There is an exceptional extended deadline of 23 February for Renfrewshire.
The Visual Artist and Craft Maker Awards (VACMA) are a programme of small grants schemes delivered with a range of local authorities and art agencies across Scotland to support Scotland-based visual artists and craft makers in their creative development.
Established by Creative Scotland, these partnerships give support at a local level and work with local panels to offer funds to support practitioners at all stages of their career who have demonstrated a commitment to their work and in developing their practice through new work, new skills or new opportunities.
The programmes offers bursaries of £500 and £750.
Applicants applied to their local scheme using the application form for that area.
Links to each scheme are provided below. Please note that applications are now closed.
The 2023/24 VACMA scheme had two rounds.
Not all partners ran both deadlines, some only have one deadline a year. Please see below for which Local Authority partners this relates to.
In 2023/24 we worked with the following partners to deliver the scheme across 26 local authorities.
We are always looking to expand our network of Local Authority partners.
If you are interested in developing a scheme in your area, please contact visualarts@creativescotland.com.
You can review the guidance for applicants and application forms from your Local Authority webpage, linked below.
Local Authorities which delivered the Autumn deadline of 5pm, Tuesday 24 October 2023 | Local Authorities which delivered the Winter deadline of 5pm, Tuesday 6 February 2024 |
|---|---|
| Aberdeen City | Aberdeen City |
| Aberdeenshire | |
| Angus | |
| Argyll and Bute | |
| Ayrshire | Ayrshire |
| Dundee | Dundee |
| East Lothian | East Lothian |
| Edinburgh | Edinburgh |
| Fife and Perth & Kinross | |
| Glasgow | Glasgow |
| Highlands, Moray, and Western Isles | Highlands, Moray, and Western Isles |
| North Lanarkshire | |
| Orkney | |
| Renfrewshire | Renfrewshire* |
| Shetland Islands | Shetland Islands |
| South of Scotland | South of Scotland |
| West Dunbartonshire |
*Renfrewshire has extended its Winter deadline to 23 February 2024.
New schemes or deadlines were also posted on Creative Scotland’s Opportunities website. You can also follow us on Twitter, and see the latest VACMA news by following the hashtag #VACMAScotland.
These schemes run alongside our support for individual artists, available through the Open Fund for Individuals.
Applications are now closed, but you can still download and read the guidance for the 2023/24 scheme.
Download the guidance (PDF, opens in a new window)
Download the guidance (plain text, opens in a new window)
Download the guidance (large print, opens in a new window)
Download the guidance (Gaelic Version, opens in a new window)
Download the guidance (Easy Read PDF, opens in a new window)
Listen to an audio version of the guidance (link goes to Soundcloud)
View and download the FAQs (plain text, opens in a new window)
View and download the FAQs (large print, opens in a new window)
View and download the Artist Checklist (PDF, opens in a new window)
View and download the Artist Checklist (plain text, opens in a new window)
View and download the Artist Checklist (large print, opens in a new window)