VAI News

VAI welcomes Maeve Jennings as an external expert in the areas of cultural structural development and international Strategic Development Goals to the Board of Trustees.

The VAN Podcast is a podcast series from Visual Artists Ireland. Published every two months, The VAN Podcast comprises online conversations, recorded remotely, with various contributors to each issue of The Visual Artists’ News Sheet. This gives opportunities to discuss some of the ideas arising from published texts, while also offering insights into wider practice.…

VAI is updating to our research into the real impact and experience of the Artists’ Payments Guidelines. Rob (Hilken) and Shelly (McDonnell) have been working on putting together a questionnaire to capture the information that we need to continue our advocacy work in that area. Many have filled it out already, and a huge thank…

Ready to open your doors? We can help with that. After a year of uncertainty and staying at home, VAI welcomes the return of many in-person events, exhibitions and shows. We are excited to see so many vibrant artists showing their work in galleries and exhibitions across Ireland. With so much going on so suddenly,…

Visual Artists Ireland continue to campaign for better pay for artists. We are currently doing some work on our Artist Payment Guidelines, and we would like to ask for your help to make them better. Has the artist been paid?: Take Survey 2021 here As always, we are working on quite a variety of events…

Welcome to the May-June issue of The Visual Artists’ News Sheet. In columns in this issue, Cornelius Browne considers the historical rejection of exhibitions by outsider artists in his Plein Air column for this issue. Conversely, tasked with developing a large-scale exhibition during a global pandemic, Niamh O’Malley outlines ongoing preparations for Ireland at Venice…

VAI Webinar’s and online events have been very popular with thousands of places booked. We have found them to be a great way to stay connected with artists and to provide some practical support. If you missed out on some of the events you can now watch the recordings in the Members Area of our…

We are delighted to announce the 2021 recipients of the Visual Artists Ireland / Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris residency are:⁠ ⁠ Mick O’Shea & Irene Murphy⁠ ⁠ and⁠ ⁠ Abigail O’Brien⁠ ⁠ Congratulations to all three artists whose applications outlined exciting and considered projects that we will be talking more about as they undertake their…

As galleries and museums across Ireland and Northern Ireland remain closed to the public, we have once again had to temporarily shift our focus away from physical exhibitions. VAN’s March – April 2021 issue is loosely themed around artist publishing activities, while also covering a timely range of online film screenings and moving image programmes.…

This Visual Artists’ Café will put our Co. Kilkenny based members in the spotlight in a ‘show & tell’ format. Featured will be 6 artists giving 6 different snapshots of the Kilkenny based Visual Artist in 2020 and beyond; work, motivations, challenges and acclimation. What we experienced. What we learned. We hope you can join…

CREATING AND CURATING SPACES (THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX) One of the most common questions we get is “how can I get an exhibition?” Networking and building a relationship with galleries is important but may take several years to pay off. Open calls might only select 10% of submissions. The approach we will look at here…

One of the most common questions we get is “how can I get an exhibition?” Networking and building a relationship with galleries is important but may take several years to pay off. Open calls might only select 10% of submissions. The approach we will look at here is to think outside the box and create…

‘What is an artist led initiative? How are they established? And what are the benefits of working this way? We explore the ups and downs, high and lows, the nuts and bolts with some of Ireland’s leading working examples. This week’s Visual Artists Café is in collaboration with South Dublin County Council Arts Office. We will welcome…

VAI are delighted to present this event in collaboration with Kilkenny County Council Arts Office. Katie Holten is a visual artist and environmental activist based in New York City and Ardee. Holten grew up in Ireland and studied Fine Art & History of Art at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin, the…

Applications are invited for the 2021 Visual Artists Ireland Residency at Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris. The Residency is open to all members of Visual Artists Ireland working in all visual art forms at all career stages. This year VAI will provide a two month research based residency at Centre Culturel Irlandais in Paris. Accommodation, one…

Our Webinar’s and online events over the last few months have been very popular with thousands of places booked. We have found them to be a great way to stay connected with artists and to provide some practical support. If you missed out on some of the events you can now watch the recordings in…

Our Webinar’s and online events over the last few months have been very popular with thousands of places booked. We have found them to be a great way to stay connected with artists and to provide some practical support. If you missed out on some of the events you can now watch the recordings in…

