THE Essex County Council (ECC) Arts and Cultural Fund, which is designed to support the cultural and creative sector, will enable the delivery of exhibitions, events and activities to engage communities and benefit residents.  

The county’s residents are to benefit from a range of arts and cultural events, activities and shows this year due to the Essex County Council (ECC) Arts and Cultural Fund.

Now in its second year, the Arts and Cultural Fund – which is part of ECC’s Everyone’s Essex and Levelling Up strategies – continues to support the county’s cultural and creative sector, to help its recovery following the pandemic, and enable more residents to access arts and cultural activities.

Essex residents and visitors can enjoy a range of free and low-cost festivals, events and exhibitions through organisations such as the Essex Book Festival, Thaxted Festival and Harlow Art Trust – along with many more – while schemes delivered by individual artists, like Shephali Frost, will develop a new world music project with communities across the county. Also, a project by Orchestras Live will see a new creative day-care programme in Brentwood launched, which will engage and support vulnerable people living with dementia.

Due to the Arts and Cultural Fund, the county’s cultural and creative sectors are increasingly being recognised as contributing to economic regeneration, helping alleviate mental and physical health issues and highlighting the importance of climate change action to the county’s residents.

The second round of the ECC Arts and Cultural Fund – which was open to small and large organisations, grassroots community groups, charities and start-ups as well as individual artists and practitioners – asked applicants to demonstrate how their projects would engage with communities across the country and benefit Essex residents.

Cllr Graham Butland, ECC Cabinet Member for Devolution, the Arts, Heritage and Culture, said: “Art and culture is of vital importance to the county, and I’m pleased that through the ECC Arts and Cultural Fund we are able to support activity across a wide range of artistic, cultural and creative disciplines.  

“The fact that we had so many high-quality applications to the fund again this year is testamentto the amount of highly skilled and creative art and cultural practitioners we have in Essex.

“Be it from countryside to coast, these Arts and Cultural Fund funded projects will enrich the lives of the county’s residents.”

For more information about the Essex County Council Arts and Cultural Fund visit www.explore-essex.com/arts-culture-fund.