Emerging Northern Ireland artists given funding to reach new audiences

Three visual artists, four musicians, two drama awardees, two writers and one dancer are the latest recipients of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland’s artist career enhancement scheme (ACES).

ACES is a professional development programme supported by the National Lottery which provides funding awards to Northern Ireland’s emerging and mid-career artists, helping them to create new work and develop their professional artistic careers.

The funding will also allow the artists to partner with a professional organisation at home or internationally.

Some of the partner organisations include the Golden Thread Gallery in Belfast, Echo Echo Dance in Londonderry, Belfast-based film production company Dumbworld and AEMI (Artists Experimental Moving Image).

The recipients include visual artists Alessia Cargnelli, Anushiya Sundaralingam and Dorothy Hunter, as well as musicians Darren Beckett, James Thompson, Peter O’Doherty and Xenia Pestova Bennett.

Drama awardees Dominic Montague and Gavin Peden, writers Jamie Guiney and Peter Jordan and dance artist Suzannah McCreight will also receive the bursaries.

Roisin McDonough, chief executive of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, said: “The Arts Council of Northern Ireland is delighted to award £84,000 to 12 exceptional artists from Northern Ireland, thanks to support from the National Lottery.

“These artists are already established and highly regarded in each of their fields, and the ACES awards are given in recognition of their work to date.

“The award also provides them with the financial support to take their careers to that vital next level.”

Ms McDonough said it will be exciting to see the projects develop.

She said: “The ACES programme has been running successfully for a number of years now and addresses the need for ongoing skills development and training within the arts sector here.

“A warm congratulations to all 12 ACES awardees. We’re truly excited to see their ACES projects develop in the year ahead.”

The scheme forms part of the wider support for the individual artist programme (SIAP), which is administered by the Arts Council in Northern Ireland annually with lottery funding.