HI~Arts, the arts development agency for the Highlands and Islands, has completed a funding package to ensure that it can offer a suite of awards to artists, craftworkers, writers and musicians who work in the Highlands and Islands.

Funding has been secured from Highlands and Islands Enterprise, and from four different departments of the Scottish Arts Council, to be able to support this programme of grants for professional and creative development.

Sallie Tyszko, an applied artist based in Muir of Ord in Ross-shire, is one of the many artists to have benefited from the scheme. Weaving is Sallie's obsession, and she uses materials as diverse as fishing line, lace, velvet, sequins, metal and mohair to create exquisite tapestries of the Highlands and Islands' inspirational land and seascapes.

While Sallie works from her croft in Ross-shire, to thrive commercially she must have access to the marketplace. Sallie reports: "Thanks to the HI~Arts grant I received in July 2005, I was able to send my tapestries to the Mall Galleries, London, for the exhibition Food for the Eye. As I had not yet exhibited outside Scotland, it was an opportunity not to be missed."

HI~Arts pioneered the concept of regional grants with a scheme for visual artists which was launched in partnership with SAC and HIE in 2000. That scheme has proved very successful, and has been taken as a model for similar regional schemes in Glasgow, Dundee, Edinburgh and Aberdeen. Since then, HI~Arts has extended the model to other areas of the arts, as part of its wider programmes for support for literature, music and craft.

The schemes are very straightforward: those working professionally in their field are invited to apply for grants of up to £500 for a project or activity which will help them to develop their professional practice. This might be a research trip, a first solo exhibition, a collaborative project, or a short training course to gain a new skill. Each scheme has a total annual budget of £6,000, funded equally by HIE and SAC, with the exception of the Visual Arts Awards. This year, the visual arts award budget has been increased to £10,000, which allows HI~Arts to offer four additional grants of up to £1,000 for more ambitious proposals. Applicants must be resident in the Highlands and Islands, over 16 and not in full time education, and able to contribute at least 25 per cent of the project cost. Other recent awards have enabled an Orkney artist to attend her first exhibition in London, a Caithness musician to develop international contacts, and a west coast poet to research nature reserves.

Sallie Tyszko is now working on a series of tapestries based on the sea and landscape of the Western Isles, while undertaking a range of commissions for other customers. In addition, Sallie hopes to continue exhibiting her work widely throughout the year.

Sallie adds: "I want to thank HI~Arts for the enthusiastic encouragement and speedy help I received. It was a privilege to work with people who know about art, understand artists and care."

Full details on all four awards schemes are available on the HI~Arts website and guidelines and an application form can be requested by phoning 01463 717091.