Overview
This is a call for
applications from
curators with an inclusive arts practice to curate an exhibition in the Municipal Gallery, dlr LexIcon, Dún Laoghaire. This will be an exhibition of work by professional artists from KCAT Studios.
KCAT Arts Centre is a multi-disciplinary artist led Arts Centre in Callan, Co. Kilkenny supporting inclusive arts practices. KCAT believes that everyone, regardless of background, age, gender or ability should have access to a creative world.
- This exhibition will take place from early May to late August 2026.
- The maximum fee for the curator is €3,500.
- The closing date for applications is Thursday 10 July at 17.00 (5pm)
- Apply online by using the Submit portal. Apply here.
- We aim to select the curator by the end of July
Who are we looking for?
We are looking for a curator to work with Studio Artists from KCAT, KCAT Arts Centre Staff and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council’s (dlr) Arts Office to select artworks for an exhibition in Gallery 1 of dlr’s Municipal Gallery.
As Curator:
- You will select the artworks for exhibition. You do not need to select all current 14 Studio artists but should aim to include at least seven for a good representation of the Studio.
- You should be open to work closely with the Studio Facilitators as well as the Studio Artists on the selection of work for the exhibition. You will visit the artists in their studios in Callan with KCAT’s Studio Manager.
- You will manage the layout and the overall experience of the exhibition. The exhibition must be accessible to a diverse range of visitors including children, older people and disabled people. You will need to consider and plan seats, lighting, and how the artworks are presented, labelled and described.
- You will work with dlr Arts Office and KCAT on this exhibition. This will include research, studio visits, meetings with KCAT’s management team, and being in the Gallery for the installation and launch of the exhibition.
Who can apply?
- Professional curators or arts practitioners who have experience working with a diverse range of groups.
- Professionals who have experience working with the disability community or have experience with inclusive and socially engaged curatorial practices.
How to apply
Apply online here. If you need help with your online application or have an any access needs, please contact us.
You can get in touch by
email at arts@dlrcoco.ie or by t
elephone: (01) 236 2759.
For the application:
- We will ask you to tell us about your work.
- You will fill in an application form and upload digital files that give more detail about your previous work.
- Please allow time for this and do not start making your application very close to the deadline.
- We have a scoring system, and every application will be marked based on this.
- This is a competitive selection process. This means that we will mark applications in comparison to each other.
We welcome applicants who represent the diversity of Irish society. We encourage applications from all areas of the community regardless of your gender, sexual orientation, civil or family status, religion, age, disability, race or membership of the Traveller Community, or socio-economic background.
Please read all the information below carefully before you make your application.
Make sure to look at the Scoring System that we will use to assess your application; this is outlined on page six.
What do I need to apply?
You will need to include the information listed below. If possible, please submit this information in one PDF file.
- An outline of your approach to inclusive curating. We need to get a sense of your ideas and starting point. Give us details about how you will work with the artists and KCAT. Tell us about your ideas for this project, your experience working with diverse communities, and past experiences with inclusive curating. Tell us what ideas you have about making the exhibition more inclusive and accessible for visitors.
- Your CV (two pages at most).
- Include your budget for this work, to a maximum amount of €3,500. Give an outline of how you would break down the costs and your time for this project.
- The names and contact details of two referees; these should be people you have worked in the past. Please include at least one person that you worked with on a similar project.
- Give examples of previous projects which tell us more about how you work. We would like to understand more about your work. You can help us by adding photographs, audio files, written texts or other examples that help us get a sense of your work.
Add examples such as:
- Up to ten images on one PDF attachment (please title or describe what’s happening in the photographs so we understand them). You could include low resolution JPEG files instead of the PDF if that’s easier.
- Up to three weblinks to YouTube or Vimeo or sound files; no longer than eight minutes each.
- Please make sure to include passwords for any links which are not public.
How will we select the Curator?
We will assess the applications with a panel which will include representatives from dlr Arts Office and KCAT. The decision of this selection panel will be final. The applications will be marked based on the scoring system outlined below.
- The minimum qualifying mark is 80. This means that any application which scores under 80 will not be eligible for selection.
- If none of the applications we receive reach the minimum 80 marks, we will not choose a person from this open call. We will then use a different selection process instead.
- We will select one curator. We may form a panel from the applications if any also score over 80 marks. We may use this panel for further projects if more funding becomes available within a one-year timeline.
This is the scoring system we will use to assess your application:
Your inclusive approach to this exhibition (40/100)
The selection panel will look at:
- Your outline that includes how you would make this exhibition inclusive and welcoming to diverse visitors. Please include practical examples of how you might think about layout of the artworks and information for visitors.
- How you plan to approach selecting the artworks with the KCAT Studio team.
