Young people support Scotland’s young creative stars

Creative Scotland’s Nurturing Talent Fund supports creative 11 -25-year-olds to develop their passions and talents in their chosen medium. These include short film making, recording songs in professional studios, producing music videos and attending masterclasses.

The Nurturing Talent Fund was developed and is managed by the National Youth Arts Advisory Group (NYAAG) who directly support the creative ideas and ambitions of young people in Scotland.

NYAAG represent a voice for young people in shaping the future of culture and arts in Scotland and is made up of 35 passionate volunteers, aged 14-23.

The Nurturing Talent Fund was created in 2014 as part of Time to Shine, the National Youth Arts Strategy. Since then, it has supported hundreds of exciting and creative ideas led by young people, including film-making, music production, publishing, poetry, photography collections, recording demos and hosting dance shows.

We are excited to be able to keep on supporting young creatives during this challenging time with our fund, we cannot wait to hear about your projects and help you make them turn into reality. We hope that our fund will continue to expand young people’s access to the arts creating a wide variety of opportunities. Sofia Cotrona, NYAAG Member

During 2020, over £38,000 has been given to the following creative young people from across Scotland, including:

Lewis Collins, Artist, creating a youth leadership group that aims to inspire more young people with an interest in art to have a go at new artforms.
FAT AND DEAD, Filmmakers, a collaboration between LGBT+ performers, musicians and artists to produce a short horror film.
Siri Black and Kein Denier, Artists, creating an artist publication that expands upon a seminar they organised as part of an exhibition of their work in January 2020.
A young designer from Autonomous Design Group, supporing grassroots community engagement projects with graphic design.
Jack Tully, Photographer, exploring food, home and culture through sound, photography and taste.
Rose Sharkey, Performer, running 'Reverb' play in an environmentally friendly way to encourage sustainable practice within the arts.
Kick The Door Theatre, producing 'On the Backs of Giants' – a short play for children dealing with themes of climate change, Scottish heritage and community.
Laura Aicha-Farruga, producing ‘Sigh’ – a short film depicting the failed birthday of Scottish housewife Moira.
Jonny Walker, Sculptor, producing an exhibition exploring queerness, intimacy and ecology, consisting of several large-scale, soft-bodied, robotic sculptures.
Luke O’Brian, Jamie Bankhead, Connie Reid, Mathew Jenkins, Sam Gainty, Adam Finch, Stephen Macleod, Angus Connor & Clyde Hoskin, creating a game to gamify the physiotherapy routines for children with Cystic Fibrosis.
Jen Athan, Filmmaker, creating 'Butterfly' – a short film about the struggles of mental health whilst studying.
Berend Young, Musician, creating a collaborative Hip Hop project and a music video.
Tabitha Johnson, Lulu Johnson, Daisy Anderson & Artur Vavilov, a young gipsy jazz band creating a CD of their work.
Erin McIntyre, Dancer, bringing a celebrity street dancer to her street dance class.
Maya Chillingworth, Filmmaker, taking part in a placement with Susie Films.
Chris Silver, Artist, creating a series of portrait paintings and ready-made sculptures.
Olivia Middleton, Filmmaker, creating a short visual project tackling the stigma of miscarriage.
Zacharia Ronan, Musician, recording the last two tracks for their debut album.
Lucy Grainge, running workshops to assist fellow young people in creating an arts magazine.
Alice Taylor, Artist, creating a project on women ornithologists Evelyn Baxter and Leonora Rintoul.
Glasgow Youth Film Festival Youth Board, hosting a roundtable event for young filmmakers who are starting out in the industry.
Behaviour Productions, producing an immersive black comedy theatre performance that focuses on a group of female friends.
Maria J. Wolonciej, creating an architecture platform with light-hearted articles illustrated with author artwork, for architecture students and enthusiasts.
Arwen Seilman, learning more about tap dancing and sharing learning with others.
Emma Porter, Filmmaker, creating a film about Springburn's history with young people acting out the different parts.
Liam Rees, Theatre, developing ‘Tank Life’ theatre show about mental health, neurodiversity, and an octopus trying to escape its tank.
Andrea Cano Molino, Theatre, creating ‘The Witch Trials’ stories of real women in Europe who were unjustly sentenced to death during the witch-hunts.
Arts End of Somewhere, a collective of young people with additional support needs who are publishing a book for people with complex learning disabilities.
Isabel Mcleish, Artist, attending the residency with 'La Wayaka Current' in the Atacama Desert to learn from indigenous knowledge and explore the culture.
Maisie Wilson, Director, attending the ‘Directing the Documentary’ online intensive course.
Chloe Mann, Designer, creating vinyl decal stickers which can be used for companies and for personal use.
Meabh Breathnach, Artist, travelling to Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop to work with the technicians in the foundry.
Fiadha McLysaght, Writer, launching an essay and poetry publication about experiences of the LGBT community.
Taylor Waggoner, Theatre, starting a theatre company that will create theatre from pieces of historical or cultural interest.
Elizabeth Ann Day, Artists, supporting Volk Gallery – a non-institutional arts venue based in Dundee
Tahliah Simumba, Artist, creating THE ULTIMATE ANGELS – an audio-visual, durational performance work which explores sub-genres of queer identity.
Julie Cumming, Writer, creating ‘From Home’ - a book of interviews with people in Atholl, sharing stories of making their life in rural Scotland.
Elizabeth Penman, Filmmaker, making an online documentary series for other young people, that explores how wildlife filmmaking is done.
Georgia Smith, Theatre, engaging with other young female actors and writers by inviting them to submit and preform pieces online themed around women in Scotland and burnout.
Michiel Turner, Musician, creating a collective of musicians and artists that can collaborate using a website dedicated to collaborative projects.
Luc Lynch-Rice, Filmmaker, creating a BMX film using analogue techniques such as super 8 film and Mini DV tapes.
Sean Ellcombe, Painter, creating an exhibition to celebrate the domestic window.
Rufus Elliot, Musician, recording a collaborative album alongside Harry Gorski-Brown.
Melanie Toutakova, Filmmaker, creating an immersive short film following a young woman as she meets her estranged childhood friend.
Sanoja Chhetri, Artist, infusing art, poetry and medicine to promote a sense of wellbeing and happiness.
Khadea Tesbasi Kuchenmeister, bringing people from the African diaspora in Edinburgh together to explore food autoethnography/autobiography.
Joe Christie, creating a production about ‘coolness’ and how it impacts daily lives.
Kathrine Payne, running a theatre-making course, including introductions to writing, devising and movement in theatre.