In 2023, Cork City Council launch a new, five-year, Culture and Creativity Strategy for Cork city supported by Creative Ireland. Cork City will build on the success of the previous five-year programme which saw €1.2 million invested in nearly 100 community-facing projects and events since 2018, including Ardú Street Art Initiative; One City One Book; Kinship Creative Climate Action and the annual Cruinníu na nÓg.
Creative Ireland Programme Legacy in Cork City Credit: Wombat Media, 2022.
Over the period 2023 – 2027, Cork City will focus on exploring and advancing five areas of strategic priority, confident of their enduring impact for the city and its communities. These are listed in the drop down menus below. More details can be found in the strategy which is available to download here.
Culture and Creativity Strategy for Cork City_English Version
Cork City commits to new Creative Ireland Culture and Creativity Strategy.
€ 1,089,694 allocated to Creative Ireland projects in Cork City since 2017
€161,161 to be allocated for core Creative Ireland initiatives in Cork City in 2023
Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media Catherine Martin TD and Minister of State with responsibility for Local Government and Planning Kieran O’Donnell TD with senior representatives of the 31 Local Authorities at the launch of 31 new Local Authority Creative Ireland Culture and Creativity Strategies ( 2023-2027) at an event at Farmleigh in the Phoenix Park on 23rd February 2023. IMAGE CREDIT Barry Cronin
Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media Catherine Martin TD and Minister of State with responsibility for Local Government and Planning Kieran O’Donnell TD announced the roll out of 31 new Local Authority Creative Ireland Culture and Creativity Strategies (2023-2027) at an event at Farmleigh in the Phoenix Park on 23rd February 2023. Included in the launch was a new vision for creative activity in Cork City that was devised in consultation with the people of the city and will be delivered by Cork City Culture and Creativity team led by Michelle Carew – Cork City Council Arts Officer.
The Cork City Culture and Creativity team also includes Paul Moynihan - Director of Service, Adrienne Rodgers - Director of Services, Patricia Looney - Librarian, Dan Breen - Museum, Brian Magee - Archivist, Niamh Twomey - Heritage, Chris Dorgan - Irish Language, Tony Duggan - City Architect, Denis Barrett - City of Learning, Liam Casey - Recreation, Siobhán Clancy - Arts Office, Michelle Considine - Arts Office, Elmarie McCarthy - Tourism, Mary Walsh - Environmental Education, David O'Brien – Library, Sandra O'Meara - Rapid/Community, Ciara Brett - Archaeology and Paul McGuirk - Head of Enterprise.
Last year, the Cork City Culture and Creativity team reviewed the original strategies that were devised in 2017 and made changes that reflected the evolving priorities of the community. The team incorporated contributions from community stakeholders that will encourage people to engage, participate and enable their creative potential.
Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media Catherine Martin TD and Minister of State with responsibility for Local Government and Planning Kieran O’Donnell TD with Creative Ireland Coordinators and members of Creativity and Culture Teams of the 31 Local Authorities at the launch of 31 new Local Authority Creative Ireland Culture and Creativity Strategies ( 2023-2027) at an event at Farmleigh in the Phoenix Park on 23rd February 2023. IMAGE CREDIT Barry Cronin
The new Cork City Culture and Creativity Strategy reflects the creative ambitions of the city that will be supported by the Creative Ireland Programme 2023-2027. Emphasis will be placed on telling the story of Cork City communities, enriching a sense of place, supporting the ambitions of local creative industries, providing well-being through creative engagement and being climate active.
Commenting on the work undertaken by the 31 local authority Culture and Creativity teams Minister Catherine Martin said. Your teams are the key strength of the Creative Communities initiative and the engine that drives our collective efforts. The agility of the local authority teams has facilitated a collaborative and flexible approach to reshaping how creativity and culture is valued within and across local authorities. Through the Creative Ireland Programme, my Department will continue to work with collaborators across Government to activate the power of creativity in every community.
Creative Ireland have allocated over €978,904.00 for the implementation of Creative Ireland initiatives in Cork City. Highlights include
Between 2017-22 Creative Ireland allocated €29.8 million to support thousands of local authority initiatives that have unlocked a national ecosystem of creativity. The 31 local authority Culture and Creative Strategies have been key to the successful delivery of creative opportunities directly into communities. This year Ministers Martin and O’Donnell announced funding of €6.1 million for the 2023 Creative Ireland Programme Creative Communities initiative.
Reiterating Minister Martin’s praise, Minister of State Kieran O’Donnell TD said, “I would like to sincerely thank all of the Culture and Creativity teams in our Local Authorities who have been working hard in recent months to drive the key ambitions in the Creative Ireland programme. I look forward as the new Minister of State for Local Government to travelling around the country to each of our Local Authorities to see the ambitious plans they have to promote creativity. The power of culture cannot be overestimated; arts and culture can open our minds, enliven our communities and enrich everyone’s lives,” he concluded.