We are looking for an experienced professional with excellent communication skills and a positive attitude to join the Visual Artists Ireland team in the role of News Provision. The role will facilitate the delivery of the news content of The Visual Artists News Sheet, twice weekly and monthly versions of the eBulletin, and VAI’s online…

Visual Artists Ireland, in partnership with Dublin City Council’s The LAB Gallery, are delighted to announce Meadhbh McNutt as the winner of the DCC/VAI Art Writing Award 2020. McNutt’s winning essay, focusing on the critical discourse surrounding online exhibitions, will be published in the November/December 2020 issue of The Visual Artists’ News Sheet. She will…

VAI is looking for somebody very special to join our team to take up responsibility for quality led Services Design & Delivery both Online and Offline which are directed at supporting the professional careers of visual artists in Ireland. Reporting to the Office Manager, the person in this role is accountable for the service design…

The Unseen Shows is a podcast series by Visual Artists Ireland, featuring interviews with artists whose exhibitions have been affected by the closure of galleries in mid-March, in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Our final podcast in this series features an interview with Róisín White, whose solo exhibition, ‘These Dark Shapes’ was due to open…

Dublin City Council and Visual Artists Ireland invite applications for the Art Writing Award 2020. The DCC / VAI Art Writing Award was launched in 2011 as a developmental opportunity for art writers in Ireland. The award reflects the commitment of Dublin City Council Arts Office and Visual Artists Ireland to encourage and support critical…

The Unseen Shows is a new podcast series by Visual Artists Ireland, featuring interviews with artists whose exhibitions have been affected by the closure of galleries in mid-March, in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Our sixth podcast features an interview with Ursula Burke, whose solo exhibition, ‘A False Dawn’ was due to run at the…

The Unseen Shows is a new podcast series by Visual Artists Ireland, featuring interviews with artists whose exhibitions have been affected by the closure of galleries in mid-March, in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Our fifth podcast features an interview with Gary Coyle, whose solo exhibition, ‘Dreaming Different Dreams’ ran at at Kevin Kavanagh Gallery,…

Our Webinar’s and online events over the last few months have been very popular with over one thousand places booked. We have found them to be a great way to stay connected with artists and to provide some practical support. If you missed out on some of the events you can now watch the recordings…

Get Together 2020 has been postponed due to Covid-19 and we hope to reschedule the event in Spring 2021. In the meantime you might enjoy listening to some recordings of talks from previous events. This recording is from Get Together 2019 that took place at TU Dublin Grangegorman on Friday the 14th June. Curator Ben…

The Unseen Shows is a new podcast series by Visual Artists Ireland, featuring interviews with artists whose exhibitions have been affected by the closure of galleries in mid-March, in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Our fourth podcast features an interview with Austin Ivers, whose solo exhibition, ‘Threads’, was due to open at the end of…

Get Together 2020 has been postponed due to Covid-19 and we hope to reschedule the event in Spring 2021. In the meantime you might enjoy listening to some recordings of talks from previous events. In this panel discussion from Get Together 2018 (21 May), Mary Cremin (Director of Void Gallery, Derry) chairs a panel discussion…

‘The Unseen Shows’, a new podcast series by Visual Artists Ireland. This podcast series features interviews with artists whose exhibitions are currently sealed behind closed doors, due to the closure of all cultural venues in mid-March, in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The third podcast in this series features an interview with Áine Phillips, whose…

We are delighted to announce that for our weekly Visual Artists Café next Tuesday the 16th of June, 3pm we will be joined by visual artists Kiera O’Toole and Miguel Martin. Kiera O’Toole Dublin born, Kiera O’Toole is an independent artist with a studio in The Model in Sligo since 2016 and is a current…

Get Together 2020 has been postponed due to Covid-19 and we hope to reschedule the event in Spring 2021. In the meantime you might enjoy listening to some recordings of talks from previous events. In this panel discussion, chaired by Mary A. Kelly, established Irish artists Geraldine O’Reilly, Nick Miller and Susan MacWilliam discuss the…

At our weekly Visual Artists Café on Tuesday the 2nd of June, 3pm our special guests will be artists Ursula Burke and Helen Gaynor. Another guest will also be joining us, TBC! Ursula Burke is an Irish artist who works within the discipline of Sculpture. She uses a variety of media including porcelain sculpture, embroidery…

