News: Thank you for your Submissions to ‘Water and Flow’

Poster for Feltmakers Ireland's exhibition submission, titled 'Water & Flow', at Phoenix Park Visitors Centre in April 2026. Note indicating that applications are now closed.

WOW!

Dear Members,

Thank you for all of your excellent submissions!

We are overjoyed to receive such an outpouring from you. There will be 68 pieces in our group show, ‘Water and Flow’.

This Open Call is now shut – the deadline was extended a week to the 20th of March.

Email Confirmations

Each artist will receive an email with instructions on where to drop off or mail their artwork.

If you are NOT dropping it off at the gallery on the MORNING, 10:30 – 11:30 AM of the installation on Wednesday, the 1st of April, you should ensure your piece has been received at one of the five drop-off points by Tuesday, the 31st of March.

If you need to drop off your piece at the gallery on the morning of the installation, please let us know BEFOREHAND by email.

Questions or concerns, please email feltmakersIE@gmail.com

Exhibition: BeCraft’s ‘Abattoir’ Group Exhibition – Dr Niki Collier – Belgium

BeCraft presents a group exhibition, ‘A la belle vue de l’abattoir’, which marks 20 years of organisation.

Bringing together around fifty artists from twelve European countries, the exhibition explores the theme โ€œAbattoirsโ€ through contemporary applied arts and crafts practices. Through memory, poetry and critical perspectives, the works explore the history and contemporary meanings of these sites, now part of our heritage, and question our relationship to the living, to making, and to transformation.

BeCraft is a professional association that promotes applied arts in the Wallonia and Brussels regions. Ceramics, glass, jewellery, paper, textiles, and product design are among the creative fields in which the supported and promoted artists work.ย  Since its inception, the association has worked closely with the ECA โ€“ European Crafts Alliance (formerly WCC-Europe).

Feltmakers Ireland member Dr Niki Collier‘s piece, ‘The guts to be accountable’, is part of the exhibition.

Artist Statement from Dr Collier –

This is a three-part handmade felt sculpture emoted from the texture and form of the stomach, the guts, and the tongue The sculpture is informed by a cow’s digestive system which is a complicated multitude of organs. They can be a source of learning and growth; simultaneously as an organ and as a symptom of how we interact with food. The food industry today has developed such a disconnect between the food that we eat and its origin that we are conditioned to believe that only certain parts of the animal are nutritious or have a purpose. Rather than looking into changing ourselves: our relationship to food and what and how we eat, we demand the humane killing of farmed animals. The work is also a comment on greed and how greed dictates smokescreens such as โ€˜โ€™humane killing of animalsโ€™โ€™ rather than addressing our behaviour in how and what we eat; which would have an actual impact on the sustainability of our environment. The stomach is now discarded as rubbish by the contemporary food industry, while it used to be a source of healing, a treat reserved for special occasions, and a membrane used to create tools for music and craft. The sculptures aim to start a conversation about our eating habits โ€“ what we should not discard โ€“ and focus on our own accountability rather than on methods of slaughter.

Where: Anciens Abattoirs de Mons, Rue de la Trouille 17, 7000 Mons, Belgium

Runs until the 24th of May.

For more information, visit BeCraft’s website – https://www.becraft.org/event/a-la-belle-vue-de-l-abattoir-expo

Instagram: @becraftorg @nikicollierfelt

Disclaimer for Feltmakers Ireland Blog

Feltmakers Ireland aims to share information about awards, education, events, exhibitions, and opportunities that you will find interesting. Our sharing is neither paid for by nor an endorsement of these individuals or organisations.

Contact Us: If you have any concerns about content, please email us at feltmakersie@gmail.com.

Questions: For questions about content, please follow the link to the organisation involved in hosting the event.

Open Call: Reminder to Submit to ‘Water and Flow’ – Feltmakers Ireland Exhibition

Promotional poster for Feltmakers Ireland's exhibition submission, featuring details about the event at Phoenix Park Visitors Centre in April 2026. The theme is 'Water & Flow', inviting personal interpretations.

We wanted to remind you that Feltmakers Ireland members’ exhibition, ‘Water and Flow’, has a submission deadline ofย Friday, the 13th of Marchย at MIDNIGHT.

Our annual exhibition will be displayed at the beautiful Phoenix Park Visitors Centre gallery from Friday, the 3rd, through Sunday, the 26th of April. The show launches on Saturday, the 4th, at 3 PM.

