The Arts Council Young Ensembles Scheme (Ireland)

Young Ensembles Scheme Strands

• The Young Ensembles Scheme has two strands. You should choose the strand that is most suitable for your ensemble and for your proposal. You may only apply to one strand.
  • Strand 1
    • This strand is for ensembles that wish to undertake a process or project that will develop the practice and experience of the young people involved. You may apply for up to €10,000. Applicants may be new or established ensembles and must demonstrate their capacity to develop and deliver a high-quality artistic process.
  • Strand 2
    • This strand is for ensembles that wish to undertake a larger-scale process or project that develops the work of the ensemble and which will cost more than €10,000 and no more than €25,000. Applicants must be established ensembles with a track record of delivering high-quality artistic processes or projects. Applicants must make clear why a larger budget than is available under Strand 1 is required.

Priorities

• For both strands, priority will be given to applications that demonstrate the following:
  • Young people have played a role in developing the proposal, and will play a central role in shaping, delivering, documenting and evaluating the project.
  • The proposal will ensure a high-quality artistic process that is ambitious and original, provides a challenging and rewarding experience for the participants, and enables them to develop their artistic skills.
  • The proposal will ensure young people have ownership of the work they undertake. This may mean they actively engage in the process of devising, creating, composing or designing an original piece of work or artistic initiative, or that they engage in a process of exploring, interpreting or reimagining a given script/composition/artistic work or series of works in a way that enables them to make it their own.
  • The proposal is youth-led, or will actively support and develop youth leadership in the arts.
  • The ensemble will benefit from the expertise, support or mentorship of professional artists or arts organisations.
  • The proposal includes a presentation or sharing of work or work in progress. This may be small in scale (e.g. for participants and families) or for a wider audience.
  • The proposal includes evidence of the ensemble’s artistic activities or work produced to date, and how funding will enable the participants to develop their experience further. (In the case of a new ensemble, evidence of other relevant projects in which the young people or artistic mentors have been involved should be demonstrated.)
• The Arts Council welcomes in particular:
  • Initiatives that enable young people from diverse backgrounds to collaborate in a highquality artistic process
  • Initiatives that enable young people with disabilities to engage in a high-quality artistic process.

Funding Information

• The maximum award available under Strand 1 is €10,000.
• Applicants to Strand 2 may apply for an amount that is greater than €10,000 but no more than €25,000.

Who can apply?

• The Young Ensembles Scheme is open to ensembles whose members are young people between the ages of ten and twenty-four. Examples include:
  • Youth theatres
  • Youth film, animation or digital-media groups
  • Youth dance groups
  • Youth circus, spectacle or street-theatre groups
  • Youth orchestras
  • Youth choirs
  • Young bands
  • Young traditional-music groups
  • Young critics/curators
• The award is open to groups that do not define themselves as ensembles but take a similar, collective, approach to creating or engaging with art. This includes:
  • Groups of young visual artists who collaborate to create work or exhibitions of their work
  • Groups of young poets or writers who publish or perform work together
  • Groups of young people who combine a number of artforms to create shared performances/events
  • Groups of young people who critically engage as audiences or readers with one or more artforms, and who share their responses and insights with others.

Who cannot apply?

• Applicants seeking to create work for children and young people but in which children and young people are primarily consumers rather than active participants in developing the artistic initiative
• Professional artists. However, ensembles are encouraged to partner with professional artists as mentors and collaborators, and may apply for fees to pay these artists for their time and support.
• Applicants seeking to pay fees to ensemble members. Professional ensembles should instead consider applying for other Arts Council schemes and supports. Commercially driven schools, institutions or companies
• Primary and post-primary schools and third-level institutions
• Applicants in receipt of Arts Council Strategic or Arts Centre Funding in 2024. (However, applicants may avail of support from organisations in receipt of Strategic or Arts Centre Funding as partners, collaborators or mentors).

For more information, visit The Arts Council.