‘I AM BABA’ by Anna Newell with David Goodall. Photo: Neil Harrison
  

Call for Applications

The Arts Council is inviting applications from experienced artists and arts organisations to participate in the pilot scheme. Selected artists and arts organisations will receive funding to work with a minimum of two relevant settings, and to form part of a research group that will inform the development of policy and resources in this area. Artists and arts organisations must have a track record of delivering high quality arts in early learning and care.

The Call for Applications is available here.  

The Projected Income and Expenditure form can be downloaded here.

The deadline for applications is Thursday 2 March at 5:30pm.

In order to make an application, you must be registered for an Arts Council Online Services (OLS) account. If you do not have one, you can sign up for one here. Please note that it can take up to five working days for a new user to be registered on OLS, so give yourself plenty of time to do this ahead of the deadline . 

For further information, please contact ypce@artscouncil.ie.  

The Arts Council is partnering with the Department of Children, Equality, Disability and Youth (DCEDIY) to pilot an Arts in Early learning & Care (ELC) and School Age Childcare (SAC) scheme. The pilot will be overseen by a steering group made up of representatives from the DCEDIY Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare Division, the Department of Education Early Years Inspectorate, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA), the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media (DTCAGSM), and the Arts Council.  

The pilot aims to support professional artists and arts organisations to work with Early Learning & Care (ELC)/ School Age Childcare (SAC) settings, and will incorporate the exploration and development of Draft Principles for Engaging with the Arts in Early Learning and Care recently published by the DCEDIY. It aims to include children aged 0-3, 4-6 and 7+ across a variety of settings in different parts of the country. It is anticipated that a total of eight settings, and up to four artists/arts organisations will participate in the pilot. 

More on early  childhood  arts 

The Arts Council has been supporting artists and practitioners working in early years arts for more than a decade. In 2012, the Arts Council commissioned its first research report in this area, Early Childhood Arts: Three Perspectives, which included an overview of Early Childhood Education and Care policy and provision in Ireland, a background paper on the role of the arts in early childhood learning and development, and an international perspective on best practice in Early Childhood Arts. The paper documented eight early childhood arts projects as part of the research and provides useful insights on what was then an emerging area of practice. Practitioners in Ireland have since continued to develop their practice in this area through a wide variety of projects and initiatives.

Research regarding arts and cultural participation among children confirms the benefits to children when they engage in the arts in their early years, and also indicates that patterns of participation in the arts are set from a very young age. The research points to the important role early years settings can play in ensuring children from diverse backgrounds and different genders have opportunities to participate freely in the arts. The Arts Council is delighted to continue to partner with others to support and promote the arts in early years. Please see information about our Residencies, as a related initiative in this area.