EUR 38.5 Million in Grants for Arts and Science
In February 2018, The Finnish Cultural Foundation will pay out a total of EUR 26 million in grants from its Central Fund, which is one million euros more than in the previous year. Additionally, the regional funds will award a further EUR 12.5 million in grants.
Grants have been awarded to 1,090 individuals, working groups or organisations based on applications received by the Central Fund in October 2017. The acceptance rate of applications was 14% for science and 11% for the arts, with variations depending on the field; in fine art, for example, the acceptance rate was between five and eight per cent. A total of 8,895 applications were received. There was an increase in applications within the arts, compared to a decrease of some four hundred applications in the sciences.
The largest grant, totalling EUR 240,000, was awarded to Globe Art Point for establishing a living lab and databank related to new Finnish art and culture. Globe Art Point is an association of foreign artists living and working in Finland. The initiative, planned to take place between 2018 and 2020, will be designed and managed by the association’s Managing Director, Tomi Purovaara. The initiative aims to increase the linguistic and cultural diversity of Finland’s art institutions and projects by promoting the integration of non-Finnish artists in Finland, and their collaborations with local artists, among other things. Such diversification will support the inclusion of people from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds in the Finnish arts field.
This year, the largest grants in the science sector were awarded in the sphere of agriculture. This is due to additional funding of EUR 1 million revealed in October 2017, intended for extensive research projects related to farming, particularly within the fields of soil and pollinator health, crop diversity, climate change adaptation, and the ecological or ecosystemic impacts of pesticides and fertilizers.
The scientific sector received 54% of the grants, while 46% went to the arts. The average grant amount was EUR 24,000 for science, and EUR 17,100 for the arts. Women accounted for 58% of grantees, which was at the previous year’s level. Non-Finnish applicants made up 10% of applications and 9% of grantees.
Besides the grants awarded by the Central Fund at the annual gala, the Cultural Foundation provides funding for applicants from the Foundations’ Post Doc Pool and the Post Docs in Companies Pool. This brings the grant total for the Central Fund up to EUR 26 million, which is one million euros higher than in 2017. Additionally, the regional funds will award EUR 12.5 million in grants over the spring, representing an increase of half a million euros.
A list of awarded grants can be found (in Finnish) at skr.fi/myonnot.
