Bursary Awards 2027
Bursary Awards support individual professional artists living within the Dublin City Council administrative area to develop their artistic practice.
Bursaries are intended to support activities that contribute to the development of an artist’s work and practice, providing artists with time and resources to develop skills, explore new ideas, or deepen their artistic practice. Bursaries support artistic development rather than the delivery of a finished public project.
For the purposes of this award, a professional artist is an individual who maintains an active artistic practice and is demonstrably engaged in and recognised within the professional field of their artform.
The closing date for applications is 12 noon, Wednesday 28 October 2026
The Bursary Award is open to individual professional artists who live within the Dublin City Council administrative area working in any artform supported by Dublin City Council Arts Office.
Dublin City Council Arts Office is committed to supporting equality, diversity and inclusion in all aspects of its work. Applications are welcome from artists of all backgrounds and experiences.
The amount requested must be within the funding limits for this scheme - up to €5,000 (excluding personal access costs).
Location
- Applicants must live within the Dublin City Council administrative area. See map here.
Applicant
- You must be a professional artist.
For the purposes of this grant, a professional artist is an individual who maintains an active artistic practice and is demonstrably engaged in and recognised within the professional field of their artform.
- You cannot be in undergraduate education.
- Your work must come under the art forms supported by Dublin City Council Arts Office above.
Costs
- Applications that include ineligible costs will be deemed ineligible and will not be assessed. See Eligible Costs section below.
Timeline
- The proposed bursary activity must take place in 2027.
- Applications must be submitted through the online portal before the deadline. Applications submitted after the deadline, by email or in hard copy, will not be accepted.
If you are unsure about your eligibility you are encouraged to contact the Arts Office before submitting an application.
Applications are assessed competitively against the criteria below, with each section weighted as indicated. Assessors will consider the information provided across the application form and supporting material when scoring each section.
Artistic Ambition (40%)
Assessors will consider evidence of:
- quality and originality of the applicant’s existing work
- clarity and ambition of the proposed bursary activity
- how the proposed activity builds on or develops the applicant’s artistic practice
Relevance and Timeliness (30%)
Assessors will consider evidence of:
- clear articulation of why this activity is important at this stage
- relevance of the activity to the development of the applicant’s practice
- potential impact of the activity on the applicant’s future work
Feasibility and Development Plan (30%)
Assessors will consider evidence of:
- a clear and realistic plan for undertaking the proposed activity
- feasibility of proposed research, training, mentorship or development activity
- appropriate timeline and budget
- the budget should show that the proposed activity is realistic and achievable.
Download our Bursary Award 2027 Guidance Document below which explains the application questions in greater detail. We recommend printing this and keeping it beside you through the process.
Our team of Arts Officers offer information sessions ahead of the Arts Grants and Bursary Awards deadline each year. The aim of our information sessions is to provide help and guidance with all aspects of the online application process.
The Bursary Awards information session was led by Arts Officer Kelly Hickey. The session consists of a walk-through of the application form, followed by questions and answers.
The Bursary Award information took place on Wednesday 16 September at 10am and is now available to watch by clicking the image below.
Assessment
All applications are processed by the Arts Office team reporting to the City Arts Officer.
- Applications that are deemed ineligible will not proceed to assessment.
- Applications considered more suitable for a different grant may be redirected where this would benefit the applicant.
- Applications are assessed by the Arts Office team with support of independent external assessors with relevant experience and expertise. Applications are assessed competitively based on the information provided in form and supporting material.
- An independent external assessor also reviews the application and assessment process.
- All applications, funding recommendations and the external assessor’s report are considered by a Strategic Policy Committee sub-committee of the elected members of Dublin City Council.
- Following consideration by the sub-committee, final approval is sought at a full meeting of the elected members of Dublin City Council.
- Applicants will be notified by email of the outcome of their application.
Outcome of your application
If your application is successful, you will be required to:
- use the award only for the purposes outlined in your application.
- maintain basic financial records and submit a brief activity report to the Arts Office on completion of the funded activity.
- return any unused funds to the Arts Office.
- notify the Arts Office as soon as possible if the proposed activity cannot proceed.
- comply with all relevant statutory requirements and local authority byelaws, including appropriate Child Protection policies where relevant.
