This year’s shortlists are made up of an exciting mix of exemplary projects and people utilising creativity to strengthen their local communities, economies, and wellbeing. From hosting online festivals to delivering creative toolkits to young people, and from opening brand-new cultural centres, to innovating artistic collaborations with health professionals, this year’s shortlists are the clearest case studies for the necessity of creativity to all of our lives.
The shortlists are:
- Best Arts Project
- Mole Valley Arts E-Live – Mole Valley District Council
- The Creative Cabin – East Devon District Council
- Necklace of Stars – Derbyshire County Council
- N17 – Haringey Council
- Create & Learn PlayKits – London Borough of Wandsworth (Arts Service)
- Festival of Hope – Bolton, Carlisle, Cheshire West and Chester, Lancashire and Sefton
- Dippy on Tour (North West) – Rochdale Borough Council & Link4Life Cultural Trust
- Barnsley Museums: Families in Lockdown – Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council
- Summer Hubs – Flintshire County Council
- The Box, Plymouth – Plymouth City Council
- Falling on your Feet – Durham County Council
- Sea Folk Sing – Kent, Medway, and Swale
- Best Arts Champion – Local Authority or Cultural Trust Worker
- Sara O’Donnell – London Borough of Wandsworth
- Andy Dawson – Inspire Youth Arts
- Paul Cowell – Medway Council
- Claudia Cartwright – Mole Valley District Council
- Best Arts Champion – Councillor
- Councillor Janet Emsley – Rochdale Borough Council
- Councillor Jonathan Simpson – London Borough of Camden
- Councillor Dale Heenan – Swindon Borough Council
- Councillor Karen King – Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council
Our Chair, Samuel West, said:
“After such a difficult year for all those in local authorities and the arts – a year of loss, postponement and distance – to be able to celebrate these shortlists, full of people and projects that brought us together in new and life-saving ways, is a real joy. We’d like to thank our partners for working hard to make this year’s awards happen, and especially the local authorities who have been adapting and promoting their arts services at a time when communities have needed them most. I am thrilled that Hearts for the Arts can show some love for the creativity, ingenuity and commitment of those on this year’s shortlists”
This year’s winners will be selected from the shortlist by a judging panel of key arts industry experts and practitioners, including:
- Le Gateau Chocolat, Drag artiste and cabaret performer
- Mariella Frostrup, Journalist and Broadcaster
- Paul Hartnoll, musician, composer, founder member of Orbital
- Adrian Lester CBE, actor and director
- Petra Roberts, Cultural Development Manager, Hackney Council (2020 winners for the Windrush Generations Festival)
- Samuel West, actor, director, Chair of the National Campaign for the Arts
The winners of the Hearts for the Arts Awards 2021 will be announced on Valentine’s Day, 14th February.
The National Campaign for the Arts present the Hearts for the Arts Awards each year. The awards are delivered by the NCA, in partnership with Culture Counts; the Local Government Association; Thrive; UK Theatre; Voluntary Arts Wales, Wales Council for Voluntary Action.
The 2020 Hearts for the Arts Award Winners were: Plymouth City Council’s Plymouth Music Zone; Hackney Council’s Windrush Generations Festival; Outside Edge – a collaboration between Hammersmith & Fulham, Westminster, and Kensington & Chelsea; Fife Cultural Trust’s Pauline Smeaton and Manchester City Councillor Luthfur Rahman. Read more about the 2020 Hearts for the Arts Awards here.
