Cork City Council allocation of arts grants announced

Funding allocations for this year’s arts grants schemes have been announced by Cork City Council, with artists and arts organisations in the city benefitting from a total of €544,800.

With funding spread across the council’s arts grants, arts project, artists’ bursaries and artist and the community schemes, this year will see a 20% increase in allocations through the council’s budget. The Lord Mayor of Cork, councillor Fergal Dennehy, said the increased funding of the arts was very welcome.

“Cork is a city of culture, and this funding ensures that the arts continue to flourish in every corner of our city,” he said.

“These awards support the artists, organisations, and communities who enrich our cultural life and inspire us all.”

Of the funding, €344,800 has been allocated by the council’s arts committee to 72 professional, community, and voluntary arts organisations.

The council said those groups deliver wide-ranging programmes that engage audiences of all ages and backgrounds, while strengthening Cork city’s artistic capacity.

A further €200,000 has been awarded across the council’s suite of arts funding schemes offered in partnership with the Arts Council, representing a total of 36 awards across the project scheme, artist and the community scheme, and individual artists’ bursaries.

These schemes provide essential support for new artistic work, the council added, and the professional development of individual artists working across all disciplines.

Announcing the awards, Cork City Council arts office said sustained investment in the arts was “vital to creating the conditions where art and artists thrive – contributing to a vibrant, just and progressive city.”

The Cork City Council funding allocation follows a similar announcement earlier this week by Cork County Council of its annual arts grant funding, with 145 artists and arts organisations benefitting from a total of €225,350.