Creative and Arts Grants 2022

The application window for Creative & Arts Grants 2022 closed on Monday 21st March, 5pm

The next round of call outs for the Kildare Creative & Arts Grants is expected to be published in December 2022. Please visit the press releases page where information on other grant and support opportunities will be published, as they arise. 

Kildare County Council Arts Service announced funding (May 2022) under the Creative and Arts Grants 2022, to support creative and artistic projects in county Kildare. Grant aid of €99,910 has been awarded via 15 separate schemes to 68 projects which will take place across all five of Kildare’s Municipal Districts in the year ahead.

In addition, Kildare County Council welcomed applications to the Kildare Short Grass Film Commission Award, Kildare Creative Ireland Bursary Awards 2022; the Creative Ireland Cruinniú na nÓg Bursary Award 2022, and the Kildare Decade of Commemorations Artistic and Creative Bursary Award 2022. Information on the projects funded under these awards will be published separately.

 

Below is a list of grants available from Kildare County Council Arts Service in 2022.

• Arts Act Grant Scheme
• Artistic Entrepreneur Bursary Award
• Arts, Health & Wellbeing Award
• Arts in Education Residency Bursary Award
• Dennis O'Driscoll Literary Bursary Awards
• Drama League of Ireland Summer School Bursary Award
• Emerging Visual Artist Solo Exhibition Award, in partnership with Riverbank Arts Centre
• Executive Coaching for Creative Professionals Bursary Award
• First Fortnight Award, in association with First Fortnight Festival
• Local Publishing Award
• Platform 4 Recording Studio Bursary Award
• Research and Thinking Bursary Award
• Short Grass Short Film Bursary Award (€1,500)
• Tyrone Guthrie Centre Residency Bursary Award (postponed from 2021)
• Youth Arts Residency Bursary Award

Further details of the projects funded under arts grants 2022, including recipients and the grant amount, can be viewed below.

__________________________________

Further information

• The deadline for the arts and creative grants and awards will change from 2023 onwards. The new deadline will be 5pm, Tuesday 28th February 2023.
• Application forms for all awards, with eligibility criteria, are available on https://kildarecoco.submit.com/
• Queries to T: (0)45 980872; E: arts@kildarecoco.ie

 

GRANT INFORMATION WORKSHOPS

Information sessions were held on Saturday 12th February, 11am and Tuesday 15th February, 11am to provide guidance on all Arts Grants, Creative Ireland and Decade of Commemorations Bursary Award and Commission opportunities available through Kildare County Council in 2022.  

A recording of the presentation is available to view here. This session might be of particular interest to creative practitioners, artists, arts collectives, community groups, schools and youth groups in County Kildare intending to apply to one or more of awards.

 

__________________________________

 

