A RESIDENTIAL course for clowns in Hebden Bridge has been given £5,000 from the Arts Council, as has a Mytholmroyd computer programmer to help him make art using "sat-nav" technology.
And a designer and choreographer, also from Hebden Bridge, has been given a similar amount to work with a dancer to develop a prop to use in dance performance.
Circelation, a professional organisation for circus artists in Hebden Bridge, will provid
e support for 10 circus artists, including clowns, trapeze artists and jugglers, to go on residential courses and workshops next year.
According to head of the company, Leila Jancovich, the £5,000 grant will enable British circus artists to work with leading international directors without the pressures of creating a production.
Designer and choreographer Michele Weaver, who also lives in Hebden Bridge, has been promised £4,950.
She will work with dancer Lee Clayden on research and development into a weight-bearing prop as the basis of a dance performance.
She says "The work will bring a new focus to design-led choreography and will enable new relationships between designers and choreographers to be developed."
Robert Lycett, a lecturer in multimedia who lives in Mytholmroyd, will get £4,818 from the Arts Council.
He intends to "Create a body of artworks making use of Global Positioning Systems data to create line drawings."
He will exhibit this at multimedia events in the region and run workshops for other artists and educationalists. The project will be an opportunity for Mr Lycett to develop his artistic skills and show his work to new audiences.
The Arts Council says these and other grants will bring communities closer together and provide a catalyst for economic growth.
Forty-nine projects in Yorkshire and the Humber will receive a total of £856,373 in the latest round of awards.
Andy Carver, executive director of Arts Council England, Yorkshire, said: "Many of the projects we support help keep rural communities alive, boosting tourism and the local economy."
