In the week that WalesArtsReview announced its closure due to insufficient funding, the arts community in Wales felt rather bleak. The timing of this display of austerity was particularly apt, in the lead up to Christmas when everyone’s pursestrings tighten.

The loss of this wonderfully diverse platform for critical discussion of the arts in Wales has caused genuine sadness. Watch our twitter feed for more reactions to this news and an upcoming blog post regarding WalesArtsReview, the Welsh Books Council and all of Gary Raymond‘s hard work that brought us writing from an incredibly talented array of contributors.

However, spirits have been raised by the announcement that a new Critics Fund – candidly titled the Critics Fund – is conditionally set to launch, with your help.

A total sum of just £500 will allow the Critics Fund to launch, in conjunction with the Wales Theatre Awards 2015.

“This new Fund will be used to enable travel, accommodation and mentoring for critics, whether young writers, students or freelances, working in Welsh and in English, to see and review more performances across Wales.”

The fund has been initially backed and sponsored by Welsh arts institutions such as Sherman Cymru, Wales Millennium Centre, Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Trinity St David University, the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Ballet Cymru, National Theatre Wales, Buzz Magazine, CCQ, the New Theatre and The Riverfront, to name but a few.

All the money raised via organisations will be spent on the critics’ bursaries, so to truly get this fund up and running, the Wales Theatre Awards needs our help.

The relatively small amount of £500 will allow critics the opportunity to attend the Wales Theatre Awards in Cardiff in January. The event will not only announce the critically selected award winners, but also be used as the platform to launch the Critics Fund itself.

The award ceremony will take place at the Sherman Theatre in Cardiff on the 31st January 2015. Tickets are available in exchange for a pledge to the Critics Fund, as explained below:

You have 28 days to donate to this sincerely deserving fund. At this stage, $180 has already been pledged – almost halfway to the target!

The pledge system is an ingenious two-way street; simple donations are accepted, but you can also support the campaign and receive rewards in exchange. So, for example, a £25 pledge is worth a Bronze Level Chapter Friend membership. A £50 pledge will make you a patron of the Wales Theatre Awards and the Critics fund. For just £60, you and a guest can enjoy a two-course meal followed by the magical Matthew Bourne ballet production of Edward Scissorhands at the Wales Millennium Centre.

After seeing the production firsthand a few years ago and subsequently being blown away by its spectacular beauty, THE ART DIFF will definitely have the latter on our christmas list. With many more rewards on offer, there is something for every discerning arts lover this Christmas.

Find out more about the wide range of rewards available and more importantly, pledge via the Critics Fund campaign site.

The Critics Fund is allocated specifically to those who wish to write about theatre, dance and opera. Although the fund is not all-encompassing – for obvious financial reasons – it is illustrative of the growing desire to develop a viable critical discussion of the arts in Wales.

Despite no connection with WalesArtsReview, some hope the Critics Fund will help to pick up where the journal left off, in encouraging young writers to immerse themselves in the Welsh nation’s cultural output.

To read more about the inspirational work of the Wales Theatre Awards, read this piece from the WalesArtsReview by Dylan Moore.

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