Arts Council Arts Participation Bursary Award

The purpose of the award is to support professional artists to develop their art practice. It provides artists with the time and resources to think, research, reflect and critically engage with their art.

Deadline 17:30, Thursday 16 July 2015.

Objectives and priorities of the award

The objective of the Arts Participation Bursary Award is to support individual professional artists in any artform whose practice centres on collaboration with groups of people in any of the following contexts:

• Health, Disability, Cultural diversity, Older people, Communities of place or interest.
• The award aims to support professional artists to develop their arts-participation practice.

The award emphasises the value and benefit to an artist’s development that is 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 practice. It is aimed at artists who:

• Work collaboratively with individuals and groups in the making and interpreting of art
• Consider and prioritise the quality of the engagement at all stages (e.g. in the planning, making and evaluation of work)
• Demonstrate a clear commitment to artistic outcomes alongside related aims in areas such as health, disability, well-being, integration or social inclusion.

Strategic priorities

Potential proposals could be those that enable artists working in the contexts named above to develop their arts participation thinking and practice through:

• Research, dialogue and the negotiation of strategic partnerships
• Collaborative art-making, critical reflection and evaluation
• Mentoring.

For more information, see http://www.artscouncil.ie/Funds/Arts-participation-bursary-award/