ABOUT THE AWARD
Name of award
Theatre Artist Bursary Award
Deadline
5.30pm Thursday 21 January 2010
Purpose and priorities of award
The Theatre Artist Bursary Award supports individual professional artists in the field of Theatre. The purpose of the award is to support professional artists to develop their art 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 therefore provides artists with the time and resources to think, research, reflect and engage with their art practice.
Potential proposals could be those that:
- allow a theatre artist (with a demonstrable track record in professional practice) the time and space to investigate and develop their thinking around a particular idea or area of their practice;
- allow a theatre maker, director and/or writer (with a demonstrable track record in professional practice) time and space to develop ideas towards a specific artistic idea or impulse;
- allow an actor (with a demonstrable track record in professional practice) time and space to concentrate on and develop a particular area of their craft;
- allow a theatre artist to bring together a group of other theatre practitioners to work collaboratively to develop thinking around a specific idea.
The Arts Council has identified the following as a strategic priority for support through this award:
- applicants that genuinely seek to develop their own practice through investigation, research, non-formal study and/or training;
- applications that seek, through their own personal development, to strengthen and deepen a wider appreciation and understanding of Theatre as an art form.
Who is eligible to apply?
The award is open to all professional theatre artists working in all genres and at all stages in their professional careers. To be eligible to apply applicants must:
- have a demonstrable track record as a professional theatre practitioner. Although they may not necessarily earn income continuously from their arts practice, they must identify themselves and be recognised by their peers as a professional practicing artist;
- have been born in, or be resident in, the Republic of Ireland. See more on the residency criteria here.
Who cannot apply?
Applicants who are not eligible to apply include the following:
- individuals who have not worked professionally as theatre artists (whether as actors, directors, writers, designers or technicians);
- individuals currently in undergraduate education.
What you can apply for
The maximum Bursary Award available is €15,000 per year. In a very limited number of cases the Arts Council may also support applications for multi-annual bursaries of up to €30,000 for a two-year period or €45,000 for a three-year period.
The emphasis of the award is on artists ‘buying time’, however, to a limited extent the award also allows for other costs that are intrinsic to supporting the development of the artist’s practice. In this context applicants may apply to pay themselves a fee or salary, commensurate with their experience and equivalent to the fees they would expect to earn as a professional practitioner. They may also apply for materials, resources, third-party expertise or the hiring of services where it can be demonstrated that such costs are intrinsic or necessary to the development of the artist’s practice.
It is important to note that the purpose of the Theatre Artist Bursary Award is to offer opportunities to artists who genuinely seek to improve the quality of their engagement with their own practice. Applicants are advised to consider carefully the purpose of their application, and remember that applications are assessed in an extremely competitive environment.
In addition to the normal limits stated above the Arts Council will also consider costs specifically relating to the making of art by artists with disabilities. If you wish to apply for additional funding on this basis you should provide information with your application outlining what these additional costs are.
What you cannot apply for
Activities and costs that you cannot apply for include the following:
- activities or costs that do not fit the purpose of the Theatre Artist Bursary award;
- activities which are more suited to another award funded by the Arts Council (such as project funding) or operated by other state agencies including Culture Ireland;
- activities that have already taken place or which will have commenced before a decision is due to be made on your application;
- where the activity is for charity fund-raising purposes, for participation in a competition, or for primarily profit-making purposes;
- activities that have already been assessed by the Arts Council. An exception will be made if the Council has specifically advised you to redirect your application to this award. Please bear in mind that such advice is not an indication of a successful outcome.
What criteria are applications assessed against?
All eligible applications are assed under 3 criteria as follows:
- Artistic merit
- Meeting the objectives and priorities of the award
- Feasibility
You can see more information on each of these criteria here.