Arts Council calls on artists to apply for Agility Award with €2.5m in extra funding

The Arts Council has issued a special call to artists, practitioners and arts workers who have never before received a grant to apply for its Agility Award.

The board has also announced that the budget for the award has been increased by €2.5m  to ensure more people can benefit.

The government agency for funding and developing the arts said the original budget for the Agility Award, introduced as a rapid response to the pandemic, was €5.6 million.

However, “with thousands or artists and arts workers facing extraordinary challenges making a living due to the public health restrictions, almost all of this budget was awarded in the first two rounds.”

To date in 2021, a total of €5.4m has been awarded to 1153 artists through the Agility Award.

The additional funding means that hundreds of artists will receive the grant of up to €5,000 in the weeks ahead.

“It has been really inspiring to see the creativity and ambition behind the applications received for the Agility Award,” said Arts Council Maureen Kennelly.

“We are delighted to have the opportunity to fund even more applications than originally anticipated, and to be able to broaden our relationship with artists by encouraging applications from any artist or arts worker who may not have been funded previously by the Arts Council.”

The agency plans to host a webinar on the application process for the Agility Award with a particular focus on what makes a strong application, to take place on Tuesday 31 August at 11:00.

Applicants can register in advance for this here https://bit.ly/38fQMZZ or on the Arts Council’s website.

The deadline for the award is 17:30 on Thursday 9 September 2021.

The Arts Council said it is in particular encouraging applications from people who have never before been funded by the Arts Council, and noted that new applicants must first register at http://onlineservices.artscouncil.ie/