Photography, poetry, film and comedy among projects supported by ArtHouse Jersey Development Grants

We’re pleased to announce the latest round of Development Grant awards, supporting an exciting variety of homegrown creative talent across photography, literature, film, theatre, and comedy. These grants nurture artistic talent by offering financial assistance for artists working in any discipline to support the creation of new work or for the development of their creative process.

Andy Lowe -Short film 'Bread'

Andy Lowe is a local writer-director who has been awarded funding towards ‘Bread',  a short survival drama set in the late 19th to early 20th century. The film follows two men driven to violence over a single piece of bread in an isolated landscape, exploring desperation, morality, and the fragility of civility under extreme conditions. 

"This funding will provide invaluable support for my development as a writer-director and help me continue creating ambitious independent films in Jersey. I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity and excited to continue building my career while contributing to Jersey’s growing creative community."

Katie Bastiman- New collections of poetry

Katie Bastiman is a writer, poet, and teacher with a passion for language and an academic background in Italian literature. She has received a grant towards working with an editor and illustrator for her new collections of poetry. 

"I am delighted and so grateful to have been awarded this funding, which will allow me to prepare new poetic works for publication. With this support from ArtHouse Jersey, I will develop and refine two manuscripts, in which I will engage with new subjects, themes, and approaches to poetic structure and form. Thanks to this funding, I will be able to grow as a writer and share my work with readers locally and further afield.

Joss J. MacDonald- Training at Identity School of Acting

Joss J. MacDonald is an Actor, physical theatre practitioner and puppeteer from Jersey now based in London. This funding will support training at Identity School of Acting to further develop his creative practice, with a focus on screen acting. He has a particular interest in creature performance and how this can be translated over to filmed work. 

“I want to thank ArtHouse Jersey for helping me begin my part time training at the Netflix accredited drama School Identity. This training will provide a valuable opportunity to reconnect with a high-level professional environment, broaden my industry network, and experience new methodologies and approaches to screen performance that differ from my previous training at East 15 Acting School. My long-term ambition is to build a career in screen performance that also incorporates puppetry, creature work, and animatronics — disciplines I discovered and developed a deep passion for during drama school. With this grant I can take a further step in that path that I am carving out for myself”.

Bethan Watkins-  Poetry and recipe hybrid book ‘She Fills Her Cup’

Bethan Watkins is a writer and visual artist working on her debut poetry book 'She Fills Her Cup' which combines poetry and drink recipes. She has been awarded a grant for professional support with editorial development and proofreading. She aims to create poems that capture women’s hearts and imaginations, offering beauty, authenticity, and a remembrance of our deeper natures.

"I'm so pleased to receive grant funding from ArtHouse Jersey for the editing and copywriting of my debut poetry/recipe book, this project has been dear to me for the last few years and I haven't quite had the means to get it professionally edited, until now, which will to take it to the next step towards publishing. I'm so looking forward to working with my editor, learning more about how to structure the book, and to get some good feedback and develop my skill set as a poet and writer."

Julie Luscombe- 'The Caves of Candelaria' novel

Julie Luscombe has been awarded a grant towards a structural edit of her debut novel, a destination thriller, 'The Caves of Candelaria', set in Guatemala. This funding will enable her to work with a best selling author and editorial team specialising in her genre.

"I'm flying the flag for those of us who have come to writing later in life. With the Island focusing on longevity, I see moving into the 'third chapter' as an opportunity to begin a new phase of learning and a new career, one that can hopefully run and run. This will be my debut novel as part of a series of destination thrillers; the possibilities are endless with new stories just waiting to be discovered".

Christian Jegard-  Best in Class showcase at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival

Christian Jegard is a comedy writer and performer, creating character-led work that blends traditional sketch craft with contemporary alternative comedy. This funding will enable him to take part in the Best in Class programme at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, a programme designed to showcase the best new working class comedians in the UK. This will enable him to access a level of industry exposure that is imporant  to the next stage of his career.

“I’m so grateful because this grant means I’m able to perform my comedy at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival which is a huge opportunity. It’s also wonderful to see how ArtHouse Jersey encourages and supports Jersey artists to grow and bring their creativity to a wider audience”.

Sophia Bourne- Poetry pamphlet ‘Between Times and Time’ 

Sophia Bourne founded MovingSoma, a creative wellbeing project offering workshops and therapeutic arts, integrating movement, writing, and creative inquiry through reflective practices. With this grant she will be publishing a poetry pamphlet, ‘Between Times and Time’, a collection of poetry, photography and practices exploring embodiment, memory, and homecoming through lyrical and experimental forms, shaped by the Island. 

“The Development Grant will support the publication of Between Times and Time, a poetry pamphlet and wider interdisciplinary project that brings together poetry, visual art, and embodied practice to explore the connections between our inner and outer landscapes, centring themes of healing, homecoming, and place. The funding will provide valuable professional and artistic support to further develop my practice, bring this work to publication, and create opportunities for wider community engagement through workshops and participatory events”. 

Gio Rios- photography project

Gio Rios is a photographer working primarily with medium format film, producing observational work focused on residential environments, architecture, and everyday landscapes.This grant will support the development of a long-term analogue medium format photography project documenting Jersey’s residential environments and architecture, progressing towards a cohesive body of work developed through sustained image-making, research, and sequencing, with future exhibition and publication outcomes.

 "This funding will support the continued development of a long-term medium format photography project documenting Jersey's residential environments and built landscape. It will allow me to dedicate more time and resources to producing, editing, and refining the work while developing my practice as a place-based photographic artist. Having recently returned to Jersey after several years away, the support provides an opportunity to look again at familiar places with a fresh perspective and create a meaningful body of work rooted in the island's residential character and everyday life."