The promotion of individual artists is primarily the responsibility of the federal states and local authorities.
The Federal Government’s promotion of artists – in addition to the benefits for the social insurance for artists and indirectly through the funding of cultural institutions – takes place, for example, through the funding of stays abroad by artists living in Germany: in Italy (German Academy Villa Massimo in Rome, Casa Baldi in Olevano Romano, German Study Centre in Venice and Villa Romana in Florence), in France (Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris) and in Turkey (Villa Tarabya in Istanbul). In addition, since the seventies there has been a national acquisitions budget and a collection of contemporary art.
The focus of individual artist promotion is on the municipalities, regions, and federal states. There is a great variety of funding instruments available here: among other things, financial funding for art projects, the purchase of works of art, as well as the awarding of commissions and scholarships, the funding of exhibition and performance spaces, studios and production facilities, the announcement of competitions and sponsorship prizes, and the awarding of publication grants. Support is also provided by municipal art libraries and programmes such as Art in Buildings and Art in Public Spaces, and by business management advice for artists and financial support for business start-ups.
An example of individual support for artists is the funding programme for artists in the Ruhr area, which is open to all artistic professions and disciplines such as the fine arts, literature, music, performing arts, film, media art, architecture or design. It consists of twelve-month scholarships (1,500 euros per month) and a “fire brigade pot” (for small projects and distributions in case of financial shortages). Since its inception in 2016, the programme has supported more than 200 projects to the tune of around 2.1 million EUR with funds from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
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