Deadline approaches for Offaly Arts grant schemes
The Arts community in Offaly is being reminded that the deadline is approaching for a variety of grant schemes offered to professional artists, communities, and festivals in the county for 2025.
Last November, Offaly County Council Arts Office opened its application process for the grant schemes designed to assist in the development and promotion of the Arts across the county.
The grants include the Arts Acts Grants 2025, the Festival Arts Scheme 2025 and the Professional Artists Support Award 2025.
The deadline for the Arts Act Grants and Professional Artist applications is Monday next, January 20, at 3pm.
The Arts Acts Grants are community based and designed to support Offaly voluntary arts organisations, schools, drama & musical groups, town bands, voluntary community groups intending to host arts events, performances, or projects taking place in Offaly in 2025.
The Professional Artist Support Award offers a support scheme for professional artists in developing their arts practice over a number of categories.
The deadline for the Festival Arts Scheme, meanwhile, is Monday, February 17, at 3pm.
The Festival Arts Scheme is designed for festivals taking place in Offaly this year which are either dedicated arts festivals or have a strong professional arts element to the festival.
The grant schemes fund many great projects every year.
In 2024 the Arts Acts funded a variety of projects including the transition year musical of ‘All Shook Up’ by Colaiste Naomh Cormac, a series of enabling art sessions for clients of Dochas Offaly Cancer Support Group, Dance classes with Lisa Hogan at St Brendan's Boys P.S. and the sell-out show ‘Rock of Ages’ by Tullamore Musical Society.
Festivals funded under the Festival Arts award scheme in 2024 included Birr Festival of Music, Birr Vintage Week and Arts Festival, OFFline Film Festival, Scripts, Tullamore International Summer Organ Series and Tullamore Trad Fest.
The professional artist support award funded a range of professional artists across the county in support of their practice, with the aim of encouraging professional artists to live and work in the county.
All the funding schemes are competitive, and applicants are encouraged to ensure that proposed projects are innovative and ambitious, and for the Arts Acts and Festival Arts Grants, that they provide maximum impact in the community within the objectives.
Applications can be made online only, via submit.com.
Further information on all of the schemes is available on offaly.ie/c/arts-grants-awards/ or at: offalycoco.submit.com/