About Elevate: Creating inclusive opportunities
This new grant will support groups of disabled people of all ages to create an art project with a socially engaged/collaborative artist.
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 applications with artists that have experience in working with disabled people or that have a strong interest to do so outlined in the application.
We welcome applications from disabled artists and encourage applications that champion inclusion and creativity.
Who can apply?
- Professional artists can apply.
- A group/disability service can apply for Elevate 2026: Creating inclusive opportunities.
- If we receive a large volume of applications we expect to award one grant per artist and per service.
- Artists that live or work in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County.
- A group/disability service that meets in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County. (For this grant we consider a group to be at least four people).
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 any arts activity that has already received funding from the Council in the last 12 months.
- Artists that apply for the Elevate Grants must live or work in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County.
- Disability services/groups must meet in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County. We will not fund projects that take place outside the 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.
Questions: Here is a list of questions you will be asked when you click apply
1 - Name
2 - Have you read the general guidelines and are you eligible to apply for this grant?
3 - Email address
4 - Telephone number
5 - CV
6 - Upload your one page statement or short video of your plan for the grant.
7 - Letter or copy of email from other professionals named in the application
8 - What is the amount you are applying for?
9 - Budget breakdown of the amount you are applying for.
Creating Inclusive Opportunities
This grant will fund projects that enable disabled people to participate in the arts in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County. This grant will focus on projects that remove barriers for disabled people to get involved in the arts.
What can I apply for?
- a maximum of €5,000.
- fees for an artist to work with a group of disabled people or a disability service on a project.
- art materials and other costs for an arts project, (For example, the cost of cups of tea and biscuits, expenses incurred by the group to enable participation, such as travel).
- any support/access costs needed to engage with this project.
- fees for professionals. For example, a photographer or another artist.
- other costs that are relevant to the project.
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 to include in this application?
- C.V/s that outline the experience of the artist/s involved in the project in socially engaged/collaborative arts.
Please add any experience that the artist/s have working with disabled people.
- An outline of the project or a short video (no more than five-minutes) that tells us about the plan for the grant. We want to hear about the project and the group/service involved. Tell us when and where the project will take place. Give us clear details about what the grant will be used for.
- A letter or a copy of email from the group or disability service identified in the application. This needs to state that this group is interested in this project. Please make sure that we understand who the group are, where they are in the County and what they do.
- A budget that breaks down the artist fees. Include fees for other professionals involved in the project. Include the costs of any resources required (for example cost of materials, access costs, equipment hire or refreshments and travel for participants).
- Two examples of previous work. We need to understand more about the arts practice of the artist and/or group. You can help us by adding photographs, audio files, written texts or other examples that help us get a sense of previous work as a socially engaged/collaborative artist. Make sure that these two examples will help us assess the application, the more relevant examples to this grant call the better.
How will we select the successful projects?
We will use these three criteria and marks:
1) Previous experience or strong interest of the artist/s in working with disabled people through their arts practice.
We will allocate 50 marks out of 100 for this criteria.
We will assess the C.V.s and the plan for the project to mark this criteria. We will also assess the two examples of previous work.
Make sure that you give clear information about previous arts experience or that we understand why the group and artist wish to work together. It is a good idea to ask someone who does not work in the arts to read or view this plan to make sure it is clear.
2) Capacity of the 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 the one-page or five-minute video statement.
We need more arts participation in focused areas like disability. We want to fund projects that will help us to achieve this outcome.
3) Quality of the application.
We will allocate 20 marks out of 100 for this criteria.
We will assess the overall application. We will ask if we can understand what, where and when the project is for. Is the budget clear and are the costs broken down so we know what the grant will be used for. Have we received two examples of previous work that help us see the potential in this plan.
What do we expect from the successful applicants?
To keep the Arts Office informed about the grant and to be honest about any challenges that you encounter.
dlr Arts Office will aim to learn from the selected projects for future grants supports in this area of arts 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.
This may be as part of a talk, presentation, or other sharing event. We will pay an additional fee for any sharing event.