The Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Josepha Madigan and Chair of the Arts Council Kevin Rafter today (3 April) announced a new fund of €1 million for artists in response to the COVID-19 crisis. 

The scheme, called the Arts Council COVID-19 Crisis Response Award, is aimed at supporting artists to create new work during the pandemic and the dissemination online of the work for the public benefit. 

Practising artists from all disciplines are invited to apply to the scheme, which is offering grants of €3,000. 50% of the funding comes from the Department and 50% from the Council.

Speaking about the new fund, Kevin Rafter said:

Today the Arts Council is opening applications for a €1m funding scheme designed to support the creation of new artistic work and its dissemination online. The award is open to anyone who can demonstrate a track record of professional practice as an artist, with no restriction on the type or form of art that can be created. Proposals will be assessed and scored based on the artistic quality of the proposal, the potential of the idea to engage with the public, and the track record of the artist.

Full details on how to apply to the fund are available here.

Also announced at today’s press conference is a new scheme with Culture Ireland and Facebook Ireland called Ireland Performs worth €100k that will support live performance by artists online, and a collaboration between TG4 and Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann to produce a reimagined online Fleadh Cheoil. 

RTÉ’s School Hub project and RTÉ Culture will also be showing online exhibitions and material from national cultural institutions, the Arts Council and other arts organisations, and the Abbey Theatre will support fifty writers to produce monologues to be performed in April. 

A national initiative, Shine Your Light, has also been announced for Easter Saturday, 20 April, when the nation is invited to shine a light at home in honour of those who have lost their lives or are sick due to the pandemic; the country’s frontline staff and healthcare workers; and all those directly affected by the crisis. Public buildings and embassies abroad will also be lit up for the occasion. 

For more on the Arts Council COVID-19 Crisis Response Award, visit http://www.artscouncil.ie/COVID-19/ 

* Update, 9 April: applications no longer require an online aspect.