- for grants of €10,000 or more, provide a current Tax Clearance Certificate or Tax Clearance Access Number before the first payment is made and before any subsequent payments.
If your application is not successful
Applicants may request brief feedback on your application by emailing artsoffice@dublincity.ie within twenty days of notification of the outcome. Due to the volume of applications received, it may not be possible to provide detailed feedback.
What makes an application ineligible?
Applicants must be residents in the Dublin City Council administrative area. Applicants can check our map here. If in doubt, please email us on artsoffice@dublincity.ie
Applications for the purchase of equipment, marketing, administration costs and utilities are not eligible.
Named professional artists, mentors, supporting organisations must be evidenced in the proposal and joint artistic objectives must be clearly articulated.
Appropriate budgets and relevant supporting documentation must be included.
Can I apply for both project and bursary awards?
Yes, but to be clear on what you are applying for. Bursary awards are for the development of your artistic practice whereas project awards have a very clear expectation of the creation of new work and its presentation to an audience and the public in Dublin.
Is there any estimate on how many artists in all categories are likely to apply?
We don't ask people to pre-register so we don't know how many applicants to expect.
Can I apply if I am in college?
You can apply if you are in or intending to go on a post graduate level course.
If you are applying for a course, we need to know you have a provisional offer to attend. A letter of acceptance for a course or residency or a provisional offer is best as it is a competitive process.
Will the bursary cover the cost of a course being undertaken at the time of the application, but which the artist may not be in a position to complete because of shortage of funds?
In terms of competitiveness, it can be harder to make a compelling argument of how this bursary will change your development if you are already doing the course it, but it's not impossible.
Is a mentorship allowable for a bursary?
Yes
Can I build a period of mentorship with various mentors (so the costs would be mainly made of their individual fees) as opposed to attending a specific course with a single course fee?
Yes, you can build your own mentorship programme with various mentors.
Would we need to have a mentor identified, do they need to submit documentation as well?
Yes, the assessor will need to know that the mentor has the experience appropriate to support you. A CV or biog or letter of support from your proposed mentor helps show you've asked them, and also helps show your plan is feasible.
Would the bursary include purchase of equipment e.g. camera, production costs?
Purchase of equipment costs are not eligible.
What do you mean by the term action research?
Action research can be setting out a plan of action in which you will learn something new about your practice. But this is not set within formal education. Explaining why this is important to the development of your practice right now is helpful for making a good case for this approach.
Can you give some examples of what capacity building might be for an individual artist?
Capacity building is the process by which individuals improve skills, knowledge, and other resources needed to do your practice competently. Explaining why this is important to the development of your practice right now is helpful for making a good case for this approach.
Would renting a studio space be an example of capacity building?
Yes, you can rent a studio if that is the most useful thing to support your work at this time.
Would writing a screenplay at a residency for 3 weeks be covered by the bursary?
Yes, a residency with a plan for making work over that time is describing your learning journey.
Can the proposed residency be outside dcc area (e.g. Germany)?
Yes, the residency or course can take place elsewhere. Considering how you may bring that learning back to Dublin is valuable to express to assessors as it is a Dublin City Council award.
Can you give more detail on what the budget should include in relation to 'buying time' living costs?
The budget for living costs should be allocated in proportion the intended costs of the bursary overall. This bursary is not fully for your living costs. Your time and/or a portion of your time, to make your proposal happen, should be costed out.
Could you explain a bit about what sort of details u are looking for under estimated income?
Income could be a scholarship, support from another funder, earned income, in-kind support from a venue or organisation.
Are there recommended guidelines re calculating artist fees as part of the budget?
Often resource organisations like VAI or Theatre Forum or Dance Ireland can suggest industry standards for payment related to experience.
How many supporting samples of work should I include?
Put in maximum five examples of your work, however, think about it from the assessment perspective, do not put in a lot of documentation expecting the assessor to find the best one. Put in examples of practice and clearly label what they are for the assessor.
Can we attach a timeline as an additional document if it exceeds the 500 words under "Feasibility"?
Yes, you can attach a timeline and budget breakdown in the supporting documents section
Should you have a question not covered, please get in touch by emailing artsoffice@dublincity.ie or call us on 01 2225455
