In this month newsletter, the Arts Council announces the major grant decisions for the 15-month period to the end of March 2012. In all, 303 organisations were offered funding totaling €57m in value. Further funding to individual artists and to groups undertaking projects, festivals and other events will be announced later in 2011.

Also in this edition, Arts Audiences makes available a seven part digital marketing training toolbox for the arts and cultural sector. It is hoped that these materials will allow organisations the opportunity to access the skills required to communicate with their audience in a competitive and cost effective manner.

We include information on the Step Up: Dance Project – a new initiative for dance graduates which aims to create a bridge between dance education and professional dance practice in Ireland. The closing dates for the Traditional Arts Commissions Award and the Artist in Youth Work Residency Scheme 2011 is also presented in this month’s newsletter. We also remind you of the upcoming deadlines for the Local Partnership Scheme and the Touring and Dissemination of Work Scheme. The deadlines for the Dance Residency Scheme, the Theatre Artist Residency Scheme, the Theatre Development Funding Scheme and the Theatre Resource Sharing Support Scheme are also forthcoming. In addition, we publish the decisions for the Small Arts Festival Scheme 2011.

Also in April, we have details on the five new members of Aosdána.  The newly elected nominees will bring the current Aosdána membership to 249.

The newsletter rounds off with our regular articles on news from the arts community and international opportunities from the Cultural Contact Point.

Mary Cloake

Director

The Arts Council has announced the major grant decisions for the 15-month period to the end of March 2012. In all, 303 organisations were offered funding totaling c. €57m in value.

Arts Audiences have developed a seven part digital marketing training toolbox for the arts and cultural sector.

The Arts Council, University of Limerick and Dance Ireland announce the launch of a new initiative aimed at forming a bridge between dance education and professional dance practice in Ireland. 

The Traditional Arts Commissions Award supports fees paid to artists for commissions in the field of traditional arts (i.e. commissions involving traditional music, song, dance or oral arts).

The Artist in Youth Work Residency Scheme offers grants to youth arts organisations or youth work organisations working in an arts context, who would like to engage with a professional artist.

The deadline for the Local Partnership Scheme is 5:30pm, Friday 13 May 2011.

The deadline for round 1 of the medium-term planning strand of the Touring and Dissemination of Work Scheme is 5:30pm, Thursday 5 May 2011.

A reminder on the upcoming deadline for the Dance Artist Residency Scheme, the Theatre Artist Residency Scheme, the Theatre Development Funding Scheme and the Theatre Resource Sharing Support Scheme.

The decisions for the Small Arts Festival Scheme, round two, are announced.  

The Arts Council has sent its congratulations to the five artists who were today elected as members of Aosdána, the affiliation of creative artists in Ireland.

News from the arts community in April includes a call for proposals from the organisers of the European City of Science 2012 to those in the arts sector who wish to explore the relationship between the arts and sciences; the Waterford Healing Arts Trust announces its Artist in Residence for 2011; we publish information on the application process for musicians who would like to take part in a unique music programme for children; and we publish the deadline for the Cork Literary Review Poetry Manuscript Competition.

News in the CCP in April includes: information on the culture info day in Brussels which is now open for registration; a call for Irish partners for a Culture Programme project application; the Ireland:Iceland Project are looking for participants for their Census of the Heart initiative; the United States of Europe seeks sociologists to take part in a study on communication between artists and their audiences; and a call for particpation from across the EU for co-production opportunities with Turkish partners