Twice yearly, the Arts Council offers grants to enable artists and communities of place/or interest to work together on projects.

The scheme is open to artists from any of the following artform disciplines: architecture, circus, street art and spectacle, dance, film, literature (Irish and English language), music, opera, theatre, visual arts and traditional arts. The projects can take place in a diverse range of social and community contexts eg arts and health; arts in prisons; arts and older people; arts and cultural diversity.

The aim of the scheme is to encourage meaningful collaboration between communities of place and/or interest and artists. It is essential that consultation take place between the artist and the community group, so that both parties are involved in deciding on the nature of the project realisation. Group ownership of the art should be maintained at every stage. The Project Realisation may result in a variety of outcomes.

The Artist in the Community Scheme is managed by Create, the national development agency for collaborative arts. There are two phases to the Scheme: Research and Development, and Project Realisation.

Project Realisation, is open to communities of interest or place (or their representative organisations), planning a project with an artist of between 6 weeks and 5 months duration with a maximum award of €5000, or between 6 months and 9 months with a maximum award of €10,000.

2016 Deadlines: (Round 1) Monday 14 March (Round 2) Monday 27 June

Application forms are available below in English. For forms in Irish or large format, for further information on application criteria and assessment, or to book an advisory session about the Scheme, please contact Katherine Atkinson, Professional Development, 01-4736600 or email support (at) create-ireland.ie.

Read the AIC FAQ

2016 Application Packs (form + guidelines):

AIC Project Realisation (short term) [DOC]
AIC Project Realisation (short term) [PDF]

AIC Project Realisation (long term) [DOC]
AIC Project Realisation (long term) [PDF]

Since 2001, the Artist in the Community Scheme has funded over 200 artists. Visual artists, writers, theatre practitioners, musicians, film makers, architects and dancers have worked with many communities of place/and or interestin very diverse social and community contexts.