The 2016 edition of the President’s Award for Creativity – a fund with a strong social and community emphasis – has been launched.

The award provides recognition and support at the highest level of the State to organisations, especially those working with vulnerable and disadvantaged groups, to engage those groups in creativity and arts-driven projects and thereby increase their level of integration and engagement in society.

The amount committed to this year’s award is €65,000. Each selected project may receive up to €6,000, with the possibility of €8,000 in the case of a collaboration between two organisations. The award may cover up to 100 per cent of eligible project costs.

The launch also showcased the work being carried out by An Empowering Art Journey, a project which regularly brings together a group of teenagers residing at Mount Carmel Hospital's Youth Residence, to create clay artworks in a communal and interactive setting.

The project, one of the recipients of last year's edition of the award, aims to bridge therapy and creativity by facilitating expression, intuition and regulation of emotions of young people, as well as social interaction.

Last year, 40 projects competed for the award and the initiative invested in an eclectic mix of 11 projects.

The President’s Award for Creativity is linked to the implementation of the Arts Council Malta’s goals outlined in the Council’s Strategy2020, with a particular focus on providing more opportunities for people to engage in creativity.

The Award aims to support organisations and institutions that target the social needs and well-being of the community at large, especially the more vulnerable sectors and hard-to-reach groups – with a special emphasis on children, young people, minority groups and the elderly, through creativity and art.

The President’s Award for Creativity is coordinated by Arts Council Malta under the Patronage of President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca.

Applications will be received by Arts Council Malta until July 20 at noon. The guidelines and regulations as well as the application form are available on http://artscouncilmalta.org/funds/il-premju-tal-president-ghall-kreattivita.