ArtHouse Jersey Development Grants support local projects across film, music, stage and crafts
Credit: Cleo Leather, The Story Beast, Jack Dallas Chapman, William Wheatley (clockwise)
We’re pleased to announce the successful artists who applied for the latest round of our Development Grants. This quarterly funding initiative offers financial assistance for local professional artists working across all creative disciplines. Grants can be used for artists to create new work, explore an idea, build skills and take the next step in their creative practice. Those interested in applying can find the guidelines and application form here.
Among those supported in this most recent round is a range of creative projects including skills development in animation and wild textiles, the recording of new music, short film production, an international performance trip and a live theatrical adaptation of a 12th Century poem.
Cleo Leather- Post production of the short film ‘STINKY’
Cleo Leather is film director, producer and cinematographer. Her production company, Red Leather Media, endeavors to produce female-led films with significant social impact. ‘Stinky’, follows a young woman's strained reunion with her father after his release from prison and the film was written by Lola Thatcher, based on her own experience of her relationship with her father post-release from prison. Beyond festivals, they want the film to be used as a resource in schools, prisons and aftercare programs and screened alongside the charities who work every day with families living these realities.
“This funding will transform a well-shot film into a festival-ready and usable asset for the impact and aftercare programs within our distribution campaign. It also directly supports my development as Jersey-based director, producer and director of photography talent, helping me build a stronger portfolio piece through professional-grade post-production”.
Amanda Bond - Skills development in wild textiles and the art of pressing flowers
Building on explorations into sustainable, traditional crafts over the last five years, Amanda Bond has been awarded funding towards undertaking training to develop her expertise in wild textiles and the art of pressing flowers. Amanda uses traditional skills such as wild basketry, flower pressing, cordage, natural pigments, hemp, flax, and nettle textiles to rekindle human connection to the land. She plans to share her new skills with others by running community workshops.
Nick Caunce (HOWL)- Recording a new Album/EP
HOWL is a rock band composed of musicians with over twenty years of experience in Jersey’s music scene. Their aim is to create and promote original music that showcases the talent and creativity of Jersey on a wider stage. By recording and releasing a professionally produced EP/album, they plan to build a body of work which will enable them to secure performances at festivals and venues further afield.
"We are extremely grateful for the grant awarded to us, which will make a significant contribution towards recording our new EP. The funding will allow us to record our latest material and capture the band’s current creative direction. Once completed, the EP will be released across major streaming platforms and shared with event organisers and promoters throughout the UK and Europe. Our aim is to use the EP to create new performance opportunities, introduce our music to a wider audience, and further develop the band’s reach."
John Mills (Musical Original Singers) to support singers Aisling O'Sullivan and Rebecca Arthur to perform at the Derry International Choral Festival
This funding will support two singers who are progressing towards a professional musical career to perform with the Musical Originals Singers at Derry International Choral Festival this month.
Aisling O'Sullivan is in her final year at Guildford School of Acting, studying Actor-Musicianship. After graduating next year she plans to audition for actor-musicianship work, alongside continuing to teach music and drama. “I have learnt so much from being a member of the Musical Originals Singers, under the inspiring leadership of Imogen Nicholls. The Choir has given me a truly rigorous training in singing and musicianship. I was especially proud to be a member of the Choir when it was awarded the accolade of 'Young Choir of the World 2025' at the 2025 Llangollen International Eisteddfod. That itself was a big step on my musical journey”.
Rebecca Arthur has just started her third year at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire as a composition student. She enjoys composing vocal and choral music and has recently started her own upper voices choir inspired by the Musical Originals Singers. After graduating she hopes to continue with her choir and undertake a masters in vocal studies. “The Musical Originals Singers has given me rigorous choral training as well as the opportunity to perform challenging contemporary music both at home in Jersey and also at competitions and choral festivals abroad”.
Images: Howl band, Aisling O'Sullivan, Rebecca Arthur
John Henry Falle- The Story Beast’s live adaptation of Roman de Rou, ‘Wace: The Norman Conquests’
John Henry Falle (The Story Beast) is an Edinburgh Comedy Award nominated poet and comedian. He has received a grant towards developing the live adaptation of the Norman epic poem, Roman de Rou known as ‘Wace: The Norman Conquests’.
“This grant helps fund The Story Beast's one-man adaptation of Wace's 12th Century poem Roman De Rou helping bring it into the 21st Century. I've become obsessed with this epic bean crock of Vikings, betrayals, sex scandals, angels, devils, dreams, prophecies and zombies. Wace even takes us inside the Bayeux Tapestry story giving us all the hottest goss of 1066, a drama that continues to grip us to this day. This grant goes towards developing the show, funding writing and rehearsal time, direction and dramaturgy to take it from the page to the stage. Performances will also coincide with 2027's European Year Of The Normans, celebrating a millennium since the birth of William The Conqueror.
“The work ArtHouse Jersey does supporting artists of all kinds is essential because as Wace reminds us, human beings die but the work of artists can survive that trip through eternity. Who knows what piece of art from today will come to define the Island eight centuries from now?”
William Wheatley- Skills development in stop-motion and modelmaking
William Wheatley is a recent graduate from Arts University Bournemouth with a Bachelor’s degree in Animation Production. He has received funding towards building his portfolio, enhancing his stop-motion animation, puppet making and modelmaking skills.
“Receiving funding from ArtHouse Jersey will allow me to build my portfolio for the coming year and prepare myself for a career within the stop-motion animation industry. Through the pursuit of three projects I will build multiple different skills and also promote the Island through my work. I will be able to secure materials for 3D model making, vital animation software and key equipment that go towards my craft. I aim to promote these projects locally, highlighting the importance of the moving arts and the beauty of handmade animation.”
Brendan Cooke- Recording, mixing and mastering new music
Brendan Cooke is a singer songwriter, recording artist, and performer, with a pop background. He has been awarded funding for the recording and mastering of two new songs which will enable him to reach a wider audience through various promotional avenues.
Jack Dallas Chapman and Louis Moir- Feature documentary ‘The Islanders’ set in Sark
Jack Dallas Chapman is the Creative Producer on The Islanders, a feature documentary exploring the lives of the people of Sark, developed with the lead producer Louis Moir. The documentary explores how an ancient way of life faces an uncertain future as outside investment, changing economics and social pressures threaten one of Europe’s last truly independent communities. They aim to make a film that shows a unique island for what it really is, a complex, beautiful place, shaped by the people who live there.
Images: William Wheatley, Brendan Cooke, Image: Jack Dallas Chapman and Louis Moir
