Council awards 2022 Wandsworth Arts Fringe grants

Wandsworth Council has distributed the cash among 18 creative companies, including local community organisations and internally-acclaimed artists for projects taking part in the council’s flagship arts festival.

The grants give a taste of some of the artists and performers audiences can expect to see in this year’s event including:

• Disability-led theatre group The Baked Bean Company
• A street party on Battersea High Street in collaboration with Riverside Radio
• An eco-fashion show led by disabled artists from Share Community with support from the Royal College of Art
• Windows of the Soul, a collaboration by visually-impaired artists, sighted artists, doctors and patients
• Two projects commemorating the 50^th anniversary of Pride in London: Shed Project’s radical quilt-making workshop and Garry Thomas’s new play Wrestling for Pleasure
• Visit libraries on Saturday afternoons for a chat with artist Leon Clowes
• Back to the Beginning from Sound Minds reflecting on our social and cultural heritage
• Black Heroes Foundation present Stories of Wikndrush: The Story of Flip Fraser
• Spoken word events from John Agard and Renaissance One
• The WAF Dance Showcase including Ballet Soul’s Othello21 – a contemporary retelling of Shakespeare’s play
• Ballet Soul will also offer free movement workshops to 200 young musicians from the World Heart Beat Music Academy
• Wandsworth recording studio On Da Beat will host a series of hybrid live/digital open studio workshops
• Marcus Megastar presents The Music of the Night featuring Wandsworth’s Gemini Dancers
• Wandsworth Street Concerts will bring classical music to Wandsworth town centre
• All Saint’s Church is running an eco-inspired music festival
• Jellyfish Theatre’s Wagon of Dreams returns to Wandsworth housing estates to entertain the little ones.
• Vintage Vendetta’s Meg and Magic Toyshop for offers interactive theatre for under 5s in borough libraries
• Roehampton Resounded is an immersive art and sound journey through Roehampton and the Alton Estate
• Sol Golden’s Sato’s giant painting Happy Feet can be seen at the Alton Arts Hub

Happy Feet

The WAF Grants are funded directly by Wandsworth Council, primarily through the Wandsworth Grant Fund, which sets aside £20,000 to support WAF activity each year, with a maximum award of £2,000 per project.

This year, WAF has been able to award an additional £12,382 to successful applicants as part of Wandsworth Council’s commitment to supporting the cultural ecology in the borough get back on its feet after COVID-19 limited cultural and community life for many Wandsworth residents.

Wandsworth Council’s Cabinet Member for Community Services and Open Spaces, Councillor Steffi Sutters said: “After two years of digital, hybrid and socially distanced festivals, we are thrilled to be safely bringing WAF back into our theatres, pubs, schools and galleries once again, as well as on our streets and screens.

“The WAF Grants support some of the most exciting and ambitious projects taking place in the borough this June, including some inspired collaborations between our creative communities and established artists.

Othello21

“This year, we welcome back creatives working at an international scale, alongside homegrown talent and WAF veterans - and I can’t wait to see them transform our borough for WAF’s thirteenth year.”

Tickets for Wandsworth Arts Fringe 2022 will go on sale on Weds 27 April 2022.

Find out more about the 2022 festival at www.wandsworthartsfringe.com