Starcatchers joins over 80 Scottish organisations in an open letter over the imminent closure of the Creative Scotland Open Fund for Individuals.

We are very concerned by the announcement of the imminent closure of the Creative Scotland Open Fund for Individuals, the primary source of funding for individual artists and freelancers.

Starcatchers values all of the artists we work with, who are fundamental to the work we create and deliver. The ecology of the arts sector is already in a fragile and precarious state, these cuts will have further disastrous impact which will be irrecoverable.

Starcatchers has joined over 80 Scottish organisations in an open letter to express our grave and deep concern over the Scottish Government’s failure to provide certainty surrounding the £6.6 million Grant in Aid budget for Creative Scotland , resulting in the abrupt closure of the Open Fund for Individuals, the primary route to public funding for Scottish Artists to develop their projects.

The resilience of Scotland’s cultural sector is not infinite. Artists cannot continue to bear the burden of delayed and inadequate support. We strongly urge the Scottish Government to recognise the severity of this situation and take immediate action to release the necessary funds to Creative Scotland, allowing the Open Fund for Individuals to be reinstated.

This is a necessary first step towards securing the future of the arts in Scotland, but alone it is not enough to reverse decades of shrinking support. It is now more vital than ever that the Scottish Government follows through on its promises to “more than double” investment in arts and culture and we seek urgent clarification on the timeline and mechanisms for delivering the pledged £100m increase in funding by 2028-29.

Read the Open Letter here