Your previous experience of delivering similar projects/exhibitions (40/100)
You should include examples of previous exhibitions or projects that are like this exhibition.
The examples should show your ability to work with a wide range of arts professionals with diverse needs.
Budget (20/100)
The total amount available for the fee to the curator is €3,500. Please include an outline budget that covers:
- Your daily rate
- How many days you plan to spend on this project. This should cover your time for research, studio visits, meetings with KCAT’s management team, and being in the Gallery for the installation and launch of the exhibition.
- Travel: Travel costs should be included in your overall budget. We will not fund international travel for this project.
If necessary, the selection panel may contact you to ask for more information about specific details in your application.
We will let you know by email if your application is successful or not.
We will not accept applications that are late.
We will not accept applications that do not have everything we have asked for.
Questions?
If you have any questions about the call out or need more information, contact us.
You can telephone or email dlr Arts Office.
Questions can be answered by Máire Davey or Ciara King
Email: arts@dlrcoco.ie
Telephone: (01) 236 2759
About KCAT Arts Centre
KCAT Arts Centre, founded in 1999, is dedicated to the fostering and nurturing of creative ambition and professional development in the arts. We are a multi-disciplinary arts centre located in Callan, Co. Kilkenny, supporting inclusive arts practices. We believe that everyone, regardless of background, age, gender or ability should have access to a creative world. KCAT does not have an artistic director. This decision is centred on the idea that the artists in the building are the engine that drives, motivates and steers the direction.
The KCAT Studio
The KCAT artist studio is the permanent creative home to 14 professional visual artists. Studio Artists are supported by mentors and a facilitator in all aspects of their professional development. There is a strong sense of community and mutual support between artists and mentors, which extends beyond the walls of the studio. Working individually, all share, inspire and motivate each other.
KCAT has continued to grow, develop and evolve according to demand and need since then. The stability and assured continuity of KCAT means that we can maintain a constant presence in people’s lives. New students attending our courses can realistically aspire to be a professional artist; in turn, the professional artists that we facilitate can develop ever more ambitious projects, collaborations and partnerships. By fulfilling these key points, KCAT is evolving and changing perceptions and misconceptions around arts, disability and participation.
The studio artists have produced, collaborated and been part of many extraordinary projects in Kilkenny and far beyond. Many are represented in national collections and have shown regularly at some of the most established galleries and institutions in Ireland and abroad. Working individually, all share, inspire and motivate each other. The group has executed commissions and exhibited in Australia, Japan, the United States and several European countries. They have collaborated on projects with other arts organisations and continually advocated their own work and that of KCAT.
dlr Arts Office
dlr Arts Office works with our local communities in many and diverse ways. We work with lots of different community groups, services and organisations to make sure that people of all ages and abilities get involved in the arts. We have a long record of community-based arts work. Projects take place with young children in early childhood settings, children in schools, young people attending youth services, older people in care settings or in community groups like Mens Sheds. We are aware that we need to make sure that everyone has equal access to the arts. We partner with services in health, community and education to make sure that we are doing this. This helps us make the arts more accessible. We learn from our partners about new ways to support our communities and the artists that work in them.
Freedom of Information
The Freedom of Information Act 2014 applies to Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. This Act gives people the right to request information held by public authorities and the right to have personal information held about them corrected or updated where the information is incomplete, incorrect, or misleading. If you feel that any of the information you submit as part of your application is confidential or sensitive, you should let dlr Arts Office know. You must clearly state why you think the information is confidential or commercially sensitive, and why it should not be released as part of a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2014.
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
Data protection laws mean that your personal data should generally only be stored where there is a lawful basis, such as your consent, or where there is a legal obligation. Any information you provide for this application will be held for one year from the date you submit it and will only remain in the ownership of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council Arts Office. We will only use the information you give in your application to administer and managing the process for these projects, including the selection process (this may include several external panel members who will read your application). You may withdraw your consent to the retention of the information relating to your application by sending an email to
arts@dlrcoco.ie
Insurance
We must make sure that any external person or company working with us on a project such as this has insurance cover in place. If you are selected for a commission, you will need to have Public Liability Insurance in place up to a limit of €6.5 million. Public Liability Insurance covers your legal liability to pay damages to members of the public for injury, loss, or damages, which occur because of your activities. The insurance policy must indemnify (cover) Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council.
If you employ another person to work with you, you will also need Employers Liability Insurance to a limit of €13 million (this will only be needed if the person working with you does not have an insurance policy of their own). These are standard insurance policies and several companies in Ireland provide them for artistic activities.
Safeguarding
Full Garda Clearance will be required for this project. It is a legal requirement that everybody working with children, young people and vulnerable people are subject to Garda Vetting.
Useful information for applicants
What could it mean to be an inclusive curator?
