Tag: Awards

News: Crafts of Ireland Shortlisted for Sustainability Champion Award – Showcase 2025

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland

Feltmaker Ireland’s guild member Sandra Coote’s business, Crafts of Ireland, is a finalist for the Sustainability Champion Award supported by the Local Enterprise Office of Cavan at Showcase 2025. The awards will take place on Monday, 20th of January, at Showcase in the RDS as part of the overall event. The shortlisted companies were selected from the 105 Local Enterprise clients who will exhibit to national and international buyers from the 19th – 21st of January.

The Awards

The awards are divided into three categories: Best Newcomer, which recognises the top craft and design business making its debut; One to Watch, which highlights a business with outstanding export and international potential; and Sustainability Champion, which celebrates the craft and design business leading the way in sustainability.

Crafts of Ireland

Rooted in a sixth-generation family farm in County Cavan, Crafts of Ireland is a business devoted to preserving and promoting traditional Irish crafts and skills. Serving as both a craft studio and a heritage hub, it offers an array of experiences, workshops, and handcrafted products that celebrate Ireland’s cultural heritage. Their Irish Wool Needle Felting Kits feature fibre from their own rare Irish Roscommon Sheep, along with wool sourced from local farmers.

Find Crafts of Ireland at Stand L47 – https://showcaseireland.com/newfront/exhibitor/crafts-of-ireland

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.

Of Interest: Arts Council of Ireland Funding Opportunites Calendar for 2025

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland
Arts Council of Ireland logo

The Arts Council of Ireland has listed this year’s awards schedule. Guidelines are typically made available two weeks in advance of the opening of a scheme. Full details for individual awards can be found on the Available Funding Page – https://www.artscouncil.ie/available-funding/

Possible awards of interest are the following: Visual Arts Bursary Award, Agility Award, Young People, Children, and Education Bursary Award, and the Artist in the Community Scheme.

To see this year’s schedule, visit the Arts Council’s website – https://www.artscouncil.ie/funding-opportunities-schedule/

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.

Reminder: Golden Fleece Award Application Deadline is Friday

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland

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. In the previous year, only 20% of the applications received for the Golden Fleece Award were made by craft practitioners. Let’s change that this year!

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.

Two €10,000 awards will be made in 2025, one in each of the two categories: Visual Art and Craft + Applied Art.

The submission deadline is 5pm on Friday, the 29th of November, 2024.

Note: Just over 240 applications were received for the 2024 Golden Fleece Award – 197 for Category 1: Visual Art and 45 for Category 2: Craft + Applied Art! (This is a much smaller number than applicants to the Arts Council of Ireland’s Agility Award. According to their Twitter/X, “We received a record number of 3,279 applications for our 2024 Agility Award”). 

One can also read the past Golden Fleece Award applications to understand the judging better.

For more information, visit the Golden Fleece Award’s website – https://www.goldenfleeceaward.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.

Awards: Golden Fleece Award Application Open

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland

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.

Two €10,000 awards will be made in 2025, one in each of the two categories: Visual Art and Craft + Applied Art.

The submission deadline is 5pm on Friday, the 29th of November, 2024.

Note: Just over 240 applications were received for the 2024 Golden Fleece Award – 197 for Category 1: Visual Art and 45 for Category 2: Craft + Applied Art! (This is a much smaller number than applicants to the Arts Council of Ireland’s Agility award: According to their Twitter/X, “We received a record number of 3,279 applications for our 2024 Agility Award”). One can also read past shortlisted Golden Fleece Award applications to understand the judging better. For example, here is a link to shortlisted artist and tapestry weaver Frances Crowe’s application – https://www.goldenfleeceaward.com/artists/frances-crowe

For more information, visit the Golden Fleece Award’s website – https://www.goldenfleeceaward.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.

News: Voting Extended on Irish Made Awards – 2 Guild Members Shortlisted

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland

Due to the extremely tight number of votes between several of the category finalists, Irish Country Magazine has extended the deadline for voting in the Irish Made Awards to 11 AM on Tuesday, the 17th of September.

Two members of Feltmakers Ireland, Karena Ryan and Sandra Coote, have been shortlisted.

Karena Ryan is in the Textiles Category, which is sponsored by Foxford.

Sandra Coote’s business, Crafts of Ireland, is in the Sustainability Category, which is sponsored by Seabody.