To learn more and to submit your application, visit our Exhibition page – https://feltmakersireland.com/exhibition-application-2026-water-and-flow/

Disclaimer for Feltmakers Ireland Blog

Feltmakers Ireland aims to share information about awards, education, events, exhibitions, and opportunities that you will find interesting. Our sharing is neither paid for by nor an endorsement of these individuals or organisations.

Contact Us: If you have any concerns about content, please email us at feltmakersie@gmail.com.

Questions:ย For content-related questions, please follow the link to the organisation hosting the event.

Exhibition: Wearable Art by Claire Garvey – Made in Wicklow Invited Guest 2026 – Powerscourt House

As part of Made in Wicklow’s ‘For the Love of Creativity’ series,ย Claire Garveyย presents ‘From Canvas to Cloth’, an exhibition featuring 15 bespoke, hand-crafted, and hand-beaded pieces of wearable art. Each garment is inspired by one of Claireโ€™s ten favourite paintings, with influences ranging from the bold strokes of Van Gogh and Miro to the intricate worlds of Botticelli and HR Giger.

Claire Garvey is a bespoke designer with a couture shop in the heart of Temple Bar, on Cowโ€™s Lane, Dublin. She has designed for the Oscars, the Emmys, the X-Factor, and the Cannes Film Festival. She specialises in one-off outfits for musicians and celebrities and is a celebrated advocate for ‘slow fashion’ and sustainability, hand-making every piece in her workshop with a focus on recycled trims and exquisite craftsmanship.

When: The show runs through Sunday, 1st March, 10:30 AM โ€“ 4:30 PM. Free entry.

Where: The Garden Room, Powerscourt House, Enniskerry, Co Wicklow

For more information about the exhibition, visit the Made in Wicklow website – https://madeinwicklow.com/powerscourt-2026/

To see more of her work, visit her website – https://www.clairegarvey.com/

Her Instagram – @clairegarveydesigner_

Disclaimer for Feltmakers Ireland Blog

Feltmakers Ireland aims to share information about awards, education, events, exhibitions, and opportunities that you will find interesting. Our sharing is neither paid for by nor an endorsement of these individuals or organisations.

Contact Us: If you have any concerns about content, please email us at feltmakersie@gmail.com.

Questions: For questions about content, please follow the link to the organisation involved in hosting the event.

Open Call: 24th Annual Mini Textile Exhibition – Slovak Association of Textile Artists

Promotional poster for the 24th International Mini Textile Exhibition organised by the TXT - Slovak Association of Textile Artists. The theme is 'Empathy' with an entry deadline of February 28th, 2026. Includes a QR code and information in both English and Slovak.

The Association of Textile Artists of Slovakia invites artists to participate in its 24th annual international juried exhibition of textile miniatures. There is a size limitation of 20 by 20 by 20 cm.

The theme of the exhibition is EMPATHY.

From the organisers:

“Empathy is an apparently natural human feeling โ€“ the ability to perceive another person in our surroundings and to enter into their experience of joyful as well as complex, even tragic, situations.

Empathy is not a given.

It does not arise automatically simply because we share the same space or follow the same news. It is a fragile state of attentiveness โ€“ the ability to momentarily withdraw from oneโ€™s own world and allow oneself to be affected by the experience of another. Without the need to judge, correct, or seek solutions.

At a time when suffering becomes a distant image and reality is reduced to rapid information, empathy slows us down. It compels us to stay. With a gaze, with a gesture, with silence. It is neither loud nor spectacular. It is inconspicuous, and precisely for that reason vulnerable. It requires the courage to remain open even where it would be easier to look away.”

Where: Galรฉria Umelka, Bratislava, Slovakia

Deadline: Saturday, the 28th of February.

For more information, visit the European Textile Network‘s listing – https://etn-net.org/berichte/open-call-24th-textile-miniature-empathygal%C3%A9ria-umelka-bratislava-skdeadline-28-02-2026.html

The original post is here – http://www.txt.sk/index-en.html

Instagram @etn_european_textile_network

Disclaimer for Feltmakers Ireland Blog

Feltmakers Ireland aims to share information about awards, education, events, exhibitions, and opportunities that you will find interesting. Our sharing is neither paid for by nor an endorsement of these individuals or organisations.

Contact Us: If you have any concerns about content, please email us at feltmakersie@gmail.com.

Questions: For questions about content, please follow the link to the organisation involved in hosting the event.

Open Call: RHA Annual Exhibition 2026 – Submission Deadline the 23rd

A person viewing the 196th RHA Annual Exhibition at the Royal Hibernian Academy of Arts, surrounded by various artworks on the walls. A note in the corner says 'Apply Now!'