‘The Unseen Shows’, a new podcast series by Visual Artists Ireland. This podcast series features interviews with artists whose exhibitions are currently sealed behind closed doors, due to the closure of all cultural venues in mid-March, in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The second podcast in this series features an interview with Neil Carroll, whose…

Our Visual Artists’ Café next week will put Co. Wexford in the spotlight. We will hear from Catherine Bowe from Wexford Arts Centre and will see work from 6 artists based in Co. Wexford for our second online Show & Tell. We hope you can join us from your home or studio. Anyone who has…

Get Together 2020 has been postponed due to Covid-19 and we hope to reschedule the event in Spring 2021. In the meantime you might enjoy listening to some recordings of talks from previous events. The first of these recordings is the Keynote Speech from Get Together 2017 by Marie Korpe and Ole Reitov co-founders of…

We are delighted to launch ‘The Unseen Shows’, a new podcast series by Visual Artists Ireland with Joanne Laws, Editor of the Visual Artist News Sheet (VAN). This podcast series features interviews with artists whose exhibitions are currently sealed behind closed doors, due to the closure of all cultural venues in mid-March, in response to…

At our weekly Visual Artists Café next Tuesday at 3pm our special guests will be artists Seoidín O’Sullivan and Orla Whelan. We hope you can join us from your home or studio. It’s not just a chance for you to find out what’s happening in the art world, it’s also a fantastic opportunity to connect…

This session will consider the elements of tax relevant to self-employment, including use of home costs, travel costs and general expenses. We will also review how to manage any capital expenditure on large items of equipment and how to offset potential losses against other income from prior or future years. We will also discuss how…

Do you have an area in your practice you need help with or would just like some advice on where to go next? Every Wednesday artists can book a Help Desk session that will be held online. These Help Desks will be free of charge for Members and Non Members for the duration of the…

If you have recently been involved in a public commission, Per Cent for Art project, socially-engaged project or any other form of ‘art outside the gallery’ we would like you to email us the information for publication in the next issue of The Visual Artists’ News Sheet (VAN). The Visual Artists’ News Sheet is a…

VAI along with so many other people and organisations are making and reviewing decisions based on current government guidelines and will keep you updated on our website News section and with emails to our members. As we continue to look at the practical nature of working remotely, we have now in place a range of…

Thank you to all VAI Members who participated in our recent survey about our policies regarding advertising Jobs & Opportunities. We would also like to thank those who made contact with us to offer their stories and to offer both insights and evidence of the effect of our work and policies to date. As those…

We are delighted to announce that Claire Buckley, of Julie’s Bicycle, will present at Get Together 2020. Rather than trying to make it up as we go along, we have invited Claire to join us and provide guidance and insight to the development of a more carbon neutral approach in visual arts practice and visual…

7 February 2020 What is it? Having somebody to talk to; removing the sense of being in it on your own; getting contructive advice and feedback that goes beyond friends telling you “It’s great” helps you to push your work further. VAI Group Crits are designed to do just that! To allow you to talk…

The Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Josepha Madigan TD, has announced a new €4.7m capital investment scheme for arts and culture centres. It will run from 2019-2022 and focus on enhancing the existing stock of arts and culture centres throughout the country. It will also prioritise carbon footprint reduction in line with the Government’s…

Ines Schaber is an artist and writer based in Berlin and Los Angeles, and teaches at the California Institute of the Arts in the program of Photography and Media. Her artistic work addresses the complexity of image-making by investigating the hidden layers of historical evidence. This workshop will consist of three parts: a general introduction…

Tuesday 29 October, 10:30am – 12:30pm for Visual Artists, 2pm – 4pm for Arts Organisations. Location: VAI Office, 4 Oliver Bond Street, Dublin 8. GDPR is something that we hear a lot about in the media and through conversations that are normally accompanied by an acknowledgement of confusion. You may say, I’m an artist and…

VAI, in partnership with Project Art Centre, will welcome Kader Attia to Ireland to present on his recent work on Monday, 25th November 2019. Further details and bookings will be available soon. Kader Attia (b. 1970, France), grew up in Paris and in Algeria. Preceding his studies at the École Supérieure des Arts Appliqués Duperré and…

Visual Artists Ireland (VAI) was delighted and honoured to co-host the visit of EU President Luca Jahier, of the European Economic and Social Committee to Northern Ireland. At a gathering that included Members of President Jahiers Committee and Cabinet, Members of the Legislative Assembly, Members of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, and members of…