Arts Act Grant 2022
Name	Municipal District	Brief description of the project	Grant Awarded €
Abbey Art Group Celbridge / Ena Fitzpatrick	Celbridge / Leixlip	Publish an A4 hard back, full colour, glossy paged book depicting members' artworks with accompanying text, representing historical and natural aspects of our locality. Launch the book, to coincide with the group's 40th Anniversary, at an exhibition in Castletown House, Celbridge (November).	1,200
An Nuadha Players / Amy Douglas	Clane / Maynooth	Twisted! A Wicked Fairytale' is a fantasy theatre production which will run in the Aula Maxima, Maynooth (May 2022)	800
Bláthnaid Ryan	Naas	To develop and execute video artwork and to exhibit the video art in the public domain. An updated computer allowing video footage to be edited and enhanced.	1,400
Catríona Leahy	Clane / Maynooth	Support research and development of a new piece of work that explores and maps the surface of the bog through use of digital media and remote mapping technology.  Technical support will be provided by Fire Station Artist Studios.	2,500
Clane Musical & Dramatic Society / Sadie O'Reilly	Clane / Maynooth	Annual pantomine (December 2022) and the  production of the musical 'Legally Blond' (April 2022) with a cast of forty aged from 17 to 74, the first show since 2019.	800
Conor Burke	Naas	Ireland. 2022. Geraldine has lost her job and Luke has lost his prospects. A mother and son who are stuck at a dead end in their lives, they are desperate to find their way out of the ailing circumstances that they find themselves in.	1,800
Craobh Bheartla Uí Fhlatharta, CCÉ / Patricia Logan	Celbridge / Leixlip	Create an educational resource for students, teachers and branch members for tuition and activities such performing at community events, religious services, charitable fundraisers, Comhaltas competitions and branch sessions. To act as a repository and archive to reflect and acknowledge the contribution of  members over the past forty years.	1,200
Denis Kelly	Celbridge / Leixlip	Develop paintings initially with regard to scale and now concerning shape, and expand research. Exhibit work during 2023.	1,500
Explore Youth Theatre / Tamara McCarthy	Celbridge / Leixlip	Work with Sharon Mannion on elements of stand-up comedy, improvisation, sketches, comedy-acting, and silly story-telling. These confidence-building workshops will give participants the tools to express themselves, improve their creativity, teamwork and social skills,  and unleash their inner comedian. Explore will produce a devised, performance-ready piece.	1,200
Isobel Brady	Athy	Stage a production of Seussical Jr featuring 83 children aged 3-16 years old performing in Ard Scoil Na Trionoide, Athy (April). We make our own set, make/hire costumes, make/hire props and hire in professional lights and sound.	600
Liadain Butler	Kildare / Newbridge	Design and paint two murals in Suncroft Lodge nursing home, bringing the outdoors in to the clients of the home. The designs will be chosen by residents and completed by the artist on site. Design/make a sensory mural of clay tiles in the garden in resident  workshops.	2,350
Lucy Sheridan	Naas	Funding for materials to create new ceramic work as part ofa two-person exhibition in The Complex Gallery, Dublin (December). Funding will be used to buy an extruder, glazes and clay and will also fund the rental of the Firestation Artist Studios, Dublin.	500
Mairéad Carroll	Kildare / Newbridge	'If The Stars Could See You Now' is the title of my proposed project and debut EP as a Singer/Songwriter. I will be collaborating with Matteo Cullen ,an award winning musician and producer in his recording studio in Durrow Co.Offaly for my EP release in The Moat Theatre on 1/7/2022	400
Mark Barber	Kildare / Newbridge	Work with Kildare based photographer and artist, Brian Cregan, to photograph and print a series of images from a large body of sketchbooks.  My work focuses on characters, monsters, clothing, weaponry and scenes featured within my own fantasy fiction stories.	700
Martina O'Brien	Naas	Develop and produce an expansive site-specific installation for solo exhibition in Highlanes Gallery.	2,443
Mary Ryan	Kildare / Newbridge	Finish writing Act Two of Lar and Tilly, develop the remaining plot points, rewrite scenes and complete the final draft of a 2 x 55 minute play.	1,500
Mila Evans	Clane / Maynooth	Participate in ballet summer schools in Europe (Royal Danish Summer School and Amsterdam International Summer School), to enhance my professional development and provide the opportunity to work with world class mentors and improve technique and artistic abilities.	1,250
Millicent Singers / John Johnson	Clane / Maynooth	Resume full choir rehearsals from September 2022. A Christmas Concert 2022 and a Summer Concert in 2023. Resume entry at various choral competitions in Cork, Derry, Sligo etc	1,000
