Available Funding for Artists
There are many types of funding streams available to artists from the Arts Council, local authorities and other sources.
We advertise all funding and award opportunities for artists on our website – see
https://visualartists.ie/funding-and-awards/
Arts Council
The Arts Council provides funding to artists through a number of programmes. One is their Bursary Award which allows artists to ‘buy time’ to create a body of work. Other grant schemes are also available like Project Awards for the Development and Delivery stages of projects.
Main funding schemes for individual visual artists are:
- Visual Arts Bursary Award
- Visual Arts Project Award
- Agility Award (can include visual artists)
- Markievicz Award
- Next Generation Artists Award
- Arts Participation Bursary Award (can include visual artists with participatory / socially engaged practices)
- Arts Participation Project Award
- Artist in the Community Scheme
- Artist in the Community Scheme Bursary Award
- Film Project Award (can include moving image and experimental practice)
- Open Call (large scale, multiannual project funding)
- Touring and Dissemination of Work Scheme (can fund overseas postgraduate study, residencies and international exhibitions. Stopped in 2020, may be reintroduced soon)
A full list of available funding from the Arts Council can be viewed here: https://www.artscouncil.ie/available-funding/
Local Authority Funding
The 1973 Arts Act, and subsequently the 2003 Arts Act, gives local authorities the ability to allocate grants to develop the arts. All City and County Councils allocate annual funding through their Arts Office and the amount of funding and the shemes available change county to county. Each county or region will have a deadline and guidelines and will have details on the funding available on their website. (See all local authority websites and rencent funding deadlines in relevant links below).
Find links to your local Arts Office here: https://visualartists.ie/local-authority-arts-offices/#!directory/map
Local Authorities Northern Ireland:
https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/contacts/local-councils-in-northern-ireland
Creative Ireland
Creative Ireland provides financial support to local and community groups and individuals, artistic and creative practitioners, event organisers and those involved in creative, cultural and heritage activities and projects, to encourage cultural participation. Creative Ireland funding is managed through local authorities, usually affiliated with the Arts Office or Libraries. Each local authority will have a Creative Ireland Coordinator (either an existing local authority staff member or dedicated coordinator) and an annual allocation of funding to spend on projects, residencies, bursaries etc.
www.creativeireland.gov.ie
Culture Ireland
Culture Ireland promotes Irish arts worldwide. They support opportunities for Irish artists and companies to present and promote their work at strategic international festivals and venues. Culture Ireland operates a range of funding programmes to support and promote the presentation of Irish arts internationally. The current initiatives include a Regular grants round, the See Here scheme, Delegate Scheme and a Showcase programme. Culture Ireland funding normally supports travel, transport and other expenses related to showing work internationally.
Creative Europe
Creative Europe is the European Commission’s flagship programme to support the culture and audiovisual sectors. Creative Europe Desk Ireland are a close-knit team of five who work to make the Creative Europe programme more accessible to the Irish creative and cultural sectors. Through our Culture and MEDIA Offices we give advice, support and information on Creative Europe funding calls to the Irish audiovisual and cultural sectors.
https://www.creativeeuropeireland.eu
Arts Council Northern Ireland
ACNI have a number of schemes throughout the year for individual artists, you can see the grants they offer here: https://artscouncil-ni.org/funding/funding-for-individuals
Arts & Disability Connect Funding
Arts and Disability Connect includes New Work, Research and Development, Mentoring and Training awards for individual artists with disabilities.