Arts Council: Developing your Creative Practice (DYCP) is open for applications
19 October 2020 by Ed
Developing your Creative Practice (DYCP) supports individuals who are cultural and creative practitioners and want to take time to focus on their creative development.
About the fund
The fund supports creative practitioners thinking of taking their practice to the next stage to research, have time to create new work, travel, training, develop ideas, network or find mentoring.
Funding activity: Research and development opportunities, building new networks, creating new work
Grant range: £2,000 - £10,000
Eligibility: Individual artists and/or creative practitioners. You can find full eligibility criteria in the guidance for applicants. Organisations cannot apply.
What's changed?
ACE want to support as many individuals as we can at this time, especially those looking to reshape and redefine their work in our new environment. To do this, we’ve made some changes to the fund so we can support as many of you as we can.
Key Dates:
- Open For Calls: 12pm (midday), Thursday 15 October
- Deadline: 12pm (midday), Thursday 5 November
- Decision: w/c 21 December
Hear from successful applicants...
If you're looking for inspiration, we asked successful applicants from previous rounds to share why it was the right time for them to apply and how they made a good application.
You can download an Easy Read versions of our How to apply guidance.
Developing your Creative Practice: How to apply guidance:
Developing your Creative Practice and Access Support - download
ACE provide pre-application support for applicants with access needs, including covering the cost of access support workers. We also cover the cost of personal access costs associated with the project you are applying for.
The fund is for individuals who are cultural and creative practitioners and want to take time to focus on their creative development. If you’re thinking of taking your practice to the next stage, DYCP can help by supporting research, time to create new work, travel, training, developing ideas, networking or mentoring.
ACE know that Covid-19 has had a significant impact for individuals, and many will need to develop themselves and their work to respond to the new environment.
They want to support as many people as possible to reshape and redefine their work and continue to make a positive impact on creativity and culture.
To do this, ACE has made some changes to the fund so we can support as many of you as we can. Get the details below.
Who can apply
What do we mean by creative practitioner? The list included in the guidance has now been expanded to include DJs, performer/creators, arts and cultural educators, community practitioners/engagement specialists, movement directors, cultural conservators, creative enablers, creative technicians.
You also now only need to have had one years’ experience outside of a formal educational setting.
If you’re working in one of our supported artforms or disciplines and don’t see yourself in the list, get in touch and we can let you know if your practice is something we can support.
You can reapply throughout the year
Previously, you could only apply to DYCP twice within a 12-month period. But between October 2020 and October 2021 there are no restrictions on reapplying to DYCP.
You can still only make one application per round. But if you’re unsuccessful you can apply again in the next round, there are no restrictions on how may rounds you can apply to.
If you’ve previously been successful, these restrictions have been lifted too. So you can apply again immediately.
Want to apply?
If you think this fund is for you, take a look at our Guidance for applicants and make sure you and your activity meet the eligibility criteria.
Need some inspiration? Take a look at our case studies to see what we’ve funded through DYCP before.
Have a question? If you’ve read the guidance and you’re still not sure, get in touch.
