea for a project that will improve life in a local community in the UK. Maybe a new basketball court, a music studio, a youth club, sex education workshops in schools, a youth advisory board, even a local magazine. Anyone who is aged 14 to 16 and is in school but struggling, or aged 16 to 25 and unemployed or working less than 16 hours a week are eligible to apply.

Projects must:
- be run and managed by people between the ages of 14 and 25;
- clearly benefit the local community;
- benefit the people running the project;
- be a new or developing project.

The following are not eligible:
- formal groups or organisations;
- expeditions or overseas travel;
- fundraising activities for charity;
- trips and outings, unless they have educational value.

Funding of up to £1,000 is available for 14 to16 year olds and up to £5,000 is available for those aged 16 to 25.

Call free on 0800 842 842 or visit the Prince's Trust website for more details.

deadline: 14 April 2008

The Centre for Social Justice Awards 2008 is looking for small grass roots charities, voluntary groups and community groups who are tackling poverty in your local area. If you are people focused, tackling causes as well as symptoms, driven by conviction and motivated by compassion then it wants to hear from you.

There is no application form. Simply describe in 500 words or less how your organisation makes an exceptional contribution to tackling poverty.

For more information, see www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk/awards.

deadline: 31 March 2008

Charities with a turnover below £2 million are invited to apply to have a short, awareness-raising film made at a fraction of the usual cost. This is the fourth series of Volunteer Films launched by Media Trust, and as well as a broadcast quality film, with guaranteed airtime on Community Channel, a DVD and internet version is supplied, for a total cost of £1,000. Applications have to be in by 31 March.

See www.mediatrust.org/latest-news for details or email volunteerfilms@mediatrust.org.

We are seeking 50 paintings and/or drawings to be shown as part of a mini-exhibition within the Dark Matter  Group show taking place at Co-Prosperity Sphere.. The subject of the work is up to you. We are seeking work by artists that ARE NOT represented by a gallery or dealer. In fact we hope you never even went to art school. But don't let that dissuade you.

If you have work that is about six sq ft or less please send us an email and an image of the work. We will contact you to let you know if we can put your work in the show.

The work will be hung salon style as part of an exhibition of creative dark matter.

The deadline for submissions of your work is April 2, 2008

Submit your response via email to ed (At) lumpen.com
Subject: Dark matter paintings

1:: Call for media to be put on the Lumpen "El Artes Media Push Cart"

We want to distribute your media to visitors of the Version Dark Matter Group show that is opening April 18, 2008 at the Co-Prosperity Sphere.

Our media cart was designed to distribute media and to broadcast karaoke music. We like to deliver the goods to people who want independent media.

We need zines, pamphlets, stickers, papers and comics to be given away off of the  Lumpen "El Artes Media Push Cart"

Send as many copies as you like.
We will be giving them all away.

A picture of the cart being pushed down some Miami Florida street by Eric "guns" graf can be viewed here is if you scroll down:
http://www.lumpen.com/V8/program.html

The deadline for sending us your stuff is April 7, 2008.

If you plan on sending or dropping stuff off lets us know first via email:: ed (At) lumpen.com
Subject: media push cart stuff.

Mail stuff to
Version>08 media pushcart
960 w 31st st
Chicago il 60608

It’s nearly the start of the new financial year and the Youth Music Initiative (YMI)’s Informal Sector fund will be re-opening for 2008-09 on 1 April.  The first deadline for large grants is Monday 7 April 2008 – less than a month away!

Salary £23,292 £28,296
We are seeking a highly skilled and motivated individual to develop and manage our outreach programme. With experience of coordinating education projects in a community setting, a passion for art and a commitment to increasing access for a diverse range of audiences, you will have a good knowledge of current issues and legislation in the  community sector.

SIMULTAN04 is open for submissions of innovative works which use technology in a creative, ingenious way or are based on a peculiar, unusual story. The video section is open to all video artists and not only, who can apply with narratives, experimental video, animations, vj-ing movies and motion graphics.

Those interested may apply with a maximum number of 2 video works, each having a duration that must not exceed 3 minutes.

Call for proposals for the Edinburgh International Book Festival's Art in the Garden initiative. We seek work which will be sited out of doors, in Charlotte Square Gardens, during the Festival, from 9 25 August 2008.

The plans for Union Terrace will create a stunning new centre that will put Aberdeen City and Shire well and truly on the cultural map. The new building based will breathe new life into the gardens and provide Aberdeen with a magnificent facility for schools, families and people of all ages.It will help to keep local talent in the area and attract artists and visitors from all over the world. The Centre's galleries, cafes and workshop spaces will welcome over 100,000 visitors a year and bring more than £4 million annually into the local economy.

What best sums up the distinctive nature of Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire – the oil industry or fishing? Farming or information technology? What do people imagine when they hear of the City and Shire – is it Doric, or a cosmopolitan community? The weather, or the granite?

Aberdeenshire Arts* in partnership with the Cultural Enterprise Office are offering a series of one-to-one advice sessions to creative individuals and organisations across Aberdeenshire.