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This spring, the Ministry of Education and Culture and the Arts Promotion Centre Finland (Taike) have continued preparing for the restructuring of Taike’s arts councils. The background to the restructuring is the external evaluation of Taike (Agency Taking Shape) published in 2021, the related hearings and the opinion rounds held in autumn 2023.

In February, the Arts Promotion Centre Finland (Taike) requested nominations for candidates to its national and regional arts councils for the 2025–2026 term from significant actors in the arts sector. The deadline for nominations was 31 May 2024.

During the spring, it has been possible to apply for artist grants and regional grants from the Arts Promotion Centre Finland (Taike). Grant decisions will be sent to applicants at slightly different times depending on the processing schedules of the different arts councils.

Suomen Yrittäjät – the Federation of Finnish Enterprises and the Creative Net project of the Arts Promotion Centre Finland (Taike) are organising the Eloon! tour, which brings together actors from traditional business sectors with representatives of the arts, culture and the creative industries. The goal is to come up with new solutions to the challenges of regional vitality. The tour will take place this autumn and visit Lappeenranta, Jyväskylä, Rovaniemi and Rauma.

Here we answer frequently asked questions regarding this autumn’s calls for applications.

The Central Arts Council has appointed the national arts councils and regional arts councils operating under the Arts Promotion Centre Finland (Taike) for the 2025–2026 term. The 20 arts councils have 174 members in total. The main task of the arts councils is to decide on the awarding of grants and prizes. Members of the arts councils are artists and art experts, and their work is based on the principle of peer reviews.

Calls for applications for communities closed at the end of October and beginning of November. Eight forms of support were available, and a total of 1139 applications were submitted to the Arts Promotion Centre Finland (Taike). The number is around a hundred fewer than a year ago, primarily due to changes made to the forms of support.

Library grants are intended for writers and translators to support their creative literary work.

The national arts councils of the Arts Promotion Centre Finland (Taike) have awarded state prizes for 2024 to distinguished artists and art communities. State prizes are awarded in recognition of outstanding artistic work within the past three years, a long meritorious artistic career, or a contribution to a specific artform. The combined value of the state prizes is 250,000 euros.

The Arts Promotion Centre Finland (Taike) has further clarified the distribution of appropriations for 2025. The priorities aim to ensure the preservation of key structures, a regional balance and the possibility of renewal. Due to the scale of the budget cuts, they will still impact the work opportunities of artists, as well as the nationwide availability of art and culture.

Public display grants to visual artists can be applied for using the new Applyforgrants.fi service as of next spring.

Changes have been made to calls for applications for grants. Grants for mobility are being offered for the last time; in future, support for internationalisation and foreign travel can be applied for in the form of project grants. As a result of the change, applications will be reviewed within individual arts councils. Changes have also been made regarding applications for grants for multidisciplinary art projects.