The Arts Councilaward
Arts Council of Ireland Visual Arts Bursary Award (Round 1)
- Who Can Apply: Professional visual artists and independent curators at any career stage who are resident in the Republic of Ireland (per the most recent published guidelines). Full-time undergraduate students and organisations cannot apply.
- The Focus: Time and resources to develop an artistic or curatorial practice: research, reflection, developing a body of work or re-engaging after a break. It does not cover exhibition or presentation costs.
- The Funding: Up to €20,000. In the last published guidelines awards were fixed at €10,000, €15,000 or €20,000 depending on the strand.
- Key Requirements: Apply through Arts Council Online Services (register at least five working days ahead) with the downloaded application form, an artistic or curatorial CV of up to three pages, and work samples: five to ten still images and/or up to three moving-image excerpts of three minutes each.
Applications openNovember 10, 2026
DeadlineThursday, December 17, 2026
AwardMaximum award €20,000. In the most recent published guidelines (2026 Round 2) awards were fixed bands: €10,000 for the Emerging Artists strand, €15,000 or €20,000 for the Visual Artists strand, and €10,000, €15,000 or €20,000 for the Curators strand; guidelines for this round are not yet published.
Locationnational
ParticipationRemote
Career stagesAll Stages
Disciplinesvisual arts
Application notesApply through Arts Council Online Services (https://onlineservices.artscouncil.ie/). You need an Online Services account in your own name; registration can take up to five working days, so register early. Guidelines and the application form for this round are published about two weeks before the 10 November 2026 opening; the requirements below are from the most recent published guidelines (2026 Round 2) and should be re-checked. Submit: (1) the completed Arts Council application form, downloaded from Online Services (type only inside the grey boxes; all required sections must be completed); (2) a current artistic or curatorial CV, maximum three pages; (3) examples of your work, clearly labelled with an image list giving brief context: a minimum of five and maximum of ten good-quality still images (including detail and installation shots) and/or a maximum of three excerpts from moving-image work (three-minute samples) with explanations; (4) if other people or organisations are involved, brief biographies and letters of support or confirmation; (5) if claiming disability access costs, a separate document listing them. Accepted file types: .rtf, .doc, .docx, .txt, .jpg, .gif, .tiff, .png, .wav, .mp3, .m4a, .avi, .mov, .mp4, .xls, .pdf; total upload limit 40MB. Video or audio may be given as URL links (for example YouTube or Vimeo) listed in an uploaded document; links to Google Drive, OneDrive, social media or a personal website are not accepted. You may apply to only one Bursary round and one artform per year, and not for both the Bursary and the Agility Award in the same calendar year. An online information clinic is on Wednesday 18 November 2026 at 11:00am (booking link on the award page). Queries: awards@artscouncil.ie, 01 618 0200.
Contactawards@artscouncil.ie
The Arts Council
Organization based in Dublin