Local, Place and Public Art

We work in partnership to bring high quality arts experiences to places across Ireland.

We develop opportunities for communities to participate in and engage with the arts in their locality.

‘The Stones of Hollow Hill’ by James Winnett at Kerdiffstown Park, Co. Kildare. Photo: Michael O’Rourke

How we develop local, place and public art

We work closely in collaboration with local authorities, professional artists and communities around Ireland to develop programmes including Culture Night and Creative Places that provide a range of opportunities for people to engage with the arts locally.

Learn more about how we develop local, place and public art

Top 8 Dance group are caught mid performance on stage. One member is mid flip in the air, the others sit and stand behind him watching

Top 8 perform at Dance Limerick for Culture Night 2024. Photo: Damien McCarthy.

Partnerships and schemes

Culture Night

Managed by the Arts Council since 2020, Culture Night invites people all over Ireland to celebrate the arts and experience something special.

Read Mór

An annual nationwide event, the Read Mór book gifting project was created to include people who may not be able to participate in Culture Night activities.

Public Art: Per Cent for Art Scheme

This scheme brings high quality and ambitious contemporary art from all artforms and arts practice areas to everyday settings.

Creative Places

Creative Places/Cumas Ceantar is a programme of sustained arts investment enabling people to create and run vibrant, accessible and stimulating arts programmes in their own local area.

Places Matter

A biennial joint conference, established under our Framework for Collaboration with Local Government, to explore issues relating to arts investment, and to investigate the role of the arts in a broad range of place-based topics.

John Broderick Residency

A writer residency programme established in the name of novelist John Broderick who bequeathed his estate to the Arts Council for the benefit and enhancement of the Arts in Athlone.  

Publications

View the latest research and reports.

Latest funding opportunities for local arts and local authorities

More Funding Opportunities

Organisation

Closed Closed: 27 Mar

Creative Places Award

Creative Places supports local authorities, arts organisations and community development organisations to promote local engagement and participation in the arts in their communities. It has three strands that focus on participants at different stages of the Creative Places programme.

Organisation

Opening soon Opening: 22 Jul

Partnership Funding

Partnership Funding invests in and supports the essential infrastructure required to sustain and develop the arts across Ireland. It focuses on the development of arts programmes by local authorities and Ealaín na Gaeltachta.

Our Local, Place and Public Art team

Katie Lowry

Head of Local and Place Partnerships

Eimear Kelleher

Local, Place and Public Art Assistant

Suzanne Ring

Partnerships and Projects Officer

Mary McAuliffe

Public Art Policy Adviser

Gavin MacDermott