Apply for Visual Arts Bursary Award – Ireland

Award Strands

There are two strands to the award:

• Strand 1: Artists
  • The objective of the Visual Arts Bursary Award Strand 1: Artists is to support individual professional artists at any stage of their career to develop their artistic practice.
  • The award emphasises the value and benefit to an artist’s development derived from an extended process of engagement with their practice. The award seeks to provide artists with the time and resources to think, research, reflect and engage with their artistic practice. Potential proposals could be those that demonstrate:
    • How the award will assist with the development of your artistic practice (this may include support with time, workspace, research facilities, training, mentoring, residencies, etc.)
    • How the award will assist with developing and/or resolving a specific body of work
    • How the award will assist with re-engaging with your practice after a break
    • How the award will assist you in re-evaluating your practice after a continuous period of outcome-based, deadline-driven project work.
• Strand 2: Curators
  • The Visual Arts Bursary Award Strand 2: Curators seeks to support individual curators at any stage of their career to develop their independent curatorial practice.
  • The award emphasises the value and benefit that an extended process of investigation, discovery and engagement can have on the progression of a curator’s independent practice. It aims to provide curators with the time and resources required to plan, research and expand their curatorial strategies and methodologies.
  • The award also seeks to build capacity for commissioning and producing ambitious, high-quality visual-arts exhibitions, events and activities in Ireland. This may be achieved, for example, through the development of collaborations and partnerships between curators, artists, groups and organisations, etc. Potential proposals could be those that demonstrate:
    • How the award will assist with the development of your independent curatorial practice (this may include support with time, workspace, research facilities, training, mentoring, residencies, etc.)
    • How the award will assist with planning, researching, developing and/or resolving a body of work relevant to the progression of your independent curatorial practice
    • How the award will support your ongoing development of reciprocal partnerships, collaborations and opportunities with artists, organisations and institutions
    • How the award will assist with re-engaging with your independent curatorial practice after a break
    • How the award will assist you in re-evaluating your independent curatorial practice after a continuous period of outcome-based, deadline-driven project work.

Funding Information

• Funding will be offered according to bands. You should apply for one of the following amounts:
  • €20,000
  • €15,000
  • €10,000
• Your application will be deemed ineligible if you apply for more than the maximum (unless you are applying for additional access costs) or less than the minimum amount stated.
• In addition, if you request an amount other than one of these bands, any offer that may be made will be rounded downward to the next lowest band (e.g. if you request €19,500, the maximum for any possible offer would be €15,000).
• You may apply for support under only one strand of the award in this funding round.
• The amount you propose to pay yourself – and any collaborators that you might have working with you – should be commensurate with the nature of your practice and the amount of time you propose to take, and should be appropriate to standard conditions within your area of arts practice. You should pay yourself appropriately. Do not request less than you feel you need to achieve your objectives.
• Strand 1: Visual Artists
  • Applicants to Strand 1: Visual Artists may also apply for other costs intrinsic to supporting the development of the artist’s practice – e.g.
  • Appropriate fees for the time given by any collaborators, trainers or mentors where it can be demonstrated that such costs will benefit the progression of your artistic practice.
  • Materials (up to a maximum of 15% of the total amount requested) or the hiring of services that are critical to the development of your artistic practice provided the request is clearly linked to the proposal for ‘buying time’.
• Strand 2: Curators
  • Applicants to Strand 2: Curators may apply for support towards research, development and training where it can be demonstrated that such costs will benefit the progression of your independent curatorial practice. This might include developing relationships with artists, partnerships with organisations/institutions, advancing opportunities for professional mentoring, cultivating sources of funding and supports, and developing the capacity to commission and produce high-quality and ambitious visual-arts activities.

Ineligible Funding

• Activities or costs that do not fit the purpose of the award
• Activities that are better suited to another award funded by the Arts Council or operated by other state agencies, such as Culture Ireland
• Activities that have already been completed or have already started
• Activities undertaken for charity-fundraising purposes, for participation in a competition, or for primarily profit-making purposes
• Activities that have already been assessed by the Arts Council, unless you demonstrate that you have developed the proposal since previously applying or if the Council has specifically advised you to redirect your application to this award. Please bear in mind that such advice is not an indication of a successful outcome.
• Major capital requests for the purchase of equipment or improvements to workspace
• Undergraduate, postgraduate, unaccredited higher-education or internship activities are not eligible for support.

Who can apply?

• The award is open to practising visual artists or curators working in all genres and at all stages of their professional careers. To be eligible to apply, applicants must:
  • Be resident in the Republic of Ireland. However, they may accept applications from outside the Republic of Ireland. In this case, you must detail in your application form how your proposal would benefit the arts in the Republic of Ireland. They would need to be satisfied with your explanation.
  • Be professional practising artists or curators – although you might not earn income continuously or exclusively from your artistic/curatorial practice, you must identify yourself, and be recognised by your peers, as a professional practising artist or curator.

Ineligibility Criteria

• People who are not eligible to apply include the following:
  • Individuals currently in undergraduate education (including those undertaking foundation courses)
  • Individuals seeking support towards fees for postgraduate (including unaccredited)/higher education or study
  • Individuals seeking support towards work undertaken as part of a formal course of study
  • Individuals seeking support towards the costs of undertaking an internship
  • They cannot accept applications from those employed or contracted on a fulltime basis by an arts organisation funded through Arts Council programmes or through direct state subsidy or by a commercial arts entity
  • Aosdána members in receipt of a cnuas.
  • You may only apply for one round of the Bursary Award in 2024. Two rounds will be offered in 2024. Round 2 of the Bursary Award will open in late May 2024.

For more information, visit The Arts Council.