Valencia embraces the sector responds to the strategic objective of strengthening the cultural system and its governance City of Valencia Culture Plan, 2017 (1) and proposes initiatives aimed at encouraging the participation of the sector in the cultural process. Below are listed and described the main initiatives of this program carried out by the Department of Cultural Heritage and Resources:
The Department of Cultural Heritage and Resources considers the development of municipal cultural policies aimed at promoting decentralized, high-quality, dynamic, diverse cultural programs close to citizens to be of particular importance. Consistent with this consideration, it develops a line of subsidies that contribute to collaborating with this type of initiatives, projects and programs that from the field of associations and other non-profit entities and institutions linked to the world of culture are held in Valencia.
The call is made under the modality of competitive competition, according to criteria of transparency, objectivity and equal opportunities and through bases that regulate the procedure and guarantee the quality and positive impact of the projects in the city.
Another mode of action that favors the promotion of cultural participation in the sector are collaboration agreements and direct and nominal subsidies. The collaboration agreements in cultural matters involve the City Council of Valencia and certain cultural entities, in accordance with a clause agreed by both parties, which conforms to the provisions of the Law and Regulations on Subsidies and the stipulated in the Budget Execution Bases in force. Another line of action is nominative subsidies or contributions to public or private entities (Foundations) of which the City Council is a part as Patron.
The City Council of Valencia, through the Department of Heritage and Cultural Resources, annually calls the “City of Valencia” Literary Awards, an initiative to promote literary creation that over the years has consolidated a recognition and reach beyond the national scope.
In 2016, the Department of Cultural Heritage and Resources aware of the role that as a promoter of cultural activity from the public sector it must play to contribute to the dynamism of the cultural sectors and of the importance of relaunching prestigious literary awards , decides to give new impetus to the call by expanding it to four modes: narrative, poetry, theater and essay, the latter newly created. Each modality awards two prizes, one in Valencian and the other in Spanish, which makes it possible to address the need to disseminate and promote literary work in the Valencian language in parallel with literary production in the Spanish language, which allows recognition and projection of awards at national and international level.
With the purpose of stimulating and promoting the professional career of artists from the Valencian Community, the City Council of Valencia, through the Department of Heritage and Cultural Resources, annually awards this award, endowed with 12,000 euros. The Senyera prize has been awarded since 1957 and in the last two years, in agreement with the city’s agents, the structure of the contest has been changed, opening the doors to any manifestation of the visual arts, without distinguishing between painting and sculpture.
The Velázquez scholarship is an initiative whose purpose is to promote research and reflection on contemporary creation. The grant of this scholarship is carried out on a competitive basis and allows the beneficiary to develop an artistic project in the Casa Velázquez in Madrid during an academic year. Its endowment is 16,000 euros, which makes this scholarship one of the best endowed in the current artistic landscape.
(1) Rivers, Joaquim, Gisbert, Verónica, Martinez, Santi (2017). City of Valencia Culture Plan, 2017. Valencia: University of Valencia