The following grants are available to Latvian artists:
- the State Cultural Capital Foundation gives project grants in 8 different branches (see also chapter 1.2.2), also to individual artists; it also assigns lifetime grants to outstanding culture and art people for lifetime contribution to the development of culture and arts. The lifetime grant is paid each month in addition to the pension and other income and are not taxed.
- at municipal level, support for professional artistic development is modest, yet provides some support for both individual and joint projects. However, gradually more and more regional and city municipalities announce regular project competitions and give support to different spheres of professional artistic activity (e.g. Riga, Ventspils, Cesis, Liepaja etc.);
- There are several artists’ residences: International Writers’ and Translators’ House in Ventspils; Rucka Artist Residency in Cēsis; The Residency and workshop centre SERDE in Aizpute announcing grants for artists (depending on their funding possibilities);
- scholarships are provided by banks or other institutions. Several private foundations support artists, musicians or writers and award their own grants and prizes;
- since 2009, Baltic countries participate in the Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme in the field of Culture.
There are regular awards in nearly every art sector:
- In 2014, the Excellence Award in Culture was introduced. The goal of the award is to express national appreciation for outstanding international achievements in the culture field. A maximum of three prizes in culture may be granted annually, with a value of EUR 7000 euro large per award (after tax payments).
- There are annual awards — initiated by the unions of the respective branches and partly financed by the State Cultural Capital Foundation and private sponsors — in almost all the cultural branches, for example: the Grand Music Award, the National Film Festival, the Award for Achievements in Professional Theatre, the Purvīša Balva (a prize in visual arts), Literature Award, Cultural Heritage Award, The Folklore Award, Book Publishers Award and Architecture Award. In 2005, a new award (Adwards) was established by the Latvian Art Directors Club. Some of these awards include a cash prize.
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