Liverpool’s giants spectacular event has received a grant of £250,000 from Arts Council England.
The grant is part of an Exceptional Awards programme in which the Arts Council is choosing significant one-off events that don’t fit into their existing funding programmes. The awards help organisations create a one-off project on a large scale.
Sarah Maxfield, Area Director North of Arts Council England, told JMU Journalism: “The Exceptional Awards programme provides us with a unique opportunity to recognise truly remarkable ideas of national, or even international, importance; rewarding innovation and ambition in arts and culture.”
The grant the giant event has received is the maximum funding possible and is the first time the Arts Council have awarded this amount as part of the ‘exceptional’ programme.
Liverpool City Council applied for the grant to contribute towards the event as they matched the criteria of bringing art to a huge number of people and that it is of national importance.
Maxfield told JMU Journalism: “I’m delighted that the Arts Council is able to support a project of the scale and ambition of Memories of August 1914, which is set to engage and inspire audiences as they follow the giants around the city.”
In their feedback, Liverpool City Council said they felt that Memories of August 1914 provides exceptional opportunities and quality for people who engage with the arts.
The Memories of August 1914 will take place from 13-27 July, marking 100 years since the outbreak of the First World War. The show will act as the finale for the 2014 International Festival of Business, which is estimated will bring over 250,000 visitors to the city in June and July.