Arts Council applications now open for new awards: Commissions Award and Professional Development Award

Published date: 19 Aug 2020

Commissions Award – closing date Thursday 17 September 2020

The Commissions Award is open to organisations and the purpose of the award is to enable arts organisations to commission new work from independent artists. The Commissions Award only supports fees paid to the artist(s) by the commissioner, the maximum awarded will be €20,000. All other costs relating to the rehearsal, production, presentation or dissemination of the commissioned work must be borne by the commissioner. Applications may be for a single commission only.

Applications to Commissions Award must be made directly to the Arts Council before 17:30 on Thursday, 17 September 2020. Guidelines and details of the application process can be found on the Arts Council’s website here.

Professional Development Award – closing date 17:30 Thursday 19 November 2020

The Professional Development Award is open to applications from individual artists and the maximum awarded will be €3,000. The purpose of the Professional Development Award is to support practicing artists and arts practitioners to upskill through access to a professional development or training opportunity. Applicants can propose a specific once-off training or developmental opportunity. This can be accessed digitally or in person, in-line with COVID-19 guidelines.

Examples might include:
– Creative development supports, such as participation in workshops, specialist courses, master classes, research projects, residencies, coaching/mentoring, attendance at conferences/seminars.
– Career development supports, such as strategic and/or financial planning, promotional, presentation or digital skills, proposal writing.
– The proposal may be to work with an individual or organisation based in Ireland or abroad.

Applications to Professional Development Award must be made directly to the Arts Council before 17:30 on Thursday, 19 November 2020. Guidelines and details of the application process can be found on the Arts Council’s website here.