Westmeath Arts Opportunities

Grants, awards and funding

The Westmeath Arts Office supports artists and the creation of new work through Arts Grants, Awards, Residencies, and other opportunities.

Westmeath Creative Community Grants

Open 17 January until 14 February 2024

Creative Community Grants provide support to local and community, artistic and creative activities and projects that will encourage cultural participation. Read more.

National Mentoring Programme

Open 1 February to 2 March 2024

The Westmeath Arts Office will sponsor a selected Westmeath writer for the 2024 IWC National Mentoring Programme. This is an opportunity for a local writer to avail a sustained mentorship relationship with an established Irish writer.

Selected mentees get to choose the writer they work with from our growing panel of experienced, professional writers (based on availability). Each mentor reads up to 10,000 words / 180 lines of poetry of the awarded mentee’s writing in advance of all four meetings, sharing their kind and critical feedback with the mentee, face-to-face at each meeting. Mentors also provide broad professional advice, sharing the benefit of their years of experience.

Read more.

John Broderick Residency 2024

Open 20 March - 17 April 2024

2024 marks the centenary of Athlone writer John Broderick's birth. The John Broderick Residency Series will honour John Broderick and will, on an annual basis, increase the awareness of the writer, his works, and his engagement and generosity to the people of Athlone. The applications for 2024 will open in spring.

Read reflections on the residency from former writer-in-residence Annemarie Ní Churreáin.

John Broderick Residency 2024

Westmeath Creative Practitioner Residencies

Open 28 March - 25 April 2024

As part of Westmeath County Council’s Creative Ireland Programme for 2024, the Westmeath County Council Arts Office invites applications for creative practitioners in Westmeath to apply for our Creative Practitioner Residencies.

The Westmeath Creative Ireland Creative Practitioner Residency is a county-wide call to creative practitioners across all creative fields - including, but not limited to arts, heritage, literature, makers, dance, audio visual, music, theatre, circus. Three 12-week long residencies will be available for three creative practitioners across the creative sector.

The Residencies have a particular focus on engagement with a community in Westmeath to support the county's Creative Ireland Programme.

Westmeath Film Award

This award is funded by Westmeath County Council Arts Office and the Arts Council. It aims to foster talent, creativity and activity in filmmaking in County Westmeath. A grant of €10,000 will be awarded to a local filmmaker towards the cost of production of a short drama or documentary film of 10-15 min duration to be shot in Westmeath in 2024.

We are looking for innovative, entertaining stories by talented filmmakers who, if selected, must shoot their project in County Westmeath. Westmeath County Council will offer location support and guidance as requested, especially in relation to accessing locations and local resources.

Deadline for applications 31 May 2024

Westmeath Artists' Awards

Westmeath Artists Support Award, is a collaboration between Luan Gallery and Westmeath Arts Office aiming to celebrate, showcase and support the development of Westmeath visual artists’ practices and careers and is supported by the Arts Council of Ireland.

Luan Gallery invites submissions from artists who are from or living in County Westmeath to submit 2D and 3D works for consideration of this Award and inclusion in a group exhibition which will take place in late 2024.

For a list of Arts Council funding deadlines for 2023, please have a look here.

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