ABOUT THE AWARD
Name of award
Music Bursary Award
Deadline
5.30pm Thursday 21 January 2010
Purpose and priorities of award
The Music Bursary Award supports individual professional artists in the field of Music. 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:
- enable a composer or performer working in any music genre to buy time for the development of their artistic practice;
- facilitate the development or completion of a specific body of artistic work;
- enable artists to invest time in focused study of particular repertoire or area of technique.
The Arts Council has identified the following as a strategic priority for support through this award:
- applications from choral directors or singers to embark on programmes of professional development, mentoring or research in order to advance their artistic practice.
Who is eligible to apply?
The award is open to 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 in his/her genre of music practice;
- have been born in, or be resident in, the Republic of Ireland. See more on the residency criteria here;
- be professional practicing artists. Although they may not necessarily earn income continuously from their arts practice, they must identify themselves and be recognized by their peers as professional practicing artists.
Who cannot apply?
Applicants who are not eligible to apply include the following:
- individuals currently in undergraduate education or seeking support for work which forms part of academic studies.
What you can apply for
The maximum Bursary Award available is €15,000 per year. 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 for living costs, they may also apply for 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. They may also apply for materials that are critical to the development of their artistic practice provided the request is clearly linked to the proposal for "buying time."
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:
- major capital requests for the purchase of musical instruments and technical equipment;
- academic activities that do not form part of the development of a professional arts practice;
- activities or costs that do not fit the purpose of the award;
- activities which are more suited to another award funded by the Arts Council or operated by other organisations on behalf of the Arts Council;
- 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 are your chances of receiving support?
This is an extremely competitive award. Many more applications are received than it is possible for the Arts Council to support. Over the past 2 years an average of 2 in 10 applicants has received support through this award.
What criteria are applications assessed against?
All eligible applications are assessed 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.