For The Artists

Hawk’s Well Theatre with the support of the Arts Council of Ireland is proud to offer a one year employment contract for an artist residency in 2025. This residency is intended to provide an opportunity for an artist to research and develop their own work practice but also to avail of the support of a thriving theatre and community arts organisation to enhance its offering to the people of Sligo and beyond.

We are committed to offering this opportunity to all artists based in Sligo and the North West Region.

You find us in an era of renewal built upon a nationally recognised legacy. During this evolution we look to work with artists who have a particular interest in connecting communities.

Who should apply:
- Professional performing artists currently living in Sligo or the Northwest region.
- Performing artists at all stages in their career, who have presented work in a professional context within the last 3 years.
- Performing artists of all disciplines who will champion and represent the diversity Sligo has to offer.
- An individual who is passionate about performance and who is seeking employment for 2025 to develop their craft or an idea.

Artists will receive in support:
- 0.5 Contract €25K salary incl PRSI and Pension contributions to support your art practice development within the year 2025.
- Support in-kind will be offered and will include – where relevant and possible – access to venue facilities, technical, management and communication support.
- Where possible and funding dependent additional budget to support your annual workplan / workshop or produce work as part of our programme.

What will we be required from the award recipient:
- The ability to collaborate with, and adapt to, a flexible timeline for your proposed activities.
- Contribute to Hawk’s Well’s Educational Programme.
- The completion of a report outlining your experience of the award and what you have achieved. This report will be using it to assess the impact of the award and may be shared with stakeholders.
- Participation in publicity of the 2025 Artist Development Suite recipients.

This year Artist in Residence is Niamh McGrath

The Purpose:
The purpose of the Time at the Well award is to support a professional performing arts practitioner, curator, technician, or producer at any stage of their career to develop their art practice. It will provide a performing arts practitioner with the time and resources to think, research, reflect and critically engage with their art. The Time at the Well award is open to performing artists of all disciplines, at all stages in their career, who have presented work in a professional context within the last 3 years.

As an equal opportunities’ employer, we encourage and welcome applications from people of all genders, nationalities, races, cultural backgrounds, ages, religions, languages, abilities, sexual orientations, and socio-economic statuses.

Who should apply:
- Professional performing artists currently living in Sligo or the Northwest region.
- Performing artists at all stages in their career, who have presented work in a professional context within the last 3 years.
- Performing artists of all disciplines who will champion and represent the diversity Sligo has to offer.
- A group or individual who is passionate about performance and who is seeking financial assistance or a jumpstart on their creative journey.
- Performance artists who are looking to showcase their work.

Artists will receive in support:
- Up to €5000 to support your art practice development within the year 2025.
- Support in-kind will be offered and will include – where relevant and possible – access to venue facilities, technical, management and communication support.
- Up to three days stage time.

What will we be required from the award recipient:

- Participation in publicity of the 2025 Artist Development Suite recipients.

Time at the Well Artists 2025:

This year’s residents are Jackie Maguire working with Tricia MacLaughlin, Jenny Tufts and Monica McCarthy. You can find out more here.

Previous Time at the Well artists
Find out more about previous Time at the Well artists and how they used their awards.

Time at the Well FAQs
Please note the answers to all queries that come into us will be added here so that everyone can have the benefit of all clarifications.

Do I have to have a performance project in mind that I want to produce or develop?
No, this is not a project award so there is no expectation for you to create or develop a piece of work using the award. This award is meant to offer artists support so that you can develop or further your practice in a direction of your choosing. While you are welcome to use the funding to develop a performance project idea, you are more than welcome to use the award however you wish to benefit your professional practice. For example, this could be by collaborating with other artists or by using the funding to engage a mentor to help you progress an area of interest, etc, etc.

I am a visual artist and I am not involved in the creation of work for performance. Can I apply?
No, this award is specifically open to those involved in the performance arts only.

I am from the North West but now based in Dublin. Am I eligible to apply?
No, this award is specifically open to those based in the region currently.

