Arts Council’s Next Generation Award sees 23 Artists receive €20,000
The Arts Council’s prestigious Next Generation bursary has been awarded to 23 artists from across the country practicing a wide range of disciplines from music and dance to film, theatre and literature.
The Arts Council, the government agency for funding and developing the arts, said it chose artists at an early, pivotal point in their careers. The award means each will receive €20,000, in effect to buy time to develop their practice.
Artists will also take part in a collective week-long residential programme in The Tyrone Guthrie Centre at Annaghmakerrig, Co Monaghan, in early 2021. There, they will have the opportunity to engage with mentors and other supports to help shape their work into the future.
Minister Martin said, “Both the Arts Council and this Government are committed to providing support to our artists during this difficult time. I am very pleased to welcome the announcement of the Next Generation artists’ awards by the Arts Council which will provide support for emerging artists from all backgrounds and genres with an opportunity to develop their skills and produce new work. I am delighted that the Arts Council is supporting these young artists under this great initiative and I wish each of them future success in their careers.”
Arts Council Director Maureen Kennelly said the agency had received a large number of applications for the award this year, and that the standard had been particularly high.
“All of these artists have demonstrated an exceptional ambition and vision for their work, and the Arts Council is delighted to support them,” she said. “I look forward to following them in their work over the coming years.”
The awarded artists are from all over the country and include Opera singer Rebecca Warren from Wexford, Visual Artist Saoirse Wall from Mayo, film artist Shaun Dunne from Dublin and musician Maija Makela from Galway.
Previous recipients of the Next Generation award have included Donegal poet Annemarie Ní Churreáin, Kerry musician and composer Alma Kelliher and traditional musician Liam Scanlon.
The 23 recipients include:
| Applicant name | Responsible team |
| Agnew, Roisin | Literature(English) |
| Bourke, Natasha | Circus |
| Burke, Aoife | Music |
| Christie, Philip | Music |
| Corroon, Avril | Visual Arts |
| De Burgh, Dorje | Visual Arts |
| Dunne, Shaun | Film |
| Farrell, Hugh | Theatre |
| Gaynor, Kevin | Visual Arts |
| Gleeson, Sinéad | Literature(English) |
| Hulme-beaman, Genevieve | Theatre |
| Kickham, Lucia | Dance |
| Madden, Jane | Theatre |
| Makela, Maija | Music |
| McDermott, Sinead ‘roe’ | Literature(English) |
| McKenna, Oisin | Literature(English) |
| Ni Fhlaibhin, Laura | Visual Arts |
| Ó Murchú, Andrew | Architecture |
| O’Mara, Aisling | Theatre |
| Richardson Mccrea, Eva | Visual Arts |
| Smyth, Ciara | Theatre |
| Wall, Saoirse | Visual Arts |
| Warren, Rebecca | Opera |
