Arts Council England - London
London\'s Government-funded visual art and crafts funders, Arts Council England supplies monies via its Grants for the Arts programme, recently cut by 35% in the face of money being redirected by government to the Olympics, making this even more competitive. In 2003/04, Grants for the Arts distributed £1.78 million to individual artists working in London through 316 awards (and £7.4 million to organisations through 445 awards, and £4 million for touring through 97 awards). In all, ACE received 2,500 application, including some that were ineligible. ACE are currently working to encourage more applications from freelance curators, project organisers and critics, who are currently under-represented in the funding allocation. Eligible projects include research and development, travel (including international), networking events and independent projects. They are also keen to support activities promoting critical debate on the production and presentation of contemporary visual art; for example, events, seminars, conferences, publications (paper based / electronic), periodicals, catalogues and artists\' books.