Arts council initiatives to encourage arts participation

Arts participation arts participation is a core value for the arts council in its commitment to increasing public access, participation and engagement in the arts. it is broken down into five different strands, each with its own set of knowledge, expertise and cross-sector partnerships. these include: arts and health; arts and disability; cultural diversity and the arts; arts and communities; and arts and older people. the arts council funds a number of key organisations and agencies that have a central role in supporting these strands of work. the arts council ehrd policy 2019 in 2019 the arts council launched their equality, human rights and diversity (ehrd) policy and strategy which builds on their work areas in arts and disability, cultural diversity and arts policy and dignity at work. through this policy they have committed to taking actions over the course of the coming years to actively deepen their understanding of inequalities in the arts and develop substantive ways to address them. cultural diversity the arts council understands the term 'cultural diversity', as it applies to the arts, to encompass inclusive arts programming and, most particularly, intercultural arts practice that involves artists and/or communities from a range of national, ethnic or cultural groups. the arts council offers a wide range of financial supports across artforms and arts practices, including those that actively promote cultural diversity and the arts. they include bursaries, projects, and travel and training awards as well as a specific strand in the local partnership scheme, which aims to foster intercultural capacity at local and national level through strategic collaboration among local authorities and with arts and non-arts organisations. in addition, the artist in the community scheme, which is externally managed by cso create, provides funding to enable artists and diverse groups to work alongside each other in the making of collaborative art. the connect mentoring programme, an arts council-funded initiative developed by create and common ground, included a specific arts and cultural diversity mentoring award. arts and disability arts and disability connect (adc) is a new scheme open to artists with disabilities working in any art form. the scheme is designed to support artists with disabilities to make new and ambitious work. it offers artists the opportunity to: connect with other practitioners or venues; make a change in their practice; 'step up' in terms of scope and scale; reach new audiences and to engage in mentoring and training. arts and health arts and health embraces a range of arts practices occurring primarily in healthcare settings, which bring together the skills and priorities of both arts and health professionals. it can involve all artforms, and incorporate a variety of approaches, including conventional arts production and presentation, arts participation and environmental enhancement. arts and older people there are a number of agencies funded by the arts council which have a central role in supporting and encouraging older people to get involved in the arts. one such organisation is age and opportunity, which coordinates the bealtaine festival, an annual celebration of creativity in older age, which takes place around the country in may. other arts council funding is channelled through venues, local authority arts officers, festivals, and production companies, many of which co-ordinate high-quality arts programmes directly targeting older people as participants and audiences. arts and communities the arts council offers a wide range of financial supports across artforms and arts practices, including arts and communities. these include bursaries, projects, and travel and training awards as well as specific schemes such as; artist in the community scheme; visual artists in prisons scheme; and writers in prisons scheme. paying the artist policy 2020 the arts council launched the paying the artist policy in 2020 in line with their commitment to improving the living and working conditions of the artist as set out in their making great art work strategy. with this policy they seek to create an environment in which artists can make work of excellence and ambition and be remunerated appropriately. it provides a set of best-practice principles for all those working in the arts to aspire to. it asserts the arts council's expectations of those they fund, of those they work with and of the arts council itself. the policy sets out a series of actions they will undertake across the areas of research, developmental activities, funding related requirements and advocacy. other initiatives esri study the arts council commissioned a study, carried out by the economic and social research institute (esri), which looked at arts and cultural participation among children and young people. the study, entitled arts and cultural participation among children and young people (insights from the growing up in ireland study, was published in 2016 (http://www.artscouncil.ie/uploadedfiles/arts-and-cultural-particiption-g...). the knowledge gained from this report is fundamental in the arts council in planning and providing for children and young people. arts in education portal the arts in education portal (http://www.artsineducation.ie) was launched by the arts council in may 2015. this portal is a key national digital resource for arts and education practice in ireland. underpinning the development of the portal is a strong and implicit shared belief amongst all stakeholders of the intrinsic value of the arts in the lives of children. its vision was to establish a structure through which the arts-in-education community could develop good collaborative practice and where arts education will be supported, developed and enhanced. creative schools creative schools is a flagship initiative of the creative ireland programme and is led by the arts council. the initiative develops and celebrates the arts and creativity in schools in every region across the country. it establishes a range of collaborative opportunities for schools and develops and strengthens the relationships between schools and the broader cultural and community infrastructure within which they operate. the long term aim is for every school to be supported to fully embrace the arts and creativity, ensuring a positive experience and strong outcomes for children and young people. international co-operation the arts council acknowledges that many irish artists and arts organisations work, or plan to work, in an international context and in keeping with its' ongoing policy of supporting international co-operation, the arts council oversees three distinct programmes of activity in the area of international arts: the creative europe desk ireland - culture office; the venice biennale; mobility of artists and the provision of awards to support international collaboration. in ireland, the creative europe desk comprises 3 offices: the culture office; media office dublin; and media office galway. the arts council is the designated host of the culture office, the role which is to promote the eu creative europe programme 2014-2020 and to provide information, advice and technical assistance to any cultural operators in ireland interested in applying for funding under the programme. in 2016, the arts council piloted a co-funding award to support the costs associated with the irish elements of successful arts projects under the creative europe programme. following the success of this pilot initiative, the award is being offered on an annual basis and is serving to encourage important participation in the creative europe programme. the arts council supports the mobility of artists and arts professionals and offers a travel and training award across a broad range of artforms and practices. the primary purpose of the award is to support individuals who wish to avail of training and other professional development opportunities abroad. it also supports individuals or organisations who wish to invite specialists from abroad to deliver high-level training or mentoring in ireland. loan guarantee facility a negotiation is underway with key national stakeholders to progress with investment agreements between the strategic banking cooperation of ireland and the arts sector to provide a specific loan guarantee for the arts sector to avail of.