The root of the word curator is “care”. When thinking of a modern curator, they care for not only objects/artworks, but also people and relationships. It is an ever-changing and shifting role, but one thing remains constant: curating is more than the capacity to select and display. It is about understanding and demonstrating how critically informed decisions fit into a wider matrix of links and public (Jade French: see Resource 3). When working within community or socially engaged arts practice and focusing on inclusive curation, some alternate terms to “curator” may arise such as:
- Community curation
- Coproduction
- Cultural producer
- Collaborative curator
- Facilitator
- Disability-focused curator
An inclusive curator works in tandem, or side-by-side with artists and communities, rather than acting/speaking on their behalf. Some of the communities an inclusive curator may work with can include:
- The disability community
- Immigrant communities
- Ethnically and racially diverse communities
- Inclusive curation moves towards an understanding that galleries/museums are not about something; they are for someone.
According to visitor-centred museum professional Pat Villeneuve, inclusive curatorial practices result in an exhibition that may vary from art world expectations in appearance (due to enhanced educational features) and that embraces multiple perspectives to engage broad audiences with works of art in meaningful ways.
Why are you using the terms “disability” and “people with disabilities” in this brief?
We are using these terms to identify that the scope of this project includes working with people that may require accommodations due to complex and/or diverse needs.
Individuals with disabilities may also refer to themselves as:
- Disabled person
- Self-advocate
- Person with complex and diverse needs
- Person with special needs
- Person in need of accommodations
- Person with visual/physical/hearing/cognitive impairment
- May prefer people-first language vs. identifier-first language (For example: person who is blind)
- May prefer identifier-first language vs. people-first language (For example: blind person)
- People with disabilities are the authorities of their own lived experiences and self-identification. When working with artists, it is crucial to ask how they identify or how they would like to be referred to. Identification language varies greatly based on the culture and geographic region a person comes from, so you may encounter language you are unfamiliar with or unaccustomed to.
When working within the remit of this brief, it is crucial to centre the voice of the artist and use the language that they prefer when discussing themselves and their work.
Why highlight whether an artist has a disability?
Stigma against people with disabilities persist in our society and some artists with disabilities choose to not disclose their disability to avoid stereotypes, biases, or prejudices about themselves or their work. Other artists consider their disability as core to their identity and artwork and want it to be central to their artistic practice for political advocacy and visibility.
Disability arts, accessibility and inclusive curation depends on centring the voices of people with disabilities. People with disabilities have the right to take risks, uphold their independence and express themselves artistically.
What is access?
When thinking of disability access, people may immediately think of access for physical mobility – lifts, ramps and automatic doors may come to mind. That is just one way of considering access for people with disabilities.
Access for gallery/museum visitors includes and is not limited to:
- Physical access
- d/Deaf/hard of hearing access: Providing an ISL interpreter, live captioning
- Visual impairment access: Providing audio transcription, having bright enough lights in a gallery, high contrast and large enough text for labels
- Mobility access: Ramps/lifts to access gallery space, easy sightlines/pathways for wheelchair users
- Intellectual access
- Easy-to-read fonts are used
- Artwork placement follows clear path and storyline
- Imagery is used to convey concepts for those without literacy
- “Artspeak” is avoided and plain English is used
- Sensory access
- Tactile experiences and touch-friendly objects are provided, whether it be replicas of artwork or samples of materials
- Scents and other overwhelming smells are avoided
- Loud noises and surprise sounds are avoided
- Pre-visit materials and social narratives are provided for neurodiverse visitors
- Time-bound access
- Deadlines for artists with disabilities are flexible, recognising that timelines for producing work or deliverables may vary
- Gallery opening times consider the schedule of caregivers and helpers alongside the schedule of artists with disabilities
- Financial access
- Cost should not be prohibitive to individuals with disabilities
- Caregivers are also provided a ticket for entry that is affordable and/or free
Toolkits and Guides:
Includes additional links to resources/orgs at the bottom of PDF
Organisations, Groups, and Individuals
Shape Arts (UK)
Rachel Handlin, MFA artist
Further reading:
‘Inclusive Curating in Contemporary Art: A Practical Guide’ by Jade French
‘Curating Access: Disability Art Activism and Creative Accommodation’ by Amanda Cachia
‘Considering Competing Values in Art Museum Exhibition Curation’ by Pat Villeneuve
‘Accessible America: A History of Disability and Design’ by Bess Williamson
‘Disability Worlds’ by Faye Ginsburg and Rayna Rapp
‘Socially Engaged Art and Ethics: Power, Politics and Participation’ edited by Anthony Schrag
‘The Routledge Companion to Museum Ethics : Redefining Ethics for the Twenty-First Century Museum’ by Janet Marstine
‘“Know me as I am”: an anthology of prose, poetry and art by people with learning difficulties’ by Dorothy Atkinson and Fiona Williams