Maximum awarded: €400,000
Artform and practice(s): Architecture, Arts participation, Circus, Dance, Festivals, Film, Literature, Local arts, Music, Opera, Street arts, Theatre, Traditional arts, Venues, Visual arts, YPCE

The Arts Council announces an Open Call to the artists and arts organisations of Ireland to create collaborative ground breaking projects of ambition, impact and scale that encourage discourse, provocation or response to place and identity as part of contemporary Ireland.

Open Call is a programme for artists and arts organisations to develop and shift their practice and profile work on a national scale, creating high profile arts central to people’s lives.

The purpose of the award is to support projects which:

• Are brave in the pursuit of creative risk taking and seek to develop the ambition of the artist
• Encourage discourse, provocation or response to place and identity as part of contemporary Ireland.
• Evidence collaborative practices between artforms and artform practice areas (cross artform)
• Demonstrate the pursuit of /open up opportunities for making work/collaborating in new territories of arts practice.
• Extend the reach and impact of a project, with a fresh and dynamic approach to public engagement. In this context, public engagement may refer to participants and/or audiences
• Establishes and evidences effective project partnerships, which may include high profile international dimensions and collaborators in terms of public visibility and resource-based partnerships

The Open Call application process will take place in three phases:

• Phase 1: Expression of Interest — Project proposals will be assessed by the Arts Council executive and a shortlist of candidate projects will be drawn up and invited to submit further information for phase 2.
• Phase 2: Detailed Project proposal — those whose proposals have been shortlisted will be invited to submit more details of what they propose for an International Jury. A reduced final shortlist will be selected by the International Jury for interview for phase 3
• Phase 3: Presentation and Interview — Those candidates selected will be asked to attend an interview and make a presentation for the International Jury. (The jury will remain the same for phases 2 & 3)

Open Call 2020 is for projects commencing in 2020 and completing in 2020 or 2021.

Phase 1 Applications open: 25th June 2019

Phase 1 Applications closing date: 25th July 2019

Phases 2 & 3 of Open Call will take place in the last quarter of 2019 and details will be published in due course.

The Arts Council will host an information clinic outlining the application process, guidelines and stages of the Open Call programme. A short presentation will be followed by a Q&A session.

Please Note: Places are free but a ticket is required for entry, pre-booking through the art centres websites linked below is essential to guarantee a place. Only one ticket per organisation. Booking available from Monday 24 June 2019.

Dates and locations of clinics 

Galway — Monday 1 July — Mick Lally Theatre, Druid Theatre | 2pm-4pm | druid.ie

Dublin — Tuesday 2 July — The Cube, Project Arts Centre | 2pm-4pm | projectartscentre.ie

Limerick — Wednesday 3 July — Lime Tree Theatre | 2pm-4pm | limetreetheatre.ie 

See further details at the link below.