Deadline: 16-May-22
The Arts Council is inviting applications for the Arts and Disability Connect (ADC) scheme to support artists with disabilities to be ambitious, to develop their practice and to connect with arts organizations and arts professionals in the Republic of Ireland.
Arts and Disability Connect includes New Work, Research and Development, Mentoring and Training awards for individual artists with disabilities.
By prioritizing links and connections, the scheme aims to support artists with disabilities to develop their practice and to connect with the wider arts sector in the Republic of Ireland.
This scheme is designed to support artists with disabilities to make new and ambitious work. It offers artists the opportunity to:
- Connect with other practitioners or venues.
- Make a change in their practice.
- ‘Step up’ in terms of scope and scale.
- Reach new audiences and to engage in mentoring and training.
Funding Information
- Arts and Disability Connect New Work
- Maximum award of €15,000
- For more established artists with a strong track record in their professional practice who wish to work with artists and arts partners to develop new work and present in established arts organizations, venues, and festivals etc.
- Research and Development award
- Maximum award of €5,000
- This award is for mid-career and established artists who want time and resources to think, research, reflect and critically engage with their practice. It can be used to ‘buy time’, develop new relationships with arts partners in order to submit a New Work application in the future or to develop other strategic partnerships.
- Arts and Disability Connect Mentoring
- Maximum award of €3,000
- For artists at all stages of career development including emerging artists who wish to engage in mentoring opportunities.
- Arts and Disability Connect Training
- Maximum award of €1,000
- For artists at all stages of career development, including emerging artists, who wish to engage in professional development and other learning opportunities.
Eligibility Criteria
- To be eligible you must be an individual artist with a disability, who is living in the Republic of Ireland. There is one exception where the Arts Council and Arts & Disability Ireland might accept applications made by artists living outside of the Republic of Ireland. In this scenario to be eligible you need to demonstrate your connection to the Republic of Ireland and that the outcomes of your proposal benefit the arts in the Republic of Ireland.
- Artists working in architecture, circus, dance, film, literature, music, opera, street arts and spectacle, theatre, traditional arts and visual arts can apply for awards in this scheme.
- The Arts Council and Arts & Disability Ireland take their definition of disability from the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability which states:
- ‘Persons with disabilities include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which, in interaction with various barriers, may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others.’
- An artist with a disability who needs funding to pursue your artwork on a professional level, you should consider applying to Arts and Disability Connect.
- A person with a disability who would like to explore the arts for the first time, Arts and Disability Connect is not the best starting point for your artistic journey.
- People who are not eligible to apply include:
- Received funding in round two of Arts and Disability Connect 2021.
- Received a New Work award in 2019, 2020 or 2021 and have not completed it.
- Do not have a disability as outlined above.
- Do not have an artistic practice.
- Have a craft or design practice only.
- Are not living in the Republic of Ireland and have not demonstrated that the outcomes of their proposal benefit the arts in the Republic of Ireland.
- Have already received Arts Council or public funding for the activities for which they are applying.
- Have submitted an application for more than one strand of the scheme.
- Are in foundation courses or undergraduate education during March 2022 – August 2023.
For more information, visit https://www.artscouncil.ie/Funds/Arts-and-Disability-Connect/