Naas Moat Writers / John Geoghegan	Naas	Expand writing output this year. Learn more about writing, broaden our diversity and content. We plan to invite established authors to pass on their knowledge through workshops and seminars during the coming year.	500
Newbridge Musical Theatre	Kildare / Newbridge	Construction of the set for the upcoming production of 'Evita', and future productions.	800
Noel Hensey	Kildare / Newbridge	Fund three international exhibitions, two solo and one group. Produce a new body of work for a solo exhibition at 36 Gallery, Newcastle Upon Tyne, U.K. Build international professional networks to advance my professional career.	1,800
Our Lady's Gospel Choir / Triona Homan	Celbridge / Leixlip	Specialist professional workshops for choir members in order to improve the standard of the choir, and variety of music performed.	400
Pamela de Brí	Clane / Maynooth	Research, document and subsequently paint 26 of Ireland's offshore islands.  Continue exploring, documenting and painting the remaining islands for eventual exhibition.Document the islands as a visual, historical record. Publish a small publication with a brief history of each of the islands.	1,200
Peter McCluskey	Celbridge / Leixlip	Compose ten original pieces of tradition music (5 x songs; 5 x tradition tunes). All ten pieces will be "Kildare County" themed. Make sound recordings of all ten pieces. Create/record a video for each piece. Upload all ten videos to social media video platforms e.g. You Tube, Vimeo	400
PlayActing Youth Theatre / Celine Hanratty	Celbridge / Leixlip	Performance of play "Hunt", in Straffan Community Hall (April) and The Lyric Theatre, Belfast (May)  to perform at the National Theatre Connections festival. We hope to perform at another Kildare location in the Autumn.	1,200
PopUpArt Newbridge / Eilis Kavanagh	Kildare / Newbridge	Facilitate and enable a collaboraton of local artists of all levels, to showcase their work both virtually  and at exhibitions, to a wider audience than previously available to them. Exhibtions: Whitewater Shopping Centre incorporating June Fest (June) Whitewater SC incorporating Culture Night (September) Newbridge Town Hall - Christmas Art Fair (December)	800
Sallins Dramatic Society / Margaret O'Connell	Naas	Perform a play on behalf of Sallins Dramatic Society in The Bridgewater Inn, Sallins (May). This only our second live performance as unfortunately due to covid we had to cancel our scheduled play for 2020/21.	800
Shane Hynan	Clane / Maynooth	funding to cover 65% of the total productions costs associated with the Beaneath / Beofhód exhibition in Kildare Town Library (June) which includes printing and framing of fine art photographic work.	1,519
Sharon Murphy	Naas	Develop, record, and mix an original four-song EP at our home studio Hidden Door by Dec 2022. This body of work will add to Sharon's growing discography and strengthen her position as an emerging midlife artist in the county.	1,300
Shauna Gilligan	Celbridge / Leixlip	"The Brigid Cuts" will build on previous research, access new research in Brigidine Archives (The Delany Archives, Carlow College) and National Library of Ireland. Form nine interlinked fictionalised stories of Brigid from the 5th Century to the 23rd Century - a book-length manuscript (April - December 2022).	2,410
Sheena Malone	Clane / Maynooth	Investigate Irish folk medicine; create a series of textile art pieces using dyes from medicinal plans and make a short film about traditional healers in the Irish midlands.	1,238
Skylarks Music Club / Sadhbh O'Sullivan	Naas	Skylarks Music Club is an eclectic gathering of some of Ireland's finest musicians and songwriters. Based in Kildare, our mission is to cultivate a community spirit through music, and to provide a platform for local and national acts to appear in front of intimate audiences.	1,200
South Kildare Photography Club / Trina Mulligan	Kildare / Newbridge	Create and print large photographs to display in and around the Newbridge area during the week of the June Bank Holiday	500
Tara Carroll	Naas	Develop new stone sculpting skills and methodologies through intensive one-on-one workshops facilitated by professional sculptor Mick Wilkens. These workshops will explore different techniques both machine and hand carving to grant me means to achieve my ambition of a new series of stone artworks and advance my art practice.	1,800
Teresa Brayton Players / Pat Hendrick	Naas	Productions planned between Oct 2022 - March 2023 to be staged in Newtown Hall, Newtown, Co. Kildare. Productions under consideration: 'Last Tango in Newtown' (Litte Grimley) by David Tristram, 'A Night Out' by Frank Vickery, 'The Quiet Land' by Malachy McKenna, 'Lonestar' by James McLure, 'Rabbit Hole' by David Lindsay-Abaire and a Christmas video production.	800
Thomas Clare	Athy	Shoot a music video in a maze in Prosperous (June). I will hire 16 actors to play roles. I will hire a production team. I will hire a studio to record my song. This video will promote drug addiction awareness, mental health awareness and creativity.	500

