THE Scottish Arts Council unveiled an £8 million lottery pot yesterday to fund "inspiring" arts projects across Scotland.
Anyone from amateur dramatic societies to artists' collectives to mainstream arts bodies will be able to apply.
"Part of the excitement is we may enter the unknown here," said Jim Tough, the SAC's acting chief executive. "It's a unique opportunity
to come up with that really ambitious idea."
Projects that take the arts to children, the elderly, disabled or rural communities will be given priority, the SAC said. Initial proposals must be submitted by 8 May.
A major report in England commissioned from Sir Brian McMaster, a former director of the Edinburgh International Festival, last month called for "excellence" to be put at the heart of arts funding.
In contrast, the SAC's launch of the Inspire fund, was focused on "access", demanding "transformative projects" required to show "public benefit" and "lasting outcomes".
Three years in the making, the fund was embraced by the culture minister, Linda Fabiani.
She said: "I am particularly excited about the flexibility of this new Inspire fund, which will cultivate the best of Scottish arts, allowing creativity to flourish and reaching out to those not normally engaged in the arts."
The head of one SAC-funded organisation, who asked not to be named, said: "The Inspire material reads well, and it is saying all the right things. The danger is that the money goes to the usual suspects and yet ultimately has little impact on the ground."
Another critic complained that it "sounds like something left over from Labour days".
The £8 million over two years amounts to about a third of the £15 million in National Lottery funds distributed annually by the SAC. It comes from phasing out lottery funding for major capital projects.
The council cited research showing that elderly people or those with disabilities are 13 per cent less likely to participate in culture. In rural areas, 85 per cent of people participate in the arts, compared with 90 per cent across the nation, it said.
The SAC has suspended this year's Creative Scotland Awards, worth £30,000 to the winners. Officials stressed there was no connection with the Inspire fund, as the awards will be paid for this year by the Scottish Government.
The Inspire fund is simplified compared with targeted lottery funds in the past, said Iain Munro, the council's co-director of arts.
"It's really about the idea: it is a fantastic inspiring idea that's got creativity at its heart. That's what's important," he said.
Funding will cover 75 per cent of a project's costs.
SEED CASH FOR SUCCESSTHE NVA environmental arts group won £250,000 in Scottish Arts Council lottery funding for the Hidden Gardens project in Glasgow, launched with a light festival in 2003.
Creative director Angus Farquhar, veteran of major outdoor arts projects, called it the seed money for raising cash from 40 other funders. He said: "It sounds like this is moving in the right direction. If they have taken the cap off, that's good. It could lead to some very strong work being made in Scotland."
