Applications now open for Offaly Arts Grants

Offaly County Council Arts Office has opened its application process for a variety of grants offered to professional artists, communities, and festivals for 2024.

Voluntary arts organisations, schools, drama and musical groups, town bands and voluntary community groups intending to host arts events, performances, or projects in Offaly in 2024 are invited to submbit an application.

The Festival Arts Scheme is designed for festivals taking place in Offaly in 2024 that are either dedicated arts festivals or have a strong professional arts element to the festival, while the Professional Artist Support Award offers a support scheme for professional artists in developing their arts practice over a number of categories.

In 2023 the Arts Acts funded a variety of projects including the transition year musical of ‘Disco Inferno’ by Colaiste Naomh Cormac; a series of enabling art sessions for clients of Dochas Offaly Cancer Support Group; encaustic workshops with Highstreet Belmont active retirement group; portraits in digital and pencil with the Irish Wheelchair Association and funding toward the recently published poetry collection Journeys by Wordsmiths of Tullamore.

Festivals funded under the Festival Arts award scheme in 2023 included Birr Festival of Music; Birr Vintage Week and Arts Festival; OFFline Film Festival; Shakefest; Tullamore International Summer Organ Series and Tullamore Trad Fest. The professional artist support award funded a range of professional artists across the county in support of their practice, with the aim of encouraging professional artists to live and work in the county.

All the funding schemes are competitive, and applicants are encouraged to ensure that proposed projects are innovative and ambitious, and for the Arts Acts and Festival Arts Grants, that they provide maximum impact in the community within the objectives.

The deadline for the Arts Act Grants and Professional Artist applications is January 22 at 3pm, while the deadline for the Festival Arts Scheme is Monday February 19 at 3pm.

All applicants are asked to note that, this year, applications will be made online via submit.com. Further information is available from: https://www.offaly.ie/c/arts-grants-awards/ or visit https://offalycoco.submit.com/

The Arts Office welcomes queries and reminds potential applicants to read the guidelines carefully before applying. Email arts@offalycoco.ie