 

 

Artistic Entrepreneur Bursary Award 2022 in association with Kildare Local Enterprise Office (LEO)
Name	Municipal District	Brief description of the project	Grant Awarded €
Owl Fellas' Press / Valerie Malone	Athy	Set up a writing opportunity for male writers over the age of 60, to develop new writers of that vintage, and to encourage those ignored by the mainstream publishers and grant providers, which will be overseen by those with a professional skillset.	1,500

 

 

Arts, Health & Wellbeing Bursary Award 2022
Name	Municipal District	Brief description of the project	Grant Awarded €
Philippa Donnellan	Athy	Begin development of a community/professional performance piece A LIFE LONG TALE, exploring themes of work in rural/urban settings. Led by dancers Philippa Donnellan and Ailish Claffey, it offers local communities opportunity to participate in free, creative dance/social activities at Croí Anu Centre in Moone, Kildare (September).	4,000

 

 

Arts in Education Bursary Award 2022
School	Municipal District	Brief description of the project	Grant Awarded €
Ardscoil Na Tríonoide / Maria Treacy	Athy	Local ceramic artist, Ciara O'Keeffe will visit the school focusing on coil and slab building ceramic techniques with an aim for students to create there own sculptural piece from concept to 3D finished.	2,500
Cadamstown National School / Mary Malone	Celbridge / Leixlip	Engage students in an art project that involves the themes of ˜Birds eye view', ˜Sense of place' and ˜We all belong'. Create a number of finished pieces of artwork focusing on the local environment  of Cadamstown.	2,500
Curragh Post Primary School / Antoinette Brennan	Kildare / Newbridge	Promote the subject of art and prepare students with skills in key areas of the  Art curriculum, focusing on the theme of Identity. Activities would include engagement with the practice of Still life, Imaginative Composition and Self Portraiture.	2,500
Scoil Bhríde Kilcullen / Marta Golubowska	Naas	Looking at the world of insects in particular bees.  Focused on the process we will create art discussing climate change and its consequences for the environment, identity, sense of place. We will work through the medium of ceramics incorporating elements of printing, drawing, collage.	2,500
St. Marks Special School / Niamh Brady	Kildare / Newbridge	Students will learn about fashion styles and trends, and concepts. Importance will be placed on the reuse, recycling, repair and reimagining of materials. The project will take place on the grounds of St. Marks Special School, culminating in an exhibition in the Children's Gallery, Riverbank Arts Centre, Newbridge.	2,500

 

 

Dennis O'Driscoll Literary Bursary Awards 2022
Name	Municipal District	Brief description of the project	Grant Awarded €
Emerging Writer: Róisín Ní Neachtain	Kildare / Newbridge	Support the research and work on my first full collection of poetry. The title of the collection is 'Breath on a Ridge of White Shadows'	1,500.00
Professional Writer: Niamh Boyce	Athy	'Bridget' is a novel about an Irish artist. It spans the Irish Famine, Victorian Edinburgh and 1920s Paris.	2,000

 

 

Drama League of Ireland Summer School Bursary Award 2022
Name	Municipal District	Brief description of the project	Grant Awarded €
Vince Breheny	Clane / Maynooth	A significant creative and performance dust-off after two years of live performance inactivity due to Covid.	600

 

 

Emerging Visual Artist Solo Exhibition Bursary Award 2022, in association with Riverbank Arts Centre
Name	Municipal District	Brief description of the project	Grant Awarded €
Gavin Casey	Clane / Maynooth	An exploration of art and music to include an installation, artworks and a virtual reality experience. I want the public to be immersed in the artist's creative process by displaying not only finished artworks but also visually documenting my process.	2,500

 

 

Executive Coaching for Creative Professional Bursary Award 2022
Name	Municipal District	Brief description of the project	Grant Awarded €
Claire Blennerhassett	Kildare / Newbridge	Renew my confidence and focus, learn the tools required to identify and implement achievable goals, and create a clear roadmap forward in the development of my practice and in the creation of my show on Brigid of Kildare.	600.00
Jade Cox	Celbridge / Leixlip	The opportunity to work with an executive coach around managing my writing career.	600.00
Niamh Hynan	Clane / Maynooth	Focus my aims and goals for my art. I would like to expand my current selling capacity on my website. I am looking to maximise my art career.	600.00

 

 

 

First Fortnight Award 2022 in association with First Fortnight Festival
Name	Municipal District	Brief description of the project	Grant Awarded €
Clodagh Kelly	Celbridge / Leixlip	Freedom of Choice is a creative residency/workshop, with Visual Artist Clodagh Kelly. The participants will be asked to create artwork in response to the theme 'Freedom of Choice'. The creative residency/workshop and exhibition will run in the Riverbank Arts Centre as part of the First Fortnight Programme 2023.	4,000
Darren Donohue	Kildare / Newbridge	Support the presentation of a new play at Riverbank Theatre, Newbridge, exploring the relationship between people with chronic illness & technology.	4,000
Marta Golubowska	Clane / Maynooth	Collaboration as a visual artist and art educator with the group of members of EVE Larine in Maynooth to create a meaningful artwork that will represent the challenges of each individual in their daily struggle with stigma and prejudice towards mental health problems.	4,000

 

 