I am starting my career as a performing artist. Am I eligible to apply?
Yes, we welcome applicants from professional artists at all stages of their careers as long as your application fits the criteria as specified in the Who should apply section above.

APPLICATIONS FOR WEEK AT THE WELL WILL OPEN ON MAY 5th 2025.

Hawk’s Well Theatre with the support of the Arts Council of Ireland is proud to offer a Week @ The Well for 4 selected artists in 2025. This award is intended to provide an opportunity for an artist to avail of a weeks wage, stage time, technical support and to meet the staff who work at Hawk’s Well by way of offering support. A Week @ The Well is scheduled to suit Hawk’s Well’s busy Programme calendar and is most suited to occur in the month of August.

We are committed to offering this opportunity to all artists based in Sligo and the North West Region. Artists who were shortlisted for the Artist Residency or Time at the Well will also be eligible to apply for this opportunity.

This year's Week @ The Well occurs from Mon 11 - Fri 15 August.

Who should apply:
- Professional performing artists currently living in Sligo or the Northwest region
- Performing artists at all stages in their career, who have presented work in a professional context within the last 3 years.
- Performing artists of all disciplines who will champion and represent the diversity Sligo has to offer.
- An individual who is passionate about performance and who is seeking a weeks breathing space to focus on their artistry.

Artists will receive in support:
- A weeks wage at €800 + a daily subsistence.
- Support in-kind will be offered and will include – where relevant and possible – access to artist in residence, visiting professionals, venue facilities, technical and management.
- Where possible and funding dependent additional requested expertise such as a dramaturg, actor or musician etc.

Application Process:

Download application form here (PDF)

Download application form here (Word)

Closing date for Applications is Friday June 27th, 5pm.

2025 will see the delivery of cycle 5 of the PROPEL Artist Development Programme. An established artist support initiative that utilizes the networks existing infrastructure, resources, and wider network partnerships to support the sustainable development of independent theatre makers working within the Irish theatre sector. Programme callouts are run annually, and the award is delivered over three years, in three graduating cycles (early, mid, final). The aim of this programme is to strengthen the ecology of the Irish theatre sector by firstly supporting the development of new work by independent theatre makers, and secondly by supporting the long-term sustainable development of artists through capacity building and strategic professional development.

What the programme offers:
· Year 1 - €20,000 bursary to support the ‘early stage’ of development of artistic practice and professional strategic development.
· Year 2 - €10,000 bursary to support the ‘mid stage’ development of artistic practice and professional strategic development.
· Year 3 - €5,000 bursary to support the ‘final stage’ of development of artistic practice and professional strategic development.
· Access to development and rehearsal spaces in 10 Arts Centres across the country.
· Support and mentorship from a panel of experts in producing, fundraising, technical production, marketing, finance, cultural entrepreneurship, audience development and engagement, and strategic business development and management.
· An opportunity to present a work-in-progress performance or showing as part of a major festival.

How to Apply.
The application process for the programme is divided into two stages:
Stage 1: A short form application process (Closing date 5pm Friday 2nd May 2025)
Stage 2: Long form application process for artists that have been shortlisted during stage 1 and have been requested by the selection panel to submit a more detailed proposal. Artists who are not strategically funded will be paid a fee of €100 to complete the stage two application.

The following application is for stage 1 of this process only.

Please note that the closing date for receipt of your stage 1 application is 5pm Friday 2nd May 2025. Those who have been selected to submit a long form application with be requested to do so on or before Friday the 30th of May 2025.

Please note in order to complete this application you will need to attach the following documentation in one PDF document (max. 6 pages, no more than 10MB in size) which should include:
- Artist CV, BIO and/or Statement
- Examples of previous work (images and/or links to examples of previous work)

To apply, please click here to complete the digital application.

We are proud to be a member of Strollers Network with Belltable, Draiocht Blanchardstown, Linenhall Arts Centre, Riverbank Arts Centre, Siamsa Tire, Solstice Arts Centre, The Source Arts Centre, VISUAL Centre for Contemporary Art and Watergate Theatre. Strollers Network is kindly supported by Arts Council Ireland.