Exploring and thinking is a collaborative framework for early childhood arts in the Dublin region. It came about in 2016 when the four Dublin local authorities South Dublin County, Fingal County, Dublin City and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County partnered for the first time to collectively consider early childhood arts provision in the Dublin Region.
Background
Each Dublin Local Authority supports early childhood arts practice, provision, partnership and policy that is responsive to local motivations and need. In 2016 the project partners received funding under the Arts Council’s Invitation to Collaboration Scheme, which supports innovative and ambitious local authority collaborations. The Exploring & Thinking 2016 / 2017 partnership commissioned the research and creation of new artworks with local engagement programmes in arts and non-traditional arts venues.
In January 2019 the partnership hosted a public sharing event at the National Concert Hall to share the commissioned work and reflect on early childhood arts practice with artists, educators and policy makers. A publication capturing a review of the commissioning process, outputs and impacts of the collaborative framework, alongside additional research conducted among the artists and key personnel was presented on the day. Informed by the review and feedback from
the public sharing event, the Exploring & Thinking Bursary Awards aim to support emerging and established artists that wish to develop a practice in early childhood arts.
The first Exploring & Thinking Bursary Awards were allocated in 2019, funding a range of supports for artists. In 2025 the partnership initiated talks with the Dublin Children and Young People’s Services Committees (CYPSCs) with the aim of increasing opportunities for children to access and benefit from arts engagement.
Now we invite artists to seek support to further develop their practice in 2026.
In 2025, one Bursary Award to the value of €4,000-€5,000 will be granted for each local authority area. This means there are a total of four Awards available.
Objectives
- To support artistic ambition in cross-artform collaborations, professional development and the research and development of new work in early childhood arts.
- To reach new early childhood arts audiences in under-served communities and neighbourhoods.
- To stimulate dialogue between the Dublin local authorities, Dublin Children and Young People’s Services Committees (CYPSCs), artists, early childhood educators and organisations.
- To build on current research investigating practice across artforms, professional disciplines and context.
- To generate advocacy in early childhood arts.
Priorities
- Access with an emphasis on marginalised children.
- Quality of practice that is evidence and standards based.
- Positive impact on artistic practice and the wider early childhood sector.
- Focus on Artist that is responsive to emerging and established practitioners.
- Sustainability with actions that are achievable, realistic and measurable.
Purpose
Early childhood arts includes a wide range of different arts practices and creative experiences with/for children aged 0-5 years in different contexts. The Exploring & Thinking Bursary Award supports individual professional artists to develop their artistic practice working with and/or producing work for early childhood arts, with a particular focus on marginalised children.
Proposals can include but are not limited to:
- Professional development, including travel
- Seed new ideas and partnerships
- Access mentoring
- Research and development of new work
- Residencies
Key dates
- Closing date for queries: 2pm, 24 September 2025
- Closing date for applications: 2pm, 1 October 2025
- Assessment period will be the week of 6 October 2025
- Successful applicants will be notified the week of 20 October 2025
What do you need to apply?
Please include the following:
- C.V. of lead artist and collaborators (if relevant)
- A proposal in response to the bursary criteria, identifying the local authority area you are resident or working in. (max word count 1,500)
- Three examples of relevant artistic projects in support of proposal.
- One copy of supplementary information is sufficient per application. (Accessible file types: .doc, .docx, .pdf, .gif, .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .svg, .tif, .tiff, .aac, .aiff, .flac, .m4a, .mp3, .ogg, .wav, .wma, .3gp, .avi, .flv, .m4v, .mkv, .mov, .mp4, .mpg, .webm, .wmv, .ppt, .xls, .xlsx, .zip)
- Budget Breakdown, outlining other income received if relevant
- Timeline outlined
- Official letters of support or acceptance are required with proposals for the following: Mentorship, Masterclasses, Collaborations, Residencies.
Late or incomplete applications will not be accepted.
Queries
Julie Clarke,
Youth & Education Officer
Fingal County Arts Office
E: Julie.clarke@fingal.ie
T: 01 890 5000
Máire Davey
Assistant Arts Officer- Participation and Learning
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Arts Office
E: mdavey@dlrcoco.ie
T: 01 236 2756
Sinead Connolly
Assistant Arts Officer
Dublin City Arts Office
E: Sinead.connolly@dublincity.ie
T: 01 222 5455
Orla Scannell
Arts Officer
South Dublin County Arts Office
E: oscannell@sdublincoco.ie
T: 01 414 9000
One Bursary Award to the value of €4,000-€5,000 will be granted per local authority with a total of four Awards available.
These Bursaries are open to applications from:
- individual professional artists who wish to develop their practice in early childhood arts
- artists practicing in all artforms
- artists making work with and/or for marginalised children
- artists must be resident in or planning to deliver bursary funded work in one of the Dublin local authority administrative areas, or articulate how this bursary will impact one or more of the areas — Fingal, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, Dublin City, South Dublin.
All successful bursaries need to be completed by year end 2026. We reserve the right not to allocate funding and to allocate partial funding. The fund is limited and all eligible applications will be evaluated on a competitive basis against the criteria set out in this document.