For more information about Creative Ireland’s programme of Creative Communities initiatives please go to www.creativeireland.gov.ie
Cork City Council is inviting applications to a new grant scheme for communities working with arts and creative practitioners to enable creativity in every community. The ‘Creative Communities’ grant scheme was announced to mark the launch of a new, five-year, Culture and Creativity Strategy for Cork. To apply, submit an application via this link.
Please note that all applications should clearly identify at least two of the five priorities set out in the Culture and Creativity Strategy for Cork City.
GUIDANCE: The first part of this video provides information on the grant scheme. Step by step instructions on how to apply online can be found in the second and third part from 26 minutes onwards. See drop down menu below for FAQs.
Q1: Can you apply if you are a community but have not yet identified who the creative personnel will be?
A1. Yes, as long as you clearly outline the process you will undertake to engage creative personnel. Please note that a creative practitioner can not apply unless a community group is clearly identified and has provided a letter stating their support of the proposal and their interest in being involved.
Q2. Do the members of the applying community all have to live in the same area?
A2. No. Communities of interest are welcome to apply. For example, a group of people interested in a common topic who live in different locations and would like to work together on something creative are eligible to apply.
ShandonUrban Orienteering Trail by Sheelagh Broderick with Abarta Heritage. Photo credit: Regina Walsh, 2021
Through close and creative engagement with our communities, we will re-imagine our city for those who live, work and visit here. We will illuminate new and familiar places and spaces across our city. We will inspire new understanding and deepen a sense of pride and of belonging. We will give visible expression to our communal values and to what makes us unique and compelling as a creative city. We will transform how people think of and engage with Cork City.
Young Print Collective supported by Cork Printmakers and Cork Migrant Centre. Photo credit: Clare Keogh, 2022
We will advance the culture, environment and conditions that will promote creative enterprise and innovation, and that will support our local creative industries. We will leverage existing strengths, support the development of new skills and capacities, as well as the creative clusters and partnerships that drive success. By doing so, we will amplify our profile as a creative city and enhance the potential of Cork City’s creative economy.
Rebel Streets with Cork Community Art Link and Cork Traveller Visibility Group. Photo credit: Framework Films, 2021
We will champion the role of culture and creativity in supporting the health, wellbeing and development of individuals and communities within the city. We will respond to the needs of people across all generations and abilities, paying particular attention to children and young people, to those who are later in life and to those who are most vulnerable in our community.
The Kinship Project by LennonTaylor with local partners (MTU students pictured). Photo credit: Marilyn Lennon, 2022
We will harness creativity to explore and advance the behaviours and attitudes, the actions and ideas that are a transformative response to our climate crisis. We will seek to encourage climate-neutral projects and to enable authentic, inventive solutions that will make a difference.
Under the Creative Ireland programme of Pillar 2 'Creative Communities', all local authorities are charged by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media to set up culture teams made up of the cultural services in the Local Authority, and to devise a Culture and Creativity Strategy for the programme.
Cork City Council’s Creative Team is made up representatives from Archaeology, Architecture, Archives, Arts, Community, Conservation, City of Learning, Heritage & Biodiversity, Social Inclusion, Irish Language, Library Services, Cork Public Museum, Parks & Recreation, Tourism and Enterprise. The team is headed by Adrienne Rodgers, Director of Community Culture & Placemaking, and the Coordinator is Michelle Carew, Cork City Arts Officer.
To find out more about Creative Ireland, follow this link.
Scroll down to learn more about Creative Ireland supported projects in Cork City.
Circus Factory Youth Members at Marina Park, Cork City. Photo by Darragh Kane 2022
Cruinniú na nÓg is a national day of free creativity for children and young people under 18. Cruinniú na nÓg is a flagship initiative of the Creative Ireland Programme’s Creative Youth Plan to enable the creative potential of children and young people. In partnership with RTÉ and Local Authorities, the Creative Ireland Programme supports children and young people to get creative and showcase their creations all over Ireland.
In Cork City, Cruinniú na nÓg is supported through partnership by arts organisations, cultural institutions and creative venues.
Keep up to date on all our activities via Facebook and Twitter @CorkCityArts and via Instagram @CruinniuNanOgCork
Gerry Murphy by the KinShip Noticeboard at Tramore Valley Park, Cork City. Photo by Lennon Taylor 2022
The KinShip Project is led by artists LennonTaylor (Marilyn Lennon and Seán Taylor), in partnership with Cork City Council.
This project is supported by the inaugural Creative Climate Action award managed the Creative Ireland Programme in collaboration with the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media and the Department of Environment, Climate and Communication. This award supports creative, cultural and artistic projects that build awareness around climate change and empowers citizens to make meaningful behavioural transformations. Local project partners include Cork Healthy Cities, Cork Nature Network, Cork UNESCO Learning Cities, Green Spaces for Health, MTU Clean Technology Centre and UCC Environmental Research Institute.