Artists should be aware that there seems to be an increase in the number of scams targeting artists in Ireland. Art Scams begin with email contact from a scammer looking to buy your work having seen it online. Art Scams are becoming more sophisticated by the day and it is very important for you, as…

Deadline: Wednesday 12 June. If you have recently been involved in a public commission, percent for art project, socially engaged project or any other form of ‘art outside the gallery’ we would like you to email us the information for publication in the the next issue of the Visual Artists News Sheet. Send images (3-4MB…

Visual Artists Ireland and Suki Tea are delighted to announce Cecilia Danell as the winner of this years Suki Tea Art Prize. As winner of the Suki Tea Art Prize Cecilia will have a two month, fully-funded, artist residency at the Centre Culturel Irlandais in Paris, including flights, accommodation, studio space, a monthly stipend, and…

Visual Artists Ireland, in partnership with Dublin City Council’s The LAB Gallery, are pleased to announce Lily Cahill as the winner of the 2019 Critical Writing Award. Cahill’s winning text – a review of Michelle Doyle’s exhibition ‘Obedient City’ at A4 Sounds – will be published in the May/June 2019 issue of The Visual Artists’…

It has come to our attention that comments have been made on Twitter concerning VAI’s compliance with payment policies surrounding the Speed Curating event which takes place each year as part of Get Together, our National Day dedicated to Visual Artists. We wish to offer the facts. Payment rates for Get Together are fully compliant…

Deadline: Friday 15 February. If you have recently been involved in a public commission, percent for art project, socially engaged project or any other form of ‘art outside the gallery’ we would like you to email us the information for publication in the the next issue of the Visual Artists News Sheet. Send images (3-4MB in…

Visual Artists Ireland is looking to update its panel of curators who participate in our programmes throughout the year. In particular, VAI’s Speed Curating event during Get Together. The panel of curators are also called upon during the year to deliver aspects of our Life Long Learning Programme which are aimed at raising awareness of…

Belfast Open Studios returns for its fifth annual insight into the tremendous creative activity that is going on all around us, all of the time. Over 250 professional artists are at work behind the usually closed doors of Belfast studios. They produce work that is seen and celebrated in galleries around the world and make…

Deadline: Friday 12 October. If you have recently been involved in a public commission, percent for art project, socially engaged project or any other form of ‘art outside the gallery’ we would like you to email us the information for publication in the the next issue of the Visual Artists News Sheet. Send images (3-4MB in…

As we finalise our planning for 2019, we want to remind members that part of the service that we offer a dedicated online gallery as part of the Members Directory.

Visual Artists Ireland are collaborating with Derry City & Strabane District Council on New Spaces, a programme of sixteen contemporary art exhibitions across four venues in Derry and Sion Mills from July to December 2018. The curators will bring diverse new work to the region from artists across Ireland and further afield. The venues are…

Deadline: 22 June If you have recently been involved in a public commission, percent for art project, socially engaged project or any other form of ‘art outside the gallery’ we would like you to email us the information for publication in the the next issue of the Visual Artists News Sheet. Send images (3-4MB in size)…

Visual Artists Ireland and Suki Tea are delighted to announce Ursula Burke as the winner of this years Suki Tea Art Prize. As winner of the Suki Tea Art Prize Ursula will have a two month, fully-funded, artist residency at the Centre Culturel Irlandais in Paris, including flights, accommodation, studio space, a monthly stipend, and…

In opening this presentation I would like to quote Ms Pat Moylan, Chair of The Arts Council at the JOINT COMMITTEE ON ARTS, SPORT, TOURISM, COMMUNITY, RURAL AND GAELTACHT AFFAIRS meeting. “In the reply to a recent parliamentary question the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism said that even in these economic times he did…

OVER 250 BELFAST ARTISTS OPEN THEIR DOORS TO THE PUBLIC, 21 OCTOBER 2017 11am to 5pm, Various Venues Belfast Open Studios, now in its sixth year, is an opportunity for the public to come and see how artists work and to take a glimpse into their creative processes. Belfast is home to over 250 professional…

Deadline: 4 August If you have recently been involved in a public commission, percent for art project, socially engaged project or any other form of ‘art outside the gallery’ we would like you to email us the information for publication in the the next issue of the Visual Artists News Sheet. Send images (3-4MB in size)…