A reminder: The deadline for The Royal Hibernian Academy of Arts (RHA) Annual Exhibition is this coming Monday, the 23rd of February.

They are currently accepting submissions for their 196th exhibition. It is Irelandโ€™s largest and longest-running open submission exhibition, and will be open to the public from Monday, the 25th of May, to Sunday, the 9th of August, with free admission at all times.

Open to all artists working in painting, drawing, print, sculpture, photography and architecture, the RHA Annual attracts a large public and critical audience.

Editorโ€™s Note: There is a recap of 2024’s exhibition as several pieces included textile materials or techniques, including a piece by guild member Leiko Uchiyama โ€“ https://feltmakersireland.com/2024/07/30/exhibition-final-week-of-the-rha-annual-show/

For more information, visit the RHA website โ€“ https://rhagallery.ie/rha-annual/

Their Instagram: @rha.arts

Disclaimer for Feltmakers Ireland Blog

Feltmakers Ireland aims to share information about awards, education, events, exhibitions, and opportunities that you will find interesting. Our sharing is neither paid for by nor an endorsement of these individuals or organisations.

Contact Us: If you have any concerns about content, please email us at feltmakersie@gmail.com.

Questions: For questions about content, please follow the link to the organisation involved in hosting the event.

Open Call: World of Threads Festival – Canada

Colourful promotional poster for the World of Threads Festival, inviting fibre and textile artists to submit their work. Location: Oakville, Ontario, Canada. Submission deadline: February 28, 2026.

Artists from around the world are invited to submit bodies of work, installations or individual pieces to The World of Threads Festival, in Oakville, Ontario, Canada.

Curators Gareth Bate and Dawne Rudman will draw from the pool of submissions to create different thematic group exhibitions, as well as solo shows and installations. They are open to submissions of artwork that have been made between April 2023 and January 2026.

Deadline:โ€จSaturday, the 28th of February 2026.

The Festival runs from the 23rd of September 2026 through the 17th of January 2027.

Where: Queen Elizabeth Park Community and Cultural Centre, 2302 Bridge Rd, Oakville, ON L6L 2G6, Canada.

For more information, visit the Festival’s website – https://worldofthreadsfestival.com/submissions/

Their Instagram @worldofthreads

Disclaimer for Feltmakers Ireland Blog

Feltmakers Ireland aims to share information about awards, education, events, exhibitions, and opportunities that you will find interesting. Our sharing is neither paid for by nor an endorsement of these individuals or organisations.

Contact Us: If you have any concerns about content, please email us at feltmakersie@gmail.com.

Questions: For questions about content, please follow the link to the organisation involved in hosting the event.

Open Call: “Listen to the Land Speak” – West Cork Creates Exhibition – Cnoc Buรญ Community Arts Centre

Promotional graphic for 'West Cork Creates', featuring an open call for 2026 titled 'Listen to the Land Speak'.

The West Cork Creates (WCC) committee’s 16th Visual Arts Exhibition,ย โ€œListen to the Land Speakโ€, will run from 1st to 16th of August 2026.

The โ€œListen to the Land Speakโ€ exhibition will be a tribute to the work and ideas of the late Manchรกn Magan, who honoured us with a knowledgeable and heartfelt opening speech for the 2018 WCC exhibition.

Listen to the Land Speak is a book (and RTE documentary) about โ€œexploring Ireland’s deep connection to its natural landscape, uncovering ancient myths, ancestral wisdom, and ecological lessons embedded in its bogs, rivers and trees, revealing how these elements shaped Irish identity and offer profound insights for today. It’s a journey to understand the life-sustaining wisdom beneath our feet and reconnect with nature’s rhythms, tracing the footsteps of our ancestors who lived in deep harmony with the land.โ€

You can view Magan’s RTE programme here – https://www.rte.ie/player/series/listen-to-the-land-speak/10001901-00-0000?epguid=IP10001902-01-0001

Details

Craftspeople, fine artists and designers are invited to respond to the theme and produce innovative work (individual or collaborative) for the WCC exhibition.

Approximately 45 participants will be selected from the applications received.

Where: Cnock Buรญ Community Arts Centre is located in Union Hall, West Cork, P81 X274

Deadline: Sunday, the 1st of March 2026 at 5 PM.

