The annual Irish Made Awards, organised by Irish Country Magazine and sponsored by the Circle Club, are back. Now in its tenth year, the awards have proudly supported makers, creatives, and producers in Ireland by telling the stories of the people behind unique, Irish-made products. In past years, some of our members have been on the Shortlist.
This year, three of Feltmakers Ireland’s members are finalists for the Irish Made Awards.
FeltHappiness in the Accessories Category (member Juliane Gorman)
Karena Ryan Textiles in the Home Category (member Karena Ryan)
Rough Circle Studio in the Home Category (member Christine Jordan)
There are 13 categories in total. Voting runs until Sunday, midnight on the 6th of September.
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The Design and Crafts Council of Ireland’s 2026 Irish Business Design Challenge is now open for applications. Micro or small businesses that use design to create sustainable solutions are invited to apply to this DCCI competition. There are awards of up to €20,000 per business, amongst a total prize funding of €50,000.
The Irish Business Design Challenge is looking for businesses that have:
Changed their business model to add value
Repurposed or redesigned their products or services sustainably
Developed new eco-friendly processes or partnerships
Discovered new or more efficient ways of working
Invented innovative and meaningful solutions
Solved societal or environmental problems through sustainable design
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Only two weeks left to apply for the Dorothy Waxman Textile Prize, which is part of New York Textile Month, an exciting gathering of textile-related events held across multiple locations this September in New York City.
Li Edelkoort and Philip Fimmano are pleased to announce the 12th edition of the Dorothy Waxman International Textile Design Prize, awarded to a current or recently graduated student in Textiles or Fashion who exhibits sustainable thinking and innovative creativity in textiles. The prize is part of the TALKING TEXTILES initiative that promotes textile education and creativity.
The competition is international and open to students currently enrolled in programs focused on textiles, fashion, interior, or lifestyle textiles. Graduates from 2025 and 2026 are also eligible to apply.
The $5000 prize for the winner is sponsored by the American company MOHAWK GROUP. @mohawkgroup
Deadline: Friday, the 7th of August, 2026.
Work in image by Carlotta Talkenberger @ct.textil.e
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.
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The annual Irish Made Awards, organised by Irish Country Magazine and sponsored by the Circle Club, are back. Established in 2016, the awards have proudly supported makers, creatives, and producers in Ireland by telling the stories of the people behind unique, Irish-made products. In past years, some of our members have been on the Shortlist. According to the FAQ, the ‘Textiles’ category is no longer available. So, one would enter the Home category, or if more suitable, the Fashion or Accessories category.
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.
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Established in 2009, the Design and Crafts Council of Ireland’s Future Makers Award is one of Europe’s most extensive prize-funded award programmes. It showcases talent and provides much-needed financial support.
Divided into student and emerging practitioner categories, the awards support these crucial times.
The award categories include the following: sustainable design, studio equipping, residencies/training, and exhibiting/trade events.
There is also a mentoring package included in the award.
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.
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Applications are open for the RDS Craft Awards2026. It is a competition open to all craft makers living on the island of Ireland and Irish-born craft makers working overseas. The work of emerging and established makers is judged separately, with specific prizes to support emerging craftspeople.
The Awards will be made from a total prize fund of €62,000.
The Emerging Maker category is open to individuals who aren’t necessarily recent graduates, and there is no age limit. Instead, there are these requirements:
Focus on heritage, skills, and sustainable practices.
Practice commenced within the past 10 years, with the determination to grow their craft at home and abroad.
Work must be made and sourced in Ireland.
Emerging Makers
• Exhibit at the National Museum of Ireland • Showcase your work at the Gifted Contemporary Craft Fair • Receive dedicated mentorship to grow your practice
Established Makers
• A major opportunity to exhibit at the National Museum of Ireland
There is also a Bursary for Lace.
The deadline for applying is the 13th of April. There is no fee to enter.
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.
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Image courtesy of Mayumi Nakabayashi, created at the European Land Art Festival as part of her ArtLinks bursary in 2024.
ArtLinks partners in Carlow, Kilkenny, Waterford, and Wexford have opened submissions for the Professional and Emerging ArtLinks Bursary Awards 2026.
The Awards are designed to support artists in developing their practice by providing them with the time and resources to think, research, reflect, and critically engage with their art.
They will consider applications for assistance with any of the following areas of support:
Travel and training
Mentorship
To assist with education at the graduate level
Projects with a demonstrable benefit to practice development
Artists must be registered with ArtLinks to avail of these supports, and new artists must be registered on or before the 12th of January, 2026, to be eligible to apply.
Deadline: the 19th of January.
For more information, visit their website to locate the application for your particular county – https://linktr.ee/ArtLinks.ie
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The Design & Crafts Council Ireland (DCCI) is delighted to announce the third year of the David Shaw-Smith Legacy Award.
This award was developed by DCCI to honour the legacy of David Shaw-Smith, the legendary Irish filmmaker. It has been created to recognise that Irish craft is driven by heritage and creativity. It will support and acknowledge the achievements of key master craftspeople in the creative development of their craft.
Eligibility criteria –
Be registered with DCCI for 5 years or more
Be aged 50 or older
Not have previously received a DCCI bursary·
The deadline for applying is the 29th of November, 2025.
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The Golden Fleece Award was founded in 2001 through a bequest by Irish artist and weaving educator, Lillias Mitchell (1915-2000). She created our friend organisation, the Irish Guild of Weavers, Spinners, and Dyers. The mission of the Golden Fleece Award is to provide resources for practising contemporary visual artists and makers to innovate and develop their artistic vision.
The annual award supports artists working in all forms of visual, craft and applied arts at critical junctures of their careers. Applicants should reside in, or originally from, the island of Ireland. Since its inception in 2002, over 100 applicants have been shortlisted for, or have received, a Golden Fleece Award.
This year, there are two main awards worth €10,000 each, along with smaller Merit or special awards:
Category 1: Visual Art
Category 2: Craft + Applied Art
Despite the Award being open equally to creative practitioners working in all forms of visual, craft, and applied arts across the two categories, historically, the majority of applications for the Golden Fleece Award have been submitted by visual artists. While the Trustees of the Award welcome these, they are also keen to continue encouraging applications to Category 2 from craftspeople, designers and makers.
For 2025, just under 290 applications were received for the 2025 Award.
165 for Category 1: Visual Art and 122 for Category 2: Craft + Applied Art.
For 2024, just over 240 applications were received for the Award.
197 for Category 1: Visual Art and <only> 45 for Category 2: Craft + Applied Art!
One can also read past shortlisted Golden Fleece Award submissions from individual artists and craftspeople to gain an understanding of the judging. It is fascinating and inspiring to see. https://www.goldenfleeceaward.com/artists
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There is still time to apply to the annual international Loewe FoundationCraft Prize.
Even if you are not interested in applying, please take a look at the online exhibition of the previous winners and shortlisters of this fine craft award; their work is truly inspiring! Each listing includes a video tour of the artist’s studio. And while there doesn’t YET appear to be any works using the technique of feltmaking, there are makers who utilise other textile methods.
The Loewe Foundation Craft Prize celebrates “excellence, artistic merit and newness in modern craftsmanship. A panel of experts will select the winning entry, which will receive a €50,000 prize, from a shortlist of 30 artists. All finalist works will be presented in an exhibition in Singapore, opening in spring 2026.”
Submissions are open until the 30th of October, 2025.
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