Major £280k investment for Caithness and Sutherland as new Culture Collective launches
A major new investment of just over £280,000 from the Scottish Government, through Creative Scotland, will support a new cohort of creative practitioners embedded within communities across Caithness and Sutherland, following a successful award through the Culture Collective programme.
The Caithness and Sutherland Culture Collective, led by Lyth Arts Centre in partnership with Lairg Learning Centre, Timespan (Helmsdale), Strathnaver Museum (Bettyhill), and Latheron, Lybster and Clyth Community Development Company will support five artists to work directly with communities over a 15-month period. The programme represents a significant boost for the region, bringing sustained, locally embedded creative activity to communities across the region.
Each artist will be based within a community setting, working collaboratively with local people to explore issues that matter most to them, from environmental change and cultural heritage to community wellbeing, identity and local futures. A dedicated Project Coordinator will support the delivery of the programme, alongside the wider partnership network.
The Culture Collective model places artists at the heart of communities, enabling long-term, meaningful engagement rather than short-term projects. By working in this way, the programme aims to create new opportunities for communities to shape cultural activity and influence local decision-making.
This new initiative builds on a growing recognition of Caithness and Sutherland as a hub for socially engaged and place-based creative practice. By working at a regional level, the Culture Collective will connect communities across the far North while remaining rooted in local needs and priorities.
Charlotte Mountford, Director of Lyth Arts Centre, said: “This is a hugely exciting opportunity for Caithness and Sutherland. This programme will support artists and communities to work together over a sustained period of time, building relationships, confidence and creative approaches to the issues that matter most locally. We’re particularly proud to be working in partnership with organisations across the region to deliver something that is truly community-led.”
The programme will begin later this year with a development phase, bringing together artists, partners and communities to shape the work collaboratively before residencies begin.
Further information about artist recruitment and opportunities to get involved will be announced in the coming months.
