Tag: Fine Craft

Open Call: Golden Fleece Award for 2027 – Applications Now Open

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland
Graphic promoting the Golden Fleece Award 2027, featuring a collage of artistic works and the award title in bold typography.

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 Golden Fleece Award aims 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 be from, the island of Ireland.

In 2027, an award of €10,000 will be made in each of the two categories: Visual Art and Craft + Applied Art. Shortlisted artists will also receive an award, with the amount to be confirmed.:

  • Category 1: Visual Art
  • Category 2: Craft + Applied Art

Although the Award is open equally to creative practitioners working in all forms of visual, craft, and applied arts across the two categories, most applications for the Golden Fleece Award have historically been submitted by visual artists. While the Award Trustees welcome these, they also want to keep encouraging applications to Category 2 from craftspeople, designers and makers.

For 2026, just over 240 applications were received for the 2026 Award.

  • 172 for Category 1: Visual Art and 69 for Category 2: Craft + Applied Art.

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! 

Note: The number of applicants is much smaller than that for the Arts Council of Ireland’s Agility award. According to the Arts Council’s Twitter/X, “We received a record number of 3,279 applications for our 2024 Agility Award”.

Since its inception in 2002, over one hundred applicants have been shortlisted for or received a Golden Fleece Award. It is inspiring and educational to read these previous submissions: https://www.goldenfleeceaward.com/artists

For example, here is a link to the submission of 2024 shortlisted artist and tapestry weaver, Frances Crowe:  https://www.goldenfleeceaward.com/artists/frances-crowe

And here is a link to the submission of 2026 Merit Award winner textile artist Róisín Pierce: https://www.goldenfleeceaward.com/artists/r%C3%B3is%C3%ADn-pierce-2

So, feltmakers and other textile folks in Ireland, please apply for the award!

Deadline: Friday, the 11th of December, 2026, at 5 PM.

For full details and to apply, visit their website: https://www.goldenfleeceaward.com/award/about

Their Instagram: @goldenfleeceaward

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 the content, please follow the link to the organisation hosting the event.

Open Call: Loewe Foundation Craft Prize 2027

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland

This year’s annual international Loewe Foundation Craft Prize is now accepting applications.

The Loewe Foundation Craft Prize celebrates “excellence, artistic merit and newness in modern craftsmanship.” From a shortlist of 30 artists, the panel of experts will select the winning entry, and the artist will receive a €50,000 prize. All finalist works will be presented in an exhibition in Europe, opening in spring 2027.

Even if you are not interested in applying, please do check out ‘The Room’, an archive of the previous winner and shortlisters of this fine craft award; there are over 3,200 pieces, and their work is inspiring.

One can limit the Category to ‘textiles’ in the advanced search section or to ‘Ireland’ in the Country section.

Submissions are open until the 15th of October, 2026.

For more information, visit their website –https://craftprize.loewe.com/en/craftprize2027

Their Instagram: @loewefoundation


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: Petition to Reduce VAT Rate on Irish Craft

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland

The Irish Design Loft in Powerscourt Estate, Enniskerry, Co Wicklow, has organised a petition to reduce the VAT rate on Irish-made crafts. The current Value Added Tax (VAT) rate is 23%; they propose reducing it to 13.5%, which is the VAT rate for fine art in Ireland.

“Irish handmade crafts are an important part of our heritage, creativity, and local communities. Yet many independent makers are struggling under the current VAT rate, making it harder to compete and keep traditional skills alive.

A reduced VAT rate on Irish handmade crafts would help support local artisans, small local creative businesses, and the future of Irish craftsmanship.

If you believe in supporting Irish makers, please consider signing the petition and sharing it with others. Every signature helps.”

Editor’s Note: For your input to be registered, you will need to click through an emailed confirmation.

For more information and to sign the petition, visit this website: https://www.change.org/p/reduce-vat-on-irish-handmade-crafts

Their Instagram: @irishdesignloft_


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: Tamzen Lundy has work at Craft NI Gallery – August Craft Month

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland

A piece by Feltmakers Ireland guild member Tamzen Lundy, “Fragmented Landscape”, has been selected for the exhibition ‘Rhythm’ at the CraftNI Gallery in Belfast, UK. This event is part of the island-wide August Craft Month. 

The exhibition features contemporary craft works that highlight the connections between making and music, traditional or contemporary. As Belfast prepares to host the annual Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann, local makers share with us how music, with its rhythms, harmonies or lyrics, informs their making.

Participating makers: Adam Frew, Céline Traynor, Corinne Price, Eddie Doherty, Eimear Malone, Fiona Kerr, Hannah Ferguson, Joel Smyth, John Piekaar, Karen Hamilton, Kevin Callaghan, Natasha Heaslip, Nicola Dalton, Peter Meanley, Stuart Cairns, Sue Cathcart, Tamzen Lundy, Ursula McGivern.

The opening is Thursday, 23rd of July, at 6 PM and runs for the month of August.

Where: Craft NI Gallery, 115, 119 Royal Ave, Belfast BT1 1FF, United Kingdom

For more information about the show, visit the gallery’s website: https://exhibitions.craftni.org/

Instagram: @craftnigallery @augustcraftmonth26 @tamzenlundydesigns

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: 2026 August Craft Month Exhibition -‘Rhythm’ – CraftNI Gallery – Belfast

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland
A creative piece of jewellery featuring a spiral design with pearls, accompanied by text announcing 'Rhythm' and details for the August Craft Month 2026 exhibition callout.

