The Catalyst Residency, offered in partnership between Create and Fire Station Artists’ Studios (FSAS), offers a socially engaged artist from an under-represented ethnic background a one-month residency in Dublin 1 during June 2024. The residency is intended as an artist-led incubation period which allows them to develop their practice and their networks with targeted support from the residency partners.

About the partnership and Catalyst Residency

In 2018, Create and the Fire Station Artists’ Studios formed a unique partnership to offer the Catalyst Residency as part of the Artist in the Community Scheme, managed by Create, and the range of residencies offered by FSAS. The Catalyst Residency is aligned with both Create and FSAS’s long standing commitment to collaborative, socially engