ARTS organisations across North Yorkshire were celebrating yesterday after securing almost £70,000 in extra funding.

Projects ranging from a major music festival to public sculptures will share in the windfall from Arts Council England.

The aim of the grants is to help bring communities closer together, and provide a catalyst for further economic growth.

The executive director of the Arts Council's Yorkshire region, Andy Carver, said the grants would enable people to experience and take part in high-quality arts activities.

He added: "Many of the projects we support help keep rural communities alive, boosting tourism and the local economy."

The grants include £20,000 for the Swaledale Festival, an annual 17-day summer music event.

To raise its profile and attract broader audiences, it will celebrate the centenary of composer Shostakovich by presenting his complete 15 string quartets and commissioning 15 new works to complement them.

A grant of £15,000 goes to Hambleton District Council's scheme to employ an artist to produce a piece of environmental art inspired by the ecological nature of Stokesley.

The artist will work with residents and community groups on the project, giving them an opportunity to take part in arts workshops and learn more about the local environment.

In Scarborough, the civic society is getting £10,000 to install two sculptures of life-size female figures - The Scarborough Belles - marking the past and future of the town as a sea-bathing resort. The galvanised steel Belles will be in a town centre location.

Also in Scarborough, £13,000 will go to a project in which the Rotunda Museum will join forces with the Stephen Joseph youth theatre group, the Rounders, to tell the story of William Smith, the father of English geology.

They will combine the arts, science and local history to create two promenade performances next year.

The project will enable the museum to strengthen its links and raise its profile with the local community and, through the Rounders theatre group, attract younger audiences.

Other grants include more than £4,800 for the Tockwith Players, an amateur dramatic society, towards new lighting and stage equipment; andnearly £4,800 to help a disabled artist from Scarborough buy new equipment to help him work more easily.