Funding FAQ

Scene Stirling opportunities FAQs

Do i need to live in stirling to apply for the opportunities or take part in the pathways sessions?

The Pathways Sessions are open to anyone and free to attend, you don’t have to live in Stirling to take part.

To apply for our grants and commissions scheme, candidates should either live or work in the Stirling area, or have a demonstrable connection to Stirling (through studying, partnerships, collaboration projects, or personal links, but not limited to these). Scene Stirling’s funding is specifically targeted to support the local art scene and provide opportunities for local artists and creatives. You can still apply if you don’t meet the criteria and the project you propose will take place in Stirling or directly impact the local cultural scene, but please get in touch with us to discuss your idea if you have any doubts.

Can i apply for more than one funding opportunity?

You can apply for more than one scheme but you will most probably only be awarded one. The reason why we try and publish all of our opportunities at the same time is so that potential applicants have the time to consider which one would best fit their proposed project and aspirations, and make an informed decision. We would encourage you to get in touch with us if you are unsure of what opportunity would be most suitable for your idea.

what can and cannot be funded through the scene stirling grants?

What can be funded (not limited to):

Any type of art/creative form and medium
Equipment/materials
Printing/framing costs
Artists fees
Promotion costs
Schemes that improve access to activities (like subsidised places)
Website redevelopment (in some cases)

What cannot be funded (not limited to):

Overheads/running costs (if not part of a larger project)
Capital investment
Transport/expenses (if not part of a larger project)
Subscriptions (on their own)
Budget shortfalls for other projects funded through different grants

For full guidelines and eligibility criteria, click here. For examples of previous projects that were successfully supported, visit our Supported Creatives section. If still unsure whether your project would be fundable, please get in touch with our team.

What is the deadline for delivering my project?

With our commissions schemes, there is usually a clear timeframe to deliver the project and during the application process we ask you to confirm your availability to work towards the deadlines proposed.

For the Micro and Open Grants, we would usually expect that you would deliver your project within 6 months from the date you receive your award. However, for some projects that is not always realistic and we understand that and can allow some flexibility. Please state in your application the expected timescales for your project, if you can, to give us an indication. We also maintain a close relationship with our supported artists and creatives after the award and any changes to delivery timescales or delays can be discussed with our team.

who will be assessing my application?

The team at Scene Stirling manages Stirling’s Place Partnership and checks and processes all applications received but is not involved in the final reviewing process. The final decisions are made by panels composed of representatives of the Stirling’s Place Partnership organisations and funders. These are: Creative Scotland, Stirling Council (including Stirling Council cultural venues), Historic Environment Scotland, Creative Stirling, Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum, Macrobert Arts Centre, Forth Valley College, University of Stirling Art Collection, Big Noise Raploch. Each scheme of grants and commissions has its own decision-making panel.

This allows Scene Stirling to act as an impartial intermediary and support candidates throughout their application process.

will i be contacted if my application is not successful?

We contact all candidates, whether successful or not, via email and provide the opportunity to discuss feedback from the reviewing panel. Both successful and unsuccessful candidates are offered a 1-2-1 Zoom/phone call with a member of our team to discuss feedback on their application and help to plan next steps. This can be about discussing the delivery plans for a project that was awarded a grant or commission, or thinking of other ways in which a project we were not able to fund might be supported otherwise.

I have booked a ticket for a pathways session and was not able to attend/i have missed a pathways session. is there a recording that i can access?

We cannot always guarantee that we will be recording a Pathways Session. Some of the sessions we held have been recorded and some have not. This is because we need to have permission from all participants to do that and that is not always the case, for various reasons. Often our speakers are happy to share their presentation materials and we send follow up emails to everyone who booked a ticket for a session with information on how to access them, if available. If you have missed a specific session that you would like to have some follow up information about, please get in touch with us quoting the title of the session or the speaker, and we will do our best to share resources with you. We are also working on storing all available resources from our Pathways Sessions on a dedicated section of the website for everyone to access, so watch this space.