Local Publishing Award 2022
Name	Municipal District	Brief description of the project	Grant Awarded €
Ink Tank Creative Writing Group / Maria McDonald	Kildare / Newbridge	Ink Tank Writers are writing a relay book, with a working title of Library Days. The premise of the book is: what happens when a small-town writing group is taken hostage in their local library? Lives will be threatened, and mayhem will ensue. Will anyone survive unscathed?	650
Wordsmiths Writers Group / Gerry Barnes	Kildare / Newbridge	All Aboard! is a pacey read about passengers and staff thrown together by fate on a CIÉ night train in the 1980s, rolling through the Irish countryside, reflecting life in Ireland in 1986, and beyond. Who will survive the devastating climax in Kildare and what revelations 30 years on?	650

 

 

Platform 4 Recording Bursary Award 2022
Name	Municipal District	Brief description of the project	Grant Awarded €
Eamon Sinnott	Naas	The opportunity to work with a professional Sound Engineer to assess the merit of my original song and music compositions and how they could be improved and enhanced into a more professional recording. I play guitar, piano & keyboards.	900
Kasia Eliasz	Clane / Maynooth	"Ta Tum Tum" is an educational performance and workshop created for children allowing them to explore Brazilian music through popular songs they have chosen.	900
Playacting Youth Theatre / Celine Hanratty	Celbridge / Leixlip	Playacting Youth Theatre members completed a script during Covid lockdown which is a podcast called "A Tale as old as Crime". We plan to record the podcast portion and sound effects and combine it with brief theatre pieces.	900

 

 

Research and Thinking Bursary Award 2022
Name	Municipal District	Brief description of the project	Grant Awarded €
Ann Maria Healy	Clane / Maynooth	Continue with research of Neurofeedback therapy - a biofeedback therapy. Engage with a data set of humans expressing emotions. To utilize software that allows people to be observed and monitored through their webcam.	1,700
Kate Murphy	Kildare / Newbridge	Develop a number of cross-disciplinary collaborations throughout 2022/2023. Explore ways in which arts practitioners can work and research collectively in an environment not centred around outcomes and hyper-productivity but rather through modes of peer-learning and methods of skill-sharing.	1,700
Martha Fitzgerald	Clane / Maynooth	Develop my creative practice through two weeks of research, thinking and playwriting time (July). This would be supported by mentorship from playwright Arthur Riordan providing feedback through Zoom-based sessions.	1,700
Shane Hynan	Clane / Maynooth	Undertake an intense period of research to refine the focus of my rural based photographic practice through desk-based reading alongside critical analysis and feedback from my mentor. Review the wider photographic context of my practice and explore its place within contemporary photographic practice and Irish visual culture.	1,700

 

 

Short Grass Film Bursary Award 2022
First name	Municipal District	Brief description of the project	Grant Awarded €
Darn Skippy Productions / Richard Lennon	Naas	"SWAN, UNMUTED" is a short that was filmed entirely in Kildare. This grant will cover final editing, color grading, music composition and mixing.	1,500
Lee-Loi Chieng	Naas	"Where it all began" is a sombre, naturalistic and understated drama about the complex relationship between father and daughter. It is filled with long takes, silences and the textured memories of a family home, now faded in time.	1,500
Veridian 3 Films Ltd / Colin Weldon	Naas	Develop a screenplay focusing on a couple of free divers from Kildare who travel to the World Championships of free diving - or apnea - to challenge themselves and the limits of what is possible for a human being in the ocean.	1,500

 

 

Tyrone Guthrie Centre Bursary Award (postponed from 2021)
First name	Municipal District	Brief description of the project	Grant Awarded €
Shane Hynan	Clane / Maynooth	Time and space to edit and sequence images from a long-term photographic project,for an upcoming solo exhibition and photobook. Time to develop my writing around my bog work and photographic practice.	700.00
Vera McEvoy	Celbridge / Leixlip	Revisit and resolve a multiple plate print project, started in 2010b. Reflect on my practice as a mature artist, subsequent to Covid.	700.00

 

 

Youth Arts Bursary Award 2022
First name	Municipal District	Brief description of the project	Grant Awarded €
Ardclough Youth Theatre / Phoebe O'Leary	Celbridge / Leixlip	Dance artist and movement researcher Yasmin Mello will run an intensive summer programme around compassionate movement practices and cultural diversity. This collaborative process will explore how the performing arts sector can function as a space to create dialogue and reflections in a fun and community-led setting.

Back to other News Items