grants
28
finnish cultural foundation
annual report 2013–2014
T
he Central Fund received 8,700 grant appli-
cations by the deadline in October, nearly
400more than in the previous year. Grants
were this time awarded to 1,060 persons, teams
or associations.
Funds were sought more than ever for science,
and especially for work on a doctoral disserta-
tion; science also received more funding than
before. Science accounted for 52% and the arts
for 47% of the funds awarded. As in the previous
year, the largest number of applications was for
drama. Grants were awarded to about 12% of
the applicants in both science and the arts. The
biggest sum was for work on a doctoral disser-
tation (31%), followed by artistic work (25%).
Women represented 57% of the applicants, i.e.
the same percentage as in the previous year, while
8% of the recipients were foreigners.
In addition to the grants awarded at the annual
gala, the Cultural Foundation finances applicants
from the two common pools established by the
Finnish foundations, the Post Doc Pool and the
Professor Pool, both to the sum of EUR 2 million
this year.
Catapult and other large grants
The only Catapult grant went this year to the Key
Ensemble, a chamber choir from Turku that was
awarded EUR 150,000 for the establishment of
professional choral activities. The same sumwas
also awarded to the Foundation for the Finnish
Cultural Institute in New York for a residence
project for Finnish visual artists, to IhmeFilmi
ry for a film education project for young people,
and to the Kunsthalle Helsinki Foundation for the
diversification of exhibition activities.
Dance House (Tanssin talo) was awarded a
grant of EUR 120,000, bringing its Cultural Foun-
dation funding up to a total of EUR 550,000 over
the period 2011–2014. The objective of this
project is to establish an action centre and prem-
ises occupying a strong role in the promotion of
dance both nationally and internationally. The
grant now awarded was to initiate activities.
Ten million from the regional funds
The Finnish Cultural Foundation’s 17 regional
funds likewise received a record number of appli-
cations: 9,100. They awarded grants to about
1,100 applicants to a total of EUR 10 million.
In other words, 13% of the applicants were
successful. The biggest grants were on average
awarded by the Häme Regional Fund (13,600), the
smallest by Uusimaa (5,900). The keenest compe-
tition was in North Ostrobothnia, where only 6%
of the grants applied for could be awarded, and in
Uusimaa, where the sum distributed amounted
to only 4% of that sought. In honour of the 75th
anniversary of the Finnish Cultural Foundation the
regional funds each awarded one or two jubilee
grants of EUR 30,000–40,000.
Number of applications
growing from year to year
At its annual gala on February 27, 2014, the Central Fund awarded
grants totalling EUR 22 million to over a thousand applicants.
The regional funds awarded a further EUR 10 million to around 1,100.
Nanna Susi is a successful Finnish visual artist.
She was Foundation's grantee as an art student
in 1995.
