Exploring and Thinking Residency Award 2026 - 2027

What are the Objectives and Priorities for this Residency Award?

• Reach early years children experiencing homelessness through meaningful and high-quality arts engagement.
• Support artistic ambition, professional development, and collaboration in early childhood arts.
• Promote access, participation and inclusion for children aged 0-5 years and their adult caregivers with an emphasis on those experiencing homelessness.
• Encourage research, experimentation and innovation in early childhood arts practice.
• Stimulate dialogue between the Dublin local authorities and the CYPSCs, artists, and homelessness support services.
• Support reflective, ethical and evidence-informed practice in early childhood arts.
• Build on existing knowledge and experience across artforms, professional disciplines and social contexts.
• Contribute to advocacy in early childhood arts.
• Encourage sustainable approaches that are achievable, realistic and responsive to identified needs.

What do the partners expect from the artist for this Residency Award?

• Research and development to commence by November 2026.
• Completion of a minimum of 10 artistic engagements by June 2027. 
• Navigation of fluctuating participation if necessary. 
• Consideration of how to deliver this residency in a shared living environment.
• Employment of ethical and appropriate documentation methods, approved in advance by the partners and accommodation service.
• Participation in three facilitated peer-to-peer learning sessions with artists working across the Dublin region - one in December 2026 and two between January and June 2027. 

Who can apply?

1.     Artists who propose to collaborate with other artists and/or creative practitioners

        a)  throughout the development and delivery of the residency

       or

       b) at an identified point of development and delivery of the residency

2.     Individual artists with a named collaborator/s who wish to develop their practice in early childhood arts.

3.     Artists practicing in all art forms.

4.     Artists with experience of working with early years children experiencing disadvantage.

Apply online

Please contact us if you have access requirements.

You will need to include the information listed below. 

1. CVs Please outline your arts experience and that of your collaborators; please include all relevant CVs and examples of creating art with children.
2. Outline Proposal We would like to get a sense of what the children and adult caregivers may expect to experience by working with you. Please provide an outline proposal to give us a sense of your ideas and how you will approach a residency in a homeless accommodation; what medium/artform(s) you plan to work in; and name and describe the role of any other artists and/or creative practitioners that will be working with you. 
3. Indicative budget Please include a budget that breaks down what fee you will pay yourself for this Residency Award. Please also include fees for other artists and/or creative practitioners that you may wish to work with. Please list the costs of any resources that you may need (for example, materials or equipment hire). We understand that you will not yet know all of this information and that will be hard to cost. However, we need to see that you have the experience to budget if you are awarded a residency.
4. Examples of previous work. We would like to understand more about your work. You can help us by adding photographs, audio files, written texts, or other examples that help us get a sense of your work. Please include examples of work where you have collaborated with early years children to create art. 
5. The name and contact details of two referees. Please make sure that one of these people has worked with you on a similar project.
6. Local Authority Area Please list the local authority areas in order of preference for where you would like to be matched. We cannot guarantee your preference but will endeavour to match artists appropriately. Alternatively, you may state 'No Preference'.

• The deadline for questions is 2pm, 19 August 2026
• The deadline for applications is 2pm, 2 September 2026
• The panel assessment will take place the week of 21 September 2026
• Notifications of outcome will be shared the week of 28 September 2026

Julie Clarke - Fingal County Arts Office

Youth & Education Officer

E: Julie.clarke@fingal.ie

T: 01 890 5000

Máire Davey - Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Arts Office

Assistant Arts Officer- Participation and Learning

E: mdavey@dlrcoco.ie

T: 01 236 2756

Sinead Connolly - Dublin City Arts Office

Assistant Arts Officer

E: Sinead.connolly@dublincity.ie

T: 01 222 5455

Richie O'Sullivan - South Dublin County Arts Office
richieosullivan@sdublincoco.ie
(01) 414 9000