Awards Categories & Bursaries
The Awards has a total of 12 categories, including nine main categories and three bursaries.
All of our awards recognise the best of arts partnerships in that preceding year—that is a collaboration between a business or philanthropic partner and an arts partner (organisation, collective or individual artist).
A full list of winning and highly commended partnerships from our 2023 Awards can be found in the category sections below. It was a fantastic array this year, with a strong focus on social impact throughout, including access and inclusivity, climate change, and placemaking.
The Best Large Sponsorship Award recognises exceptional partnerships between businesses and arts organisations/artists in an exceptional sponsorship relationship worth €25,000 and up.
Winner 2023
- IPUT Real Estate Ltd. for ‘Living Canvas’
Highly Commended 2023
- Museum of Literature Ireland and ebow for 'Digital at MoLI'
- Lioncor and IMMA for 'Éirigh'
- KPMG and Children's Books Ireland for 'Reading Heroes'
The Best Small Sponsorship Award recognises exceptional partnerships between businesses and arts organisations/artists in an exceptional sponsorship relationship worth less than €25,000.
Winner 2023
- Future Planet and Cork International Film Festival
Highly Commended 2023
- Walter's Bar and ArtNetdlr
- HLB Ireland and Graphic Studio Dublin for 'Returning Home'
- Amcomri Entertainment and Richard Harris International Film Festival
The Best Long-Term Partnership award recognises compelling partnerships that have been in existence for three years or more, and have evolved during that time to incorporate new audiences, new strands of programming, or have developed new modes of participation. Innovative approaches to enhancing the partnership will make these applications stand out.
Winner 2023
- KPMG and Children's Books Ireland for 'Reading Heroes'
Highly Commended 2023
- Inspirational Arts and PhotoIreland
- Mason Hayes & Curran and Royal Dublin Society for 'The RDS Mason Hayes & Curran Centre Culturel Irlandais Residency Award’
- Ecclesiastical Insurance and Wexford Festival Opera for ‘Wexford Festival Opera’s Volunteer Programme’
The Best Creativity in the Community Award recognises projects and programmes that work with community groups to address specific issues, encourage community participation, bring new perspectives to creativity, and joy to those who engage with them. Winning projects will be socially responsible and connect to the social impact strategies of both partners.
Winner 2023
- The Housing Agency and Irish Architecture Foundation for ‘Housing Unlocked’
HIghly Commended 2023
- ESB and National Concert Hall for ‘Quavers to Quadratics'
- Longford County Council and Tom Meskell for ‘Longford Lights Festival’
- Irish Hospice Foundation and axis Ballymun for ‘Deadly Conversations’
The Best Creativity in the Workplace Award recognises partnerships that collaborate in an innovative and mutually beneficial way to bring creativity into the workplace or engaging staff in the arts or a creative process. Winning projects might include workplace commissions, arts programme judging for staff members, staff engagement activities with artists, and more.
Winner 2023
- BioMarin and Rachel Doolin for ‘The Giving Tree’
Highly Commended 2023
- Walkers and National Concert Hall for ‘Primary Ensemble Project’
- Connected Hubs / Western Development Commission and Contemporary Irish Art Society for ‘Art in the Hubs’
- Hair & Beauty Industry Confederation of Ireland (HABIC), Leitrim County Council Arts Office, and Amanda Jane Graham for ‘The Coiffured’
This Perpetual Award, crafted by sculptor Jason Ellis, is awarded annually to a business or organisation that has showed excellence in their approach to commissioning an artist of any artform. Winners will have documented the commissioning process and worked extensively with the artist to deliver an engaging piece of work that tells an important story.
Winner 2023
- Iarnród Éireann and Fresco Consulting for ‘Actually I Can’
Highly Commended 2023
- Pat McDonnell Paints and Ardú Street Art Ltd. for ‘Ardú Street Art Project'
- Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and John Rainey for ‘Faculty of Nursing & Midwifery Portrait Sculpture Commission’
- Henry J Lyons and Alex Pentek for ‘Primal Form’
Established in 2023, the Creative Access Award recognises partnerships that offer the opportunity for marginalised and underrepresented groups to participate in the arts. This may take the form of an education programme, the provision of equipment, or a programme specially designed to include these kinds of groups.
Winner 2023
- Accenture and National Concert Hall for ‘Creative Lab’
Highly Commended 2023
- University of Galway, Cúirt International Festival of Literature and Speaking Volumes for ‘Breaking Ground Ireland’
- Royal Bank of Canada and axis Ballymun for ‘The RBC Reducing Barriers to Creation Programme’
- University College Cork and Cork Opera House for ‘Autistic Theatre Artist-in-Residence Programme’
Established in 2021, the Best Philanthropic Support to the Arts Award seeks to recognise an individual, corporate foundation, trust, or other philanthropic organisation that has displayed an outstanding commitment to supporting the arts. Nominations can be made by either the arts partner in receipt of the philanthropic gift, or by an external nominating partner that has permission to make the nomination from both partners.
Winner 2023
- The Tomar Trust and Sample-Studios for ‘Studios of Sanctuary’
Highly Commended 2023
- Suzanne Lopez and Museum of Literature Ireland for ‘The Edna O'Brien Young Writers Bursary’
- ESB, Lime Tree Theatre | Belltable and Theatre Royal Waterford for ‘ESB Brighter Future Arts Fund’
- Rethink Ireland and Sing Ireland for ‘SongSeeking’
The winner of this category is selected from applications to the eight main categories, it cannot be applied for directly. All applications are considered, with the winner being either a business or an arts organisation that has a diverse portfolio of partnerships that address a range of strategic objectives or demonstrate excellence in working with private-sector supporters across a range of initiatives.
Winner 2023
- National Concert Hall with Walkers, Accenture, The Tomar Trust, Grant Thornton, and ESB
Highly Commended 2023
- Cork International Film Festival with ESB Energy for Generations Fund, GATE Cinema, Future Planet, and Bank of Ireland Begin Together Arts Fund
- ESB with Cork International Film Festival, Lime Tree Theatre, Sunday's Child, Theatre Royal Waterford, and National Concert Hall
Inaugurated in 2002, the annual daa €5,000 Arts Award is awarded to an arts organisation that has shown excellence when engaging with a corporate partner.
In 2023 it was awarded to axis Ballymun for 'Deadly Conversations' a project in association with the Irish Hospice Foundation, which focused on supporting the community in dealing with grief and loss by using creative interventions facilitated by artists.
Previous winners in recent years include Dublin Dance Festival and That’s Life for Bounce Club Night, Fishamble: The New Play Company, and Waterford Walls.
Our longest-running bursary, the Jim McNaughton/TileStyle €10,000 Artist’s Bursary, now in its 15th year, will award an emerging artist in any artform looking to expand their practice.
In 2023, Thommas Kane Byrne was selected. TKB is an actor and writer from Dublin’s North Inner City, and artistic director of Breadline. This bursary will help him realise a new piece of work with The Gate Theatre in 2024.
Recent winners have included Afghani photographer Barialai Khoshhal, flautist Miriam Kaczor, artist Catherine Creaney, actor and playwright Aisling O’Mara, and more.
Launched in 2022, the Accenture €10,000 Digital Innovation in Art Bursary seeks to recognise artists whose work delivers on the promise of technology and human ingenuity.
The 2023 winner is AlanJames Burns, a neurodivergent, environmental and audio-visual artist and curator whose work Divergent Together uses interactive brain-computer interface (BCI) technologies as a creative medium to explore the intersection of climate change and neurodiversity. AlanJames was presented his award by the 2023 winner Nadia J. Armstrong.
