Cork County Council Approves Grants for 123 Arts Organisations and Artists for 2025
Cork County Council has announced funding of over €166,000 for 123 artists and arts organisations through its 2025 Arts Grants. The Art Grants support events, activities and new initiatives that enhance public access to the arts and support cultural development in all eight of the County’s Municipal Districts. While various Artist Bursaries support practicing artists’ professional development.
Welcoming the funding, the Mayor of the County of Cork, Cllr. Joe Carroll said
Mayor
County Council is proud to support arts and culture in the county, it contributes to our quality of life and our sense of place. Through their submissions, artists, arts organisations and community groups have demonstrated a wealth of activity, highlighting the value of participation and engagement in arts and cultural activity. This funding will be put to great use enabling festivals, artists and voluntary arts organisations deliver events and projects that will help make arts more accessible to all.
Cork County Council’s Arts Grants offer funding under eight different schemes which support arts organisations, community initiatives, and individual artists. The Arts Grant Scheme covers services provided by voluntary arts groups and others that enable public engagement in the arts, including arts for older people, community art, craft, dance, disability access projects in the arts, festivals, literature, music theatre, visual and youth arts. Furthermore, the Irish Language Scheme supports arts activity that takes place in the Irish Language.
The Arts Grants also support the work of individual artists through the Creative Artist Bursary Scheme, Artists in School Scheme, International Touring and Exhibition Bursary, Tyrone Guthrie Centre Bursary, Ballinglen Arts Foundation Bursary, and the Cork County Council Centre Culturel Irlandais Residency Bursary. 14 bursaries and residencies will be awarded to individual creative artists this year. This includes an award supporting an artist in developing their career abroad, and three residencies to support the development of their practice in Ireland.
Chief Executive of Cork County Council, Moira Murrell added,
Moira Murrell
Chief Executive
Our aim is to see the arts thrive and to ensure that all our citizens can access and enjoy the arts in their own areas. We particularly commend the work that is being done by so many organisations throughout the county to support and promote creative activity in all its forms.
In 2024, events supported through the Arts Grants Scheme created 2,242 artist work opportunities. 16,734 children and adults actively participated in a creative activity while 192,134 people attended an arts event or festival enabled through the Arts Grants. While a spend of € 3.6M in local communities is estimated by the 30 festivals supported through the scheme last year.