Fourteen arts and business partnerships from across South
Africa now have the added value of a BASA Supporting Grant.
The latest round of grants once again underscores the
diversity of arts projects in South Africa – as well as the multi-faced forms
that the all-important arts and business partnerships can take.
“The supporting grants not only aid arts organisations by enhancing
their budget, but also continue to strengthen an extraordinary relationship”
says Carol Mokwena, who heads up the Supporting Grant Process at BASA.
Unlike a conventional grant scheme, the BASA Supporting
Grant scheme was created with the very specific goal of developing business
sponsorship of the arts. Grants are only awarded to specifically add value to
an already existing relationship between an arts project and a business (or
several businesses).
Amongst the successful projects that met these requirements
was the Madlokovu Youth Development Foundation’s Artist Incubator and
Development Project, based in KwaZulu-Natal.
The current round of recipients also includes a literary
event – the Knysna Literary Festival which made the application with sponsor
Pam Golding Properties and has, as one of its aims, the stimulation of literacy
amongst the town’s children. The Cape Town Carnival Trust has received a grant
for the annual, widely supported Cape Town Carnival. The application was made
with an array of sponsors - Naspers, M-Net, DSTV, City of Cape Town and the
Provincial Arts and Culture, once again showcasing how different sponsors can
come together to make an application with an arts project.
The BASA Supporting Grants are open to any arts project or
arts practitioner working with an appropriate business sponsor to ensure their
project is financially viable. Once this is in place, the BASA Supporting Grant
can be applied for, with the specific intention of adding value to the business
that has come on board in support of the arts in South Africa. This can be
through the form of using the grant for marketing and publicity, developing an
education programme to go along with the project, extending the run of a
project that carries the sponsoring business’s name - and many other options.
To apply for a BASA Supporting Grant, both the arts
applicant and the sponsor must complete the application forms, which are
designed to encourage the two partners to work together and identify areas of
potential benefit – and are now available in English, isiZulu and seSotho.
Business and Arts South Africa allocates funds to the project once it has
assessed how the partnership benefits both the sponsor and the recipient.
Applications must be made at least 12 weeks before the start of a project.
In addition, successful partnerships are also encouraged to
enter the 2013 Business Day BASA Awards, supported by Anglo American.
Closing date for the next cycle is January 17, 2013. For
application forms and guidelines log on to www.basa.co.za
NB: BASA offices will
be closed until January 7, 2013.For more information on BASA’s supporting
grants please email or contact Carol Mokwena on grants@basa.co.za or 011 447 2295.
Posts
