Sponsorship Brochure

Transcription

1 Sponsorship Brochure

2 About the Festival Edinburgh Art Festival is a unique celebration of the visual arts, delivered in partnership with the city s leading galleries, museums and artist-run spaces. Founded in 2004, we are the youngest of Edinburgh s summer festivals, and over the past ten years we have grown to become the UK s largest annual festival of visual art, recording nearly 300,000 attendances at over 40 exhibitions and 20 venues throughout August We engage new audiences with the visual arts, support artists to deliver ambitious projects and champion Edinburgh as a destination for the production and exhibition of quality visual art. We foster a sense of pride in the city: among those interviewed face to face during 2015, 88% agreed or strongly agreed that Edinburgh Art Festival offers something different to the rest of Edinburgh s summer festivals. Press coverage for the festival continues to grow, with over 330 articles in Peter Liversidge, Flags for Edinburgh, 2013 Festival time is a chance to explore and experiment; a uniquely intense experience offering a huge variety of styles, mediums and periods, from work by Turner Prizewinners to young and emerging artists, with internationally significant work and historical displays. Edinburgh was once an art desert at festival time. Yes, there were alternative comedians hiding under every manhole cover, but if you were a lover of the visual arts there was little reason to go. Until 2004, when the Edinburgh Art Festival was founded, and everything got better. Waldemar Januszczak, The Sunday Times

3 Edinburgh isn t just about the fringe... The city is also colonised by the visual arts... The Edinburgh Art Festival the largest in the UK is over a decade old and currently filling galleries and a host of temporary spaces with work by historical, established and less wellknown names from Scotland and beyond. Louisa Buck, The Telegraph Luxury

4 Public Commissions Charles Avery, Tree No. 5 (from the Jadindagadendar), 2015 At the heart of our programme is a dual commitment to quality and access, and in the past five years we have become increasingly recognised for our annual commissions programme, which presents ambitious visual art projects outside of the usual gallery environment. Our commissions are publicly-sited, providing a very special backdrop for contemporary artists to experiment and develop new ideas. The programme widens participation in the visual arts: the commissions attract a younger less engaged audience (39% are under 35, compared to 17% in galleries) with 78% of infrequent arts attendees surveyed saying they would be more likely to attend galleries throughout the year as a result of attending the festival. The commissions programme provides access to ambitious and challenging artwork: 89% of those surveyed in 2015 said the festival allowed them to see artists they wouldn t otherwise be able to with 81% agreeing that the festival makes visual art more accessible.

5 There is always something to discover amid the cacophony of shows, and this year is no exception. Karen Wright, The Independent

6 Talent Development Platform: 2015, install shot We have had an important developmental role in the careers of many of the artists we have commissioned, offering them a high-profile setting to experiment with ambitious new projects. Building on this success, in 2015 we established a new initiative dedicated specifically to supporting emerging talent. The pilot, Platform: 2015, offered four early-stage artists from across Scotland the opportunity to present their work within the context of the festival programme. The exhibition offered a genuine opportunity for talent development, with curatorial and technical support available throughout. As well as featuring prominently in the calendar of opening events, the exhibition was also attended by a delegation of nine high profile international curators and gallery directors. Encouragingly, of those surveyed, 99% stated that they were either satisfied or very satisfied with the work they saw. In the great agglomeration of shows and events that make up Edinburgh Art Festival, it s encouraging to see an initiative to place the work of emerging artists right in the festival hub The List

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8 Explorers As part of our commitment to increasing access to the festival and visual art, in 2013 we introduced Explorers, a programme designed to create a sense of ownership of Edinburgh Art Festival amongst local family and community groups and to develop engagement, participation and inclusion. An early experience of visual art can have a profound effect on young people s understanding of creativity, and our workshops provide families with accessible enriching opportunities to engage directly with inspiring ideas about art, with activities they can take home and use again in their daily lives. Since 2013, EAF Explorers has engaged with more than 2000 individuals, providing workshops for families, as well as children and young people aged between 4 and 16. We are committed to making visual art accessible for all, and we run dedicated workshops for children with complex global support needs, as well as for children who have been excluded from mainstream education. Looking forward, our ambition is to expand our reach outwith the city centre to foster a sense of ownership amongst communities who do not currently access the festival.

9 The Art Late Tour was fantastic and one of my favourite things I did this August in Edinburgh Online survey respondent, 2015 Miaox Miaox, Art Late South, 2015

10 Events Our daily programme of events is an increasingly popular feature of the festival, with 128 special events programmed in 2015 attracting over 2,500 attendances. Audience research demonstrates our continued success in engaging new audiences with the visual arts, with the festival attracting a more diverse demographic profile than ever before, and our innovative programme of events is crucial to building these new audiences. The programme of cross-genre events offers significant opportunity for cross audience development with other festivals such as the Fringe, International and Book festivals, and we continue to build our event profile through media partnerships with The Skinny and The List. Looking forward, our ambition is to continue to expand core festival events such as Art Late throughout August, as well as to begin programming talks and events out with the timeframe of the festival; allowing us to reach Edinburgh s student population who may not be present during the month of August. Phill Jupitus, Detours, 2015 It is a wonderful part of Edinburgh's August offerings. As an artist myself there were things in the Festival which made me proud of Edinburgh/ Scotland. Also events I went to gave me an opportunity to talk to lots of different people, there were wonderful discussions on some of the tours I went on. It was genuinely community building and a great way to explore the city in a different way. I appreciated that many events were free. Edinburgh is an expensive place in August. Online Survey Respondant, 2015

11 Krijn de Koning, Land, 2013

12 Become an EAF Partner Every year, the festival works with a variety of funders and sponsors who support us to commission ambitious new work, as well as encouraging audiences to visit new galleries, discover new artists and see the city differently. By supporting Edinburgh Art Festival companies will: Support the continued development of Edinburgh as a world class cultural destination for residents and visitors alike Raise their profile amongst new audiences Support talent development amongst artists at all stages of their careers Provide a platform for increasing engagement with visual art Enhance cultural activity and quality of life within Edinburgh Create opportunities to host corporate events in some of Edinburgh s most unique spaces The festival is keen to develop meaningful partnerships with funders, and we are committed to working directly with our funding partners to build bespoke packages that help companies meet their individual funding objectives.

13 To discuss sponsorship opportunities in more detail please contact: Rosheen Murray Development Officer