Please help raise the profile of feltmaking and also help our guild members by voting.

For more information and to vote, visit the Irish Country Magazine’s website – https://irishcountrymagazine.ie/vote24/

Karena is pictured on the left, and Sandra is on the right.

  • Karena Ryan
  • Sandra Coote – Crafts of Ireland

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: Loewe Foundation Craft Prize

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland

The prestigious Loewe Foundation Craft Prize is now open to applicants. It seeks to acknowledge and support international artisans of any age (over 18) or gender who demonstrate an exceptional ability to create objects of superior aesthetic value. The Foundation aims to highlight craft’s continuing contribution to our time’s culture by identifying work that reinterprets existing knowledge to make it relevant today.

Deadline: 30th of October.

For more information, visit their website – https://craftprize.loewe.com/en/craftprize2025

For inspiration, visit the impressive archive of the award’s past finalists and winners – https://craftprize.loewe.com/en/craftprize2024#archive

There is an interactive online exhibition site with behind-the-scenes images for last year’s finalists and winners – https://craftprizeexhibition.loewe.com/

Lastly, other than basketry, there aren’t that many textiles among the past finalists. However, in 2023, Liam Lee was awarded for his needle felted furniture – https://craftprize.loewe.com/en/craftprize2023#craftprize2023

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.

News: Deirdre Crofts – Awards and Exhibition

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland

Feltmakers Ireland committee member Deirdre Crofts, who tirelessly organises our Sunday Sessions, has been awarded an Agility Award from the Arts Council of Ireland to further her multi-faceted practice. Besides feltmaking and weaving, she works with clay and automata. In addition, she has won an EU workshop and the opportunity for an international exhibition in Italy or Spain.

Moreover, she has a vessel displayed in the juried Ceramics Ireland Selected Members Exhibition, which is at Rathfarnham Castle and runs until the 8th of September.

Deirdre’s piece

For more information about the exhibition, visit the Rathfarnham Castle website – https://www.rathfarnhamcastle.ie/exhibitions/

Image: Grainne Watts Vortex Vessel

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.

Opportunity: The David Shaw-Smith Legacy Award

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland

The Design & Crafts Council Ireland (DCCI) is delighted to announce the second year of the David Shaw-Smith Legacy Award. The award supports and recognises the achievements of our masterclass craftspeople in the creative development of their craft.

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.⁠
⁠
Pictured is last year’s winner @ericphillips.ie with Daniel Shaw-Smith, David Shaw-Smith’s son. ⁠

The deadline is the 22nd of July.

For more information, visit their website – https://www.dcci.ie/opportunities/david-shaw-smith-legacy-award/

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.

Opportunity: RHA Studio – Fingal Co Artists

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland

Fingal County Council Arts Office, in partnership with the Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA) School, is pleased to announce the 2024 RHA Studio Award. This prestigious award offers a professional artist, a funded studio space for one year, beginning at the end of October 2024.

Open to practising artists at all stages in their professional careers working in visual art, applicants must have been born, have studied, or currently reside in the Fingal administrative area to be eligible to apply.

Deadline: the 19th of July.

For more information, visit their website – https://rhagallery.ie/residencies-awards/studio/fingal-county-council-studio-award/

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: Sensory Tools Competition – Europe

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland

The European Wool Exchange (EWE), in collaboration with the IAIA Association, seeks to promote the therapeutic and well-being effects of creating fibre crafts, especially those made with natural fibres.

They have a call for a competition to create sensory tools that are created with natural fibre. These include the following items –

  • Sensory Sleeves
  • Elongated Sensory Sleeves
  • Sensory Mats

Amongst the awards are Best Sensory Tools made with 100% European Wool.

Other categories of awards include the following –

  • Best sensory tools made with natural fibres other than wool
  • Special Award to best sensory tool crafted by men
  • Special Award to the most senior person participating
  • Special Award to the youngest person participating
  • Special Award to the most active country determined by pro rata of population
  • Public’s Choice Awards / The best sensory tools will be chosen based on the technique: Crochet, Knitting, Weaving, *Felting* or Mixed Techniques.

All the sensory tools will be donated to institutions that care for patients.

Deadline: Sensory Tools must be received in Spain by the 10th of September, 2024.

For more information, visit their website – https://www.ewe.network/wool-4-health

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.