Artists awarded £1.2m Arts Council NI funding

204 artists from across Northern Ireland are set to benefit from a total of £1.2m in funding from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland’s Project Funding for Individual Artists (PFIA) scheme. 

PFIA supports artists across all artforms, at various stages of their artistic careers including emerging artists. 

The award recipients include a visual artist who creates large-scale murals, a drag comedy artist, an aerialist, a designer and a jazz musician. 

Funded by the National Lottery and Northern Ireland’s Department for Communities, the artists will be supported in a range of ways such as residencies, training, mentorships, the creation of new works or projects focused on research and development of their artistic practice.

Noirin McKinney, director of arts development at Arts Council Northern Ireland, said: “These grants, worth up to £10,000 each, provide these artists with the financial means required to take their professional, artistic careers to that all-important next level, whilst also supporting innovation and experimentation.

“This programme addresses the need for on-going skills development and training within the arts sector here and the Arts Council is excited to see their projects develop in the year ahead. Congratulations to all the awardees.”