Ireland: Arts Council’s Creative Places Award 2023

Deadline: 30-Mar-23

The Arts Council is delighted to announce the Creative Places Award 2023 to invest in places (e.g. towns, villages, suburbs, rural places) that have had fewer opportunities to take part in the arts.

Objectives and Priorities

• Creative Places should be inclusive and diverse, and their programmes rooted in socially engaged arts practice and community-development principles. Successful applicants will build on existing cultural strengths and be led by community participation and ideas. In particular, they will look to involve people who are often excluded.
• Features of a successful Creative Places Award include:
  • Knowledge and understanding of the people and the place being proposed: its demographic profile, its social, cultural and economic strengths, challenges and aspirations
  • Can demonstrate a lack of arts infrastructure/investment in their place (e.g. arts buildings, projects, festivals, galleries, arts organisations, etc.)
  • Can demonstrate a lower than average public participation or attendance at arts activities
  • Can provide evidence that the locality includes higher than average numbers of people often experiencing barriers to the arts for various reasons (e.g. older people, people with disabilities, people from migrant backgrounds and/or people facing economic challenges etc.)
  • Have a clear understanding of its mission and vision for the programme
  • Understands there are many culturally and socially diverse perspectives, and a need for diversity in partnerships across different sectors
  • Will connect with and energise local artists and local creative skills
  • Understand that time is essential for meaningful relationships and work to flourish, and that it has considered the future sustainability of the project
  • Demonstrate the ability to build relationships, build capacity, communicate, plan, deliver, document and evaluate
  • Will invest in a dedicated coordination and/or research personnel with appropriate socially engaged arts expertise to work with people and in the place
  • In a research phase, has identified clear research questions for a Creative Place programme that will inform a model of best practice.
• The Arts Council has identified the following as strategic priorities for support through this award:
  • Public engagement: e.g. the applicant can demonstrate that the proposed place includes a higher than average number of people often experiencing barriers to the arts: lack of cultural infrastructure, demographic profile with high numbers of older people, youth population and cultural diversity, etc.
  • Socially engaged arts practice: e.g. the principles of socially engaged arts practice coupled with community-development principles are clearly understood and articulated.
  • Research, policy and sustainability: e.g. can demonstrate public consultation and engagement, aligns with local regeneration policies and plans, has clear research questions (if applicable), social-impact evaluation and measurement methods, models of local approaches to collaboration, new investment models for supporting the arts, can create a sustainable future.
  • Partnership: e.g. a consortium that can demonstrate a meaningful and long-term commitment by a local authority arts office, community-development partners, local arts organisations already working in the place, and socially engaged arts expertise. At least five partners are recommended. For research projects the partnership should involve three partners.
  • The level of cash and in-kind investment by the supporting partner(s): This must be a minimum of 25% of the overall costs. In-kind investment must be no more than 25% of your overall contribution – e.g. overall costs €100,000 = grant requested €75,000, cash contribution €18,750, in-kind investment €6,250.

Award Details

• This award has two strands:
  • Strand 1: Creative Places Award
    • The maximum you can apply for is €330,000 over three years – i.e. no more than €90,000 in Year 1, no more than €115,000 in Year 2 and no more than €125,000 in Year 3.
    • This award will be multi-annual and awarded over three years.
    • The award covers the appointment of a Creative Places coordinator and a programme budget. This role should be budgeted for at least three days per week, ideally higher, commensurate with appropriate and expert experience.
  • Strand 2: Creative Places Research-and-Development Award
    • The maximum you can apply for is €35,000.
    • This award is a one-off award, which can be drawn down over eighteen months.
    • The award covers research fees and consultation costs. Applicants can consider a residency or some activity that will inform the research process.
• You may apply for support under only one strand of the award.

Eligibility Criteria

• The award is open to Local Authority Arts Offices, including Ealaín na Gaeltachta, arts organisations and community-development organisations (such as family resource centres, agencies or organisations supporting specific groups).
• Applicant arts organisations must be a CLG and demonstrate expertise in socially engaged arts practice. The arts organisation does not have to have an existing connection to the place, but public and community partners do.
• Applicant community development organisations must be located in the place proposed and be a CLG.
• An organisation must be the lead applicant (not an individual), with a range of other partner organisations. The identification of the lead applicant is at the discretion of the partners.
• Places that have benefitted from other public investment focused on public-realm development or capital-cultural infrastructure can apply, but must demonstrate existing investment has not yet engaged the community in a programme of activities. This is people and community-focused investment than can add value to other regeneration initiatives.
• The applicant is the organisation that will receive any grant offered and which will be required to accept the terms and conditions of that grant.
• Any grant offered will be paid only into a bank account held in the name of the applicant.
• All documentation provided must be in the name of the lead applicant.

Ineligible

• Any organisation that does not fall within the categories above is not eligible to apply
• Individuals are not eligible to apply
• Members of the Council of National Cultural Institutions (CNCI) directly funded by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media cannot be a lead applicant but may be a partner

For more information, visit Arts Council.