For more information, visit their website – https://www.westcorkcreates.com/

Their Instagram @westcorkcreates @@cnocbuiarts

Disclaimer for Feltmakers Ireland Blog

Feltmakers Ireland aims to share information about awards, education, events, exhibitions, and opportunities that you will find interesting. Our sharing is neither paid for by nor an endorsement of these individuals or organisations.

Contact Us: If you have any concerns about content, please email us at feltmakersie@gmail.com.

Questions: For questions about content, please follow the link to the organisation involved in hosting the event.

Exhibitions: Two Members have Work in Group Shows

Feltmakers Ireland members exhibit their artwork in group and solo shows.

Two of our members have artwork in exhibitions.

FGU Art Group

An invitation card for the opening of the 'Waterways Dublin 8' art exhibition by the FGU Art Group, featuring a collage of water-themed illustrations including ducks and swans, with event details.

Helena Mc Guinness has artwork in ‘Waterways Dublin 8’. She is part of a group exhibition of artists who create with the Fatima Groups United Family Resource Centre.

When: The show opens this Friday, the 7th, and runs through February.

Monday: Closed, Tuesdays through Saturdays: 9 AM – 7 PM, and Sundays: 11 AM – 6 PM.

Where: Small Changes, 120 Emmet Rd, Inchicore, Dublin 8, D08 Y962

Changing Ireland Galleries

A Crolly Doll named Moira in a striped dress, accompanied by its packaging displaying the name and description.

Helena also recalls her ‘Crolly Doll’ at the exhibitionย ‘Changing Ireland: Changing Stories’ย at the Decorative Arts & Military History Museum of the National Museum of Ireland.

Where: Collins Barracks, Benburb St, Stoneybatter, Dublin 7, D07 XKV4

If you are unable to see the exhibition in person, you can read about her recollections on their website – https://www.museum.ie/en-IE/Museums/Decorative-Arts-History/Projects/Changing-Ireland-Changing-Stories/Helena-McGuinness

And you can listen to Helena, here – https://ci-tour.nmi.eu/1/635/15123/index.html


Made in Wicklow

Sharon Wells has sculpture, wall art, and wearable art in Made in Wicklow’s ‘Head, Heart & Hands’ group exhibition, which has the work of 41 members of the organisation.

Free entry to the show. 10:30 AM to 4:30 PM.

When: the 31st of January through the 8th of February.

Where: The Entrance Hall, Powerscourt House, Enniskerry, Co Wicklow, A98 W0D0

For more information, visit the Made in Wicklow website – https://madeinwicklow.com/powerscourt-2026/

Their Instagram – @made_in_wicklow @sharonwellsart

If you are a current member of Feltmakers Ireland and you have an upcoming exhibition or workshop, please get in touch with us at feltmakersIE@gmail.com


Disclaimer for Feltmakers Ireland Blog

Feltmakers Ireland aims to share information about awards, education, events, exhibitions, and opportunities that you will find interesting. Our sharing is neither paid for by nor an endorsement of these individuals or organisations.

Contact Us: If you have any concerns about content, please email us at feltmakersie@gmail.com.

Questions: For questions about content, please follow the link to the organisation involved in hosting the event.

Exhibition: Element15 – ‘ROOTS:An Exhibition of Textile Art and Poetry’ – Co Waterford

Textile groupย Element15‘sย ‘ROOTS: An Exhibition of Textile Art and Poetry’ is now showing at Green Acres Gallery, Co Wexford.

The show features the group’s artwork and the poetry of Jane Clarke.

Element15ย is a collective based in Co Kildare. Individual artists develop their own practice in tandem with each other, distinct but connected. Element15โ€™s exhibition, โ€˜ROOTSโ€˜, is inspired by the work of Co Wicklow-based poetย Jane Clarke.ย 

Elaine Peden and Marie Dunne, members of the Feltmakers Ireland guild, are part of the Element15 and have pieces in the exhibition.

When: The show runs until the 31st of January.

Where: Green Acres Gallery, 2 Lower George’s St, Selskar St, Townparks, Wexford, Y35 RW7C

For more information, visit the gallery’s website – https://greenacresgallery.ie/

Their Instagram: @element15textile @jane_clarke_poet @greenacresirl @elainepeden

Disclaimer for Feltmakers Ireland Blog

Feltmakers Ireland aims to share information about awards, education, events, exhibitions, and opportunities that you will find interesting. Our sharing is neither paid for by nor an endorsement of these individuals or organisations.

Contact Us: If you have any concerns about content, please email us at feltmakersie@gmail.com.

Questions: For questions about content, please follow the link to the organisation involved in hosting the event.