SDCC Artist Workspace & Practical Needs Survey
Are you an artist living in South Dublin? South Dublin County Council (SDCC) Arts Office are undertaking this survey on artist workspaces. We endeavour to understand the practical needs of artist requirements, establish what resources are currently available, and what gaps exist in these areas.
We are asking for artists of all disciplines to complete the survey who are living in the South Dublin County administrative area including Tallaght, Firhouse, Rathfarnham, Clondalkin, Lucan, Adamstown, Rathcoole, and Newcastle.
The Arts Office recently shared a similar version of this survey but due to a technical issue, all responses were lost and we would be grateful to all South Dublin artists if they could take the time to complete this survey. This will inform us in the development of a new Arts Strategy for South County Dublin in 2026.
Survey link: https://forms.office.com/e/he5gRkCAyA
Survey closes Friday 20th March 2026 at 12pm
For any questions, please email Richie O’Sullivan, Assistant Arts Office – richieosullivan@sdublincoco.ie
- Applicants must be living & making work in/for and for the South Dublin County administrative area
- In the interest of fairness and transparency this opportunity is for first time recipients of this bursary.
- Deadline to apply is 5pm Monday 2 March**
New SDCC Public Art Commissions Announced
South Dublin County Council Arts Office is delighted to announce five new Public Art projects commissioned as part of IN CONTEXT 5 Strand 2 following an open call selection process in July 2025. IN CONTEXT 5 - Connect is SDCC’s Public Art Programme 2023–2025 under the Per Cent for Art Scheme.
The successful artists commissioned are: - Shane Finan and Drop Table Ensemble (with Alisha Doody, Dasha Ilina, Living Rhythms, Paul O'Neill, Cían Flynn, and Amy Bunce) - Gráinne O’Carroll and Ghiath Al Jebawi - Katie Watchorn and A.Mac Giolla Bhríde - Denis Connolly and Anne Cleary - Sophie Von Maltzan
The theme for this award is a focus on climate action, environment, tackling the urgency of climate change, and champion sustainability and/or biodiversity in the context of South Dublin County. The projects will take place in the areas of Templeogue/Rathfarnham, North Clondalkin, Knocklyon, Old Bawn, and Killinarden.
They will explore a range of themes with community groups such as the impact of technology and data centres, biodiversity at the River Dodder, food and local planting, the creation of site-specific environmental art, and the development of a mobile garden shed. The projects will be delivered in 2026 with the support of Community and Climate Action Departments.
You can read more about each individual project on the Projects section of the website: In Context 5 Strand 2 Commissions | In Context 5 – Connect
First Music Contact - Regional Development Project
Hello and welcome to the first step in the First Music Contact Regional Development project in partnership with Dublin City Council Arts Office, Fingal County Council Arts Office, and South Dublin County Council Arts Office, https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/V6TZ22H
First Music Contact is the leading national music organisation for resourcing popular musicians and the independent music sector in Ireland. We deliver projects at key stages of an artist’s development, helping them develop real careers. These projects include Breaking Tunes, Ireland Music Week, and Music From Ireland.
This new project aims to develop a way of offering equal access to professional development services to musicians all around Ireland as well as developing a framework for supporting artists at a local level. For this project, we will be working in partnership with the Arts Offices in Dublin City Council, Fingal County Council and South Dublin County Council, to deliver a high level of professional development series to musicians in South Dublin County as well as creating an opportunity for you as the musicians in these areas to give feedback on what local supports you need to develop your professional careers moving forward.
Our aim is to better understand your current needs and aspirations as musicians and ascertain what stage you are at in your career. We will then use this information to inform our own work and to advocate locally and nationally for the things you need to progress your career. We will also use this information to develop a series of professional development workshops on themes nominated by you which you can access for free as part of the upcoming program of activity with your arts office.
This is a musician-first project and we want to find out what you need to get your music career off the ground and/or to take the next step. What are the practical things you need? – and what kind of advice/information would be useful to you? There will be a series of workshops and sessions, delivered online, on May 19th, 20th and 21st, with the second half of the series scheduled for later in June. These workshops will provide practical advice and music industry panels on many of the issues that were raised in the questionnaire. You will have an opportunity to attend these workshops for free and have an input into the process.
It’s your call. Your opportunity to have a say and a hand in shaping what happens next. It begins with this questionnaire which will close on Wednesday May 6th. First off, we’d appreciate about 5 minutes of your time to fill out this questionnaire. [If you’re a band, each member is free to answer the questions – the more the merrier] Please note that all the details provided by you will be treated as confidential and are solely for the purposes of this project. All information will be anonymised and aggregated. No individual submissions will be shared with any third-party. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/V6TZ22H
We will come back to you after we analyse the results of this survey and have designed the professional development panels based on what you’ve asked us for. We will then send links for dates and times for these professional development panels
The Colossus
Augmented Reality. Documentary theatre. Procession.
The Colossus is a socially engaged art project lead by Visual Artist John Conway, with Digital Artist Elaine Hoey and Theatre and Film Artist Shaun Dunne in collaboration with young people from North Clondalkin and mothers who have lost children to suicide
The Colossus was developed as an intergenerational project which creatively engaged young people from North Clondalkin and worked with the testimony of mother’s who have lost children to suicide, presenting a narrative on the context and aftermath of bereavement by suicide in the local area.
The Colossus is experienced as a 9-act audio documentary interspersed with augmented reality sculptures on a self-guided walking route around North Clondalkin. The walk begins and ends at North Clondalkin Library and is approximately 45 minutes duration.
Public viewing Thursday and Saturday throughout April and the beginning of May
Free but tickets – booking via www.thecolossus.ie The Colossus is part of IN CONTEXT 5 – Connect South Dublin County Council's Public art programme under the Per Cent for Art Scheme.
SCENE: South Dublin Creative Economy Network
South Dublin has a vibrant creative economy, from craft and design, artists of all disciplines, musicians, designers - to name just a few areas - and the Local Enterprise Office and its partners are creating this network to support people working in these sectors.
A comprehensive catalogue of support and a broad calendar of events for the members.
Membership is free and you can register at the following link. **Membership is open to businesses trading and located within the South Dublin County Council Administrative area only.
If you work within a creative industry or plan to, please register to become a member so that we can keep in contact with you and let you know what is going on.
Artist Bursary Programme 2026 Now Open
Applications are now open for the South Dublin County Council Artist Bursary Programme 2026, offering a range of funding opportunities to support artists and young musicians. The programme also introduces two new Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) bursaries, expanding supports for under-represented artists