LONDON, UK.- Over £150,000 has been awarded in total over the past year from PROJECT to support the involvement of artists in groundbreaking new projects throughout the UK. In its latest round PROJECT has awarded over £47,000, bringing the number of schemes supported to sixteen. The latest round includes opportunities for artists to work on a broad range of regeneration schemes, from devising an interactive game for young people for the design of a new village square in Stirling, to an eco-house project by Elsie Owusu Architects, in collaboration with Sir Peter Blake in London.

PROJECT continues to attract enormous interest from around the country. The next round of awards will be in June and October this year with £150,000 available. In May a seminar will be held, aimed at the commercial development sector and will feature presentations from award recipients and those working in the sector who have experienced the benefits of working with artists at a conceptual stage.

Richard Simmons, Chief Executive of CABE commented: ‘There are some very exciting projects in this round of the awards. The wide-ranging schemes, from healthcare to housing, illustrate the growing recognition of the importance of involving artists in regeneration projects in all sectors of the built environment. Artistic input can inject life into a project and add value which is experienced by the architect, developer, local council and user alike. CABE very much looks forward to seeing these and the previous award winners on the ground.’

Colin Tweedy, Chief Executive of Arts & Business said: ‘Arts & Business is pleased to see more exciting projects, including two that have been led by architects. The private sector can benefit greatly from the creative skills of artists – and we hope that the PROJECT seminar in Birmingham in May will inspire more built environment companies to take up the challenge of collaborating with artists of all disciplines.’

Maggie Bolt, Director of Public Art South West commented: ‘We are delighted with the continued strong interest in the aims and ambitions of PROJECT. This round of awards demonstrates that there is a range of innovative schemes that can benefit from working with artists at the outset. In future rounds we are keen to encourage further applications from the private sector, particularly in relation to ways in which artists can become involved in new housing and settlement schemes.’