Five Liverpool art projects benefit from over £30,000 funding boost

The projects include Svara Radio, with an event at Williamson Square, Lantern Installations in empty shops, dot-art schools and a projection by Pagoda Arts for Chinese New year.

Now in its fourth year, The Arts & Culture Fund was established to support smaller arts projects that will help drive footfall, activity and animation within Liverpool city centre. The fund opens twice a year and submissions are selected by a panel.

The latest successful projects are;

A Svara radio, ‘Public Service Announcement’ event supporting a series of staged live public broadcasts and visual streams across the city centre. Working with partners, they will broadcast from 6 high-visibility locations working with a community led line-up to increase dwell time and support businesses

Lantern Installations in city centre businesses from the Lantern Company. The project will work to lighten up the Winter nights with a stunning window gallery trail for all to enjoy. From tiny doorways to huge windows, the lanterns will provide a story and spread joy.

Dot-art’s schools project which is the 14^th annual program, engaging Year 5 and Year 9 students from local schools. The program celebrates creating visual art and provides a platform for children to express creativity and display their artwork in the Walker Art Gallery and St George’s Hall.

A Pagoda Arts cross culture program of events for Chinese New Year. 2026 is the Year of the Fire Horse and a flagship gala along with other free community events will showcase the intergenerational talent and cultural heritage.

20 Stories High Williamson Square Timeline project. A communal, collaborative, community musical experience at Williamson Square. The Sound System will be a beacon for our anti-racist, EDIA agenda, building on their Black with a Capital B project to celebrate Liverpool’s beautiful diversity through youth, poetry, spoken word, song, hip hop across two days.

Julie Johnson is Chair of Liverpool BID’s Culture & Commerce Business Improvement District said:

“It’s so vital that we support arts and cultural groups in and around Liverpool city centre. These events bring colour and animation to our streets, as well as encouraging people to engage in the arts. We know that art in the public realm breaks down barriers and improves access to culture. It also brings a positive benefit to the city centre and our businesses. It increases footfall, drawing people in and letting them see the breadth of creativity and vibrancy in the city”.

James Young is from Svara said:

“At Svara, we are pleased to be collaborating with Liverpool BID Company on a distinctive programme of events that will make full use of Liverpool’s remarkable landscape. This partnership will enable us to deliver a unique series of broadcasting initiatives throughout 2026, providing communities across the city with a platform to highlight Liverpool’s creativity, culture and innovation.”

Jo Pocock is from the Lantern Company:

“Lantern Company are delighted to have been awarded Liverpool BID’s Arts and Culture funding to create a new series of illuminated high street Window Galleries for visitors of all ages. These dreamlike ‘creative portals’ use visual story-telling to re-imagine an extraordinary collection of wearable artworks, beautiful lanterns, giant puppets and illuminated installations created over the last 20+ years and highlight the wealth of homegrown talent from our Liverpool team. Many of the artworks have not been seen in Liverpool before.

The Window Gallery trail will uplift and inspire in equal measure and is accessible to visitors both day and night. Absolutely everyone is invited!”