About the Elevate 2026: Develop your practice.
This new grant will support professional artists who work in socially engaged or collaborative arts practice with disabled people of all ages. This opportunity is funded by the Arts Council.
Socially engaged/collaborative artists work with people to create art. They involve communities in debate, collaboration, and/or social interaction to create art over long periods of time. We will prioritise artists that have the experience of working with disabled people or that have a strong interest to do so outlined in their application.
We welcome applications from disabled artists and encourage applications that champion inclusion and creativity.
What do I need to know before I apply?
- This grant will fund actions from July to December 2026.
- Before you apply, read the General Grant Scheme Guidelines.
- We will not fund arts activity you have already received funding for from the Council in the last 12 months.
- Artists that apply for the Elevate Art Grants must live or work in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County.
- We will not fund building programmes or third-party grants.
- The grant will not fund loans or charity fundraising events.
- We will not fund capital equipment for example computers, TV, musical instruments.
- We will not fund the hire of Council premises, international travel or third level education.
- We will not accept late applications.
We will ask you to confirm that you have read the guidelines and are eligible to apply for this grant.
Develop Your Practice
This grant will fund artists to explore, learn, and improve their skills to work collaboratively with disabled people. This grant will focus on professional development and inclusive arts practice.
Who can apply?
- Professional artists Artists that live or work in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County can apply for this grant.
- Artists can apply for both Elevate 2026 Arts Grants. If we receive a large number of applications we will expect to award one application per artist.
What can I apply for?
- a maximum of €3,500.
- your time to research and develop an idea you may have.
- fees for professionals that you wish to work with or learn from. For example, an artist that has more experience than you do or experts in the disability sector that you may wish to work with.
- time to develop peer and community relationships. For example, new collaborators, local networks, disability services, local community organisations and agencies.
- other costs that will help you to develop your skills to work with disabled people through your arts practice.
How do I apply?
If this is your first time to apply for a grant on the this portal, you will need to register.
Click on this
Guide to learn how to register and use the system.
We understand that some artists may have access needs.
Please contact the Arts Office to discuss how we can help you apply.
Telephone: (01) 236 2759
What do I need to include in my application?
- C.V that outlines your experience in socially engaged/collaborative arts.
Please add any experience you have working with disabled people.
- A one-page statement or short video (no more than five-minutes) that tells us about your plan for the grant. We want to hear what this opportunity means to your art practice. Give us details about what you will use the grant for.
- A letter or a copy of email from any professional you have identified in your application. This needs to state that this person is interested to work with you.
- A budget that breaks down what you will pay yourself. Include fees for other professionals that you may wish to work with. Include the costs of any resources that you may need (for example cost of materials, access costs, equipment hire or refreshments).
How will we select the successful artists?
We will use these three criteria and marks:
1) Previous experience or strong interest in working with disabled people through your arts practice.
We will allocate 50 marks out of 100 for this criteria.
We will assess your C.V. and your plan for the grant to mark this criteria.
Make sure you give clear information about your experience or that we understand why you wish to work with disabled people. It is a good idea to ask someone who does not work in the arts to read or view your plan to make sure it is clear.
2) Capacity of your application to increase arts practice in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County for and with disabled people.
We will allocate 30 marks out of 100 for this criteria.
We will assess your one-page or five-minute video statement.
We need more socially engaged/collaborative artists to work in the County in focused areas like disability. We want to fund artists that will help us to achieve this outcome.
3) Quality of your application.
We will allocate 20 marks out of 100 for this criteria.
We will assess your overall application. We will ask if we can understand what, where and when you will use the grant for. Is your budget clear and are the costs broken down so we know what you will use the grant for.
What do we expect from the successful artists?
To keep the Arts Office informed about your grant and to be honest about any challenges that you encounter.
dlr Arts Office will aim to learn from the selected artists for future grants/projects in this area of practice so feedback is helpful.
- We will ask you to fill out a report when you have completed your grant.
- You will need to send us a copy of any receipts or invoices of payments that you made.
We may ask that you share your experience in the future with other artists.
This may be as part of a talk, presentation, or other sharing event. We will pay an additional fee for any sharing event.