Arts Council Awards

The Arts and Disability Forum (ADF) has just announced the 2007 Arts and Disability Awards which will distribute awards of up to 7,000 euro to individual disabled artists or a partnership of individual artists living in Ireland and working in any art-form.

The ADF was formed in 1993 by a group of like-minded people who aspired to create a forum for people with disabilities in the arts. It exists to facilitate the empowerment of people with disabilities through the development of Arts and Disability culture, promoting equal access to mainstream arts for people with disabilities (as both consumers and participants) and campaigns for increased opportunities in arts education, training and employment.

The Arts & Disability Awards Ireland is a bursary programme for artists with disabilities living in Ireland and working in all art forms. The awards aim to challenge creativity, experimentation and artistic excellence, supporting artists to develop new work and increase skills.

"We work alongside the Arts Councils, both North and South, community groups, artists with disabilities and the mainstream arts sector to work towards increasing opportunities for people with disabilities to participate in the arts and other cultural activities," said Louise Stevenson, Information Officer ADF.

The scheme is funded by the Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaion and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and is administered by the ADF. Awards of up to 5,000/7,000 euro are available and over 50,000/70,000 euro is distributed every year.

The application deadlines for 2007 are 4pm on Monday 21 May and 4pm on Wednesday 21 November. Application packs are available in standard print, Braille, large print, audio tape, floppy disk, CD and via email. For further information contact Gilliam Porter, Administration Officer on 048 9023 9450, or e-mail gillian@adf.ie or visit www.adf.ie