Art for art's sake is a noble concept but unless you expect your artists to starve in garrets, a little money comes in useful, too. Which is why Southern Arts' Year of The Artist project or Yota is based on financial practicalities. Each year, Southern Arts receives about 5m of Government money and an equal amount from the National Lottery coffers, writes George Frew.

And this year, every one of the 1,000 artists across the country involved in Yota has been given 1,000 a month to put some food on the table and keep a roof over their heads as they work on their various projects.

In Oxfordshire, 15 artists are taking part, one of whom has been the Oxford Mail's artist in residence since July.

Twenty-six year old Andrew Murray's chosen artistic medium is photography, a subject he took a degree in at Newcastle University after being bitten by the bug as a teenager on an arts foundation course in Banbury.

"The minute I picked up a camera, I knew this was what I wanted to do, this was how I wanted to express myself," he explains.

With the Oxford Mail contributing ten per cent of his living costs, Andrew has spent the past months on various assignments involving the city's youth culture especially the nightlife side. "I've particularly enjoyed photographing bands at places like the Zodiac club on Cowley Road," he says.

"When my residency is over at the Oxford Mail in December, I'll have to reassess what I want to do next, but I've really enjoyed my time here and I've learned a lot about how a newspaper like the Oxford Mail is produced. It has given me a great insight. Ideally, what I'd like to do next is to go on the road with a band and create a photographic document of it all."

Shooting a 35mm Nikon and using black and white and colour photography, Andrew's other jobs included following the progress of Oxtales, a children's play produced by the Pegasus Theatre.

In fact, the projects undertaken by the artists working in the county are as diverse as they are original.

Poet Marcus Moore, for example, has been taking his verse around five village shops, where he's spent ten days in each, holding workshops, giving impromptu poetry 'slams' and working with local WI groups, British Legion clubs and pubs, producing a special poem for each village. Banbury bus station, meanwhile, is hardly the sort of glamorous location you'd expect to find a film-maker, but that's where multimedia artist Kasia Howard has based herself, making short films on the themes of location, travel and journeys.

Or how about a touch of sculpture from an allotment? That's where David Gosling has set up his new sculptures based on the natural environment, using natural materials to produce his works of art.

At Henley, poet Jane Draycott will be in residence from December for six months at the Henley River and Rowing Museum. She'll be working with staff, visitors and local schools to develop a sound and poetry portrait of the Thames as a working river and its effect on all our lives.

In April next year, the Bloomin Arts group will be working in conjunction with the Oxfordshire Youth Offending Team to provide a platform for first-time local young offenders to participate in drama with the Geese Theatre Company.

And in Sutton Courtenay, artist Peter Hay will spend April and May using watercolours, woodcuts and printmaking to explore the symbols of water and flight in the contemplative atmosphere of The Abbey.

The Museum of the History of Science will be the scene of artist Susan Derges' residency. During her year, she'll be helping visitors to the museum to reflect on science and its history from an artistic perspective, drawing inspiration from the unusual collection of Renaissance mathematical instruments.

In all, the Year of The Artist offers a rich combination of events, across the length and breadth of the county.