The Scottish Arts Council (Scottish Gaelic: Comhairle Ealain na h-Alba, Scots: Scots Airts Cooncil) is a Scottish public body that distributes funding from the Scottish Government, and is the leading national organisation for the funding, development and promotion of the arts in Scotland. Most of the Council's funding comes from the Scottish Government but it also distributes National Lottery funds received via the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
The Scottish Arts Council was formed in 1994 following a restructuring of the Arts Council of Great Britain, but had existed as an autonomous body since a royal charter of 1967.
The Council funds all the major areas of the arts, maintaining balance between the many diverse communities of Scotland. In addition, it funds cultural groups and events affiliated with immigrant communities and minorities in Scotland. It is the sponsor of two book awards:
- The Scottish Arts Council Book of the Year Award (worth £5,000);
- The Scottish Arts Council Children's Book of the Year Award (worth £10,000).
In January 2006, it was announced that the Scottish Executive would assume direct responsibility for the main national arts companies (Scottish Opera, Scottish Ballet, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra) and that the Arts Council was to be replaced by a new body to be called Creative Scotland. This change was made in response to the report issued by the Cultural Commission chaired by James Boyle. Creative Scotland is intended to take over the functions of the Scottish Arts Council in 2010.
Also in 2006, in response to repeated requests through the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 to disclose the basis of funding decisions, the Scottish Arts Council committed to increasing transparency and knowledge about its decision making. To support this, the Council published the outcomes of its strategic review on its website, which detailed the development of its policy, alongside assessments of organisations (individual artists’ grants were not considered as part of the Council’s review).
The Scottish Arts Council is based in Edinburgh.
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