Deadline: 30-Jul-20
The Arts Council is inviting applications for the Arts Participation Bursary Award to support professional artists to develop their art practice.
It provides artists with the time and resources to think, research, reflect and critically engage with their art.
Objectives and Priorities
The objective of an Arts Council Bursary Award is to support the professional development of practicing artists by enabling them to do one or more of the following:
- Spend focused time working at their practice, including critical reflection and evaluation
- Spend time researching/thinking about/developing a new idea for future dissemination
- Spend time developing their technical skills in a particular area
- Spend time developing/learning new skills related to their practice or area of interest
- Spend time working with a mentor, or collaborator(s) to develop an idea, or to assist in developing or up-skilling within a particular area of their practice, or an area related to their practic
- Spend time developing an idea in collaboration with a potential partner(s)
- Undertake a short period of training by way of master classes or other professional training opportunities (whether national or international)
- Purchase a limited amount of equipment and materials to assist with the development of their practice (N.B. this can be no more than 15% of the value of the overall request for support)
- Spend time undertaking a combination of the above activities
The Award emphasises the value and benefit to an artist’s development derived from an extended process of engagement with their practice, and seeks to provide artists with the time and resources to think, research, reflect and engage deeply with their practice.
The objective of the Arts Participation Bursary Award specifically, is to support individual professional artists working in any artform to develop their Arts Participation practice – including collaborative, community and socially engaged arts practices.
The award is for individual professional artists who:
- Have a track record of working collaboratively with individuals and groups of non-arts professionals in the making and interpreting of artwork – e.g. artists might work in any of the following contexts: health, disability, cultural diversity, creative ageing, community development, other communities of place and/or interest
- Demonstrate clear artistic vision and commitment to artistic outcomes alongside any other goals – e.g. in areas such as health, disability, community development, etc.
- Consider and prioritise the quality of engagement at all stages – e.g. in the planning, making and evaluation of work.
Note: the primary focus of the Arts Participation Bursary Award is on the artist and the exploration and development of the applicant’s own individual artistic practice. Participatory and collaborative arts elements can be included as relevant to the proposal; however, the delivery of a project is not the focus of a Bursary Award. The Arts Council also offers an Arts Participation Project Award each year. Please review the guidelines for both awards, or call a member of the Arts Participation team if you are unsure about which award best suits your proposal.
Funding Information
The amount awarded to each successful applicant in any given year will be one of the following:
- €15,000
- €10,000
- €5,000
Eligibility Criteria
The award is open to professional artists working in all artforms and at all stages in their professional careers. To be eligible to apply, applicants must:
- Have a track record in the area of participatory and collaborative arts practice
- Be a professional practising artist – although they might not earn income continuously or exclusively from their arts practice, applicants must identify themselves and be recognised by their peers as professional practising artists
- Be resident in the Republic of Ireland. There are certain exceptions where the Arts Council may deem eligible applications made by those based outside the Republic of Ireland. However, before admitting as eligible any such application, the applicant would need to explicitly outline within the application how the outcomes of any such proposal would benefit the arts in the Republic of Ireland, and the Arts Council must be satisfied with same.
- In line with the Public Sector Equality and Human Rights Duty, the Arts Council is committed to ensuring that it takes positive policy measures to promote equality of opportunity for all those living in Ireland, regardless of their gender, sexual orientation, civil or family status, religion, age, disability, race or membership of the Traveller Community. Furthermore, the Arts Council notes the ground of socio-economic background as a further basis for which equality of opportunity must be guaranteed. The Arts Council therefore welcomes applications that are representative of the diversity of Irish society, including but not limited to any of the characteristics
For more information, visit http://www.artscouncil.ie/Funds/Arts-participation-bursary-award/