Image of @celinetraynorjewellery

𝙍𝙝𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙢, the upcoming CRAFTNI August Craft Month exhibition in Belfast, is now accepting applications! This year, CraftNi invites makers to consider the connections between making and music. Belfast is the host city for the annual Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann, a festival of music and culture from Sunday, the 2nd to Sunday, the 9th of August 2026. Qualifying competitors from all over the world will showcase traditional and folk music, song, and dance in the city, with around 800,000 visitors expected.

More on the theme from the CraftNI Instagram: “Are you drawn to the rhythm and repetition of traditional music, where patterns emerge, repeat and develop? Do you visualise harmony and tone in your work or does it call to mind a soundscape? Or see the movement and flow of a lyric? A musician playing in a group may bring a new interpretation to a piece in that context – does working in a collaboration drive new elements of your practice? Has a song sparked an impulse or an idea that you want to express through your making? Or perhaps the tactile pull of the materials used in instrument-making – metal, wood, leather and textile – open areas for exploration for you?”

Applications from all supported craft disciplines are welcome.

Deadline: the 7th of June, 2026

For more information, visit the CraftNI website – https://craftni.org/2026-august-craft-month-exhibition-callout-rhythm/

Their Instagram: @craft.ni

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 the content, please follow the link to the organisation hosting the event.

Awards: Applications Open – David Shaw Smith Legacy Award 2025

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland

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.

For more information, visit the DCCI’s website – https://www.dcci.ie/opportunities/applications-open-for-david-shaw-smith-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 content-related questions, please follow the link to the organisation hosting the event.

Open Call: Golden Fleece Award for 2026 – Applications Now Open

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland

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! 

Note: The number of applicants is much smaller than that for the Arts Council of Ireland’s Agility award. According to the Arts Council’s 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 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

For example, here is a link to the submission of 2024 shortlisted artist and tapestry weaver, Frances Crowe – https://www.goldenfleeceaward.com/artists/frances-crowe

And here is a link to functional basketmaker Rosemary Kavanagh’s submission –https://www.goldenfleeceaward.com/artists/rosemary-kavanagh

So, feltmakers and other textile folks in Ireland, please apply for the award!

Deadline: Friday, the 28th of November, 2025, at 5 PM.

For full details and to apply, visit their website – https://www.goldenfleeceaward.com/award/about

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 the content, please follow the link to the organisation hosting the event.

Open Call: Loewe Foundation Craft Prize – Deadline the 30th of October

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland

There is still time to apply to the annual international Loewe Foundation Craft 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.

Here are three interesting examples:

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.

For more information, visit their website –https://craftprize.loewe.com/en/craftprize2026

Their Instagram: @loewefoundation

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 the content, please follow the link to the organisation hosting the event.

Open Call: InnLyte Studio Series – Short Documentary Videos about Wellness and Creativity

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland
Open Call -artists and makers across Ireland - link between creativity and wellbeing.

Visual artists or makers based in Ireland, with a physical studio space, and who have experienced how creativity can support their wellbeing or mental health, are invited to participate in the InnLyte Studio Series of short documentary videos.

The InnLyte Studio Series focuses on visual artists and makers who work with materials like paint, sculpture, ceramics, printmaking, textiles, mixed media, or any other tactile, visual art forms.

This is an independent and self-funded project by Dee Stopa.

There’s no payment, but selected artists will receive professional photographs and be part of a meaningful conversation.

This open call is ongoing.

Previous documentaries about artists can be watched on YouTube, here – https://www.youtube.com/@InnLyte/videos

For more information, visit this website – https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd0eHT1xt6Rf8J3F2f8IH8P4HjSlRBttkPMcgWPugDs8mYGnQ/viewform

Their Instagram – @innlyte

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: European Crafts Alliance Annual Conference 2025 – Online and In-person

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland

How will crafts shape the future of Europe’s economy? The European Crafts Alliance Annual Conference 2025: ‘Positioning Crafts in the Contemporary Economy’ will explore this question.

Date: Thursday, the 4th of September
Time: 9:30 CET (online), {8:30 Irish Time} 9:00 (onsite)
Location: Litteraturhuset, Oslo & Online

This hybrid conference, co-hosted by @eca.crafts & @norwegiancrafts, will explore the fundamental economic challenges and opportunities for craftspeople, offer practical strategies for collaboration from the Nordic Network, present new perspectives on the social and cultural value of craft, and examine how craftspeople are integrating technology with traditional skills to create innovative and economically viable work.

Featuring:

For Online Attendees

The event will be livestreamed on the ECA YouTube Channel, with the broadcast starting at 9.30 CET. They recommend joining the stream a few minutes early. Online attendees are invited to participate actively in polls and the live Q&A session using the interactive tools provided.

For more information and to register, visit the European Crafts Alliance website – https://europeancraftsalliance.org/eca-annual-conference-2025-positioning-crafts-in-the-contemporary-economy/

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 the content, please follow the link to the organisation hosting the event.