The Minister for Culture and the Arts Council has today announced €688,279 in Arts Grant funding for artists and arts organisations in Galway city and county.
The Arts Grant Funding is a new scheme under the Arts Council’s 10-year strategy, ‘Making Great Art Work’.
Welcoming the allocation, Deputy Hildegarde Naughton said this announcement is recognition of the outstanding talent that exists in Galway city and county.
“The demand for funding under this programme was enormous and the quality of applications across Galway was superb.This new funding that we are announcing today is another solid step in supporting the growth of Irish arts and artists. The talent represented in these organisations is world class and their ambition and confidence is something of which we should all be proud,” she said.
Some of the organisations receiving grants today include; 126 Artist – Run Gallery; Clifden Arts Society; Crannog, MART, The Galway Music Residency; Galway Film Centre; and Tulca, Cuirt, and Decadent Theatre Company.
“The funding is also welcome as Galway prepares to hold the European Capital of Culture in 2020. The arts in Galway are hugely important, not only for employment and revenue in the local economy, but for the character and joy it brings to our city and county. Galway would simply not be Galway without a thriving artistic community,” said Dep Naughton.
“We have a reputation as a city of festivals and are, without doubt, the cultural capital of Ireland. This is only possible through the hard work of artists and arts organisations and proper Government support. I am therefore delighted with today’s announcement and look forward to further Government supports over the coming years,” he said.
The allocation was also welcomed by MInister Sean Kyne who said he encouraged by the support for the Irish language with funding for Irish language publisher, Futa Fada and the Doire Press in Connemara.
“This investment of almost three quarters of a million euro recognises the talent of the artists of all types in Galway and the contribution which they and their organisations make to communities across Galway city and county and beyond.
““The ‘Making Great Art Work’ scheme from the Government-funded Arts Council will support a wide variety of arts including literature, music, theatre and drama, film and the visual arts.
“Galway is synonymous with the arts through its organisations including the Galway Film Centre and the 126 Gallery and through national and international festivals such as Cuirt, the Film Fleadh, the Clifden Arts Festival and the Galway International Arts Festival. “I’m also encouraged by the support for the Irish language with funding for Irish language publisher, Futa Fada and the Doire Press in Connemara.
“This funding will provide invaluable support to the artists, the organisations and the festivals so that they can continue to make great art in Galway for the benefit of local people, local communities and visitors to our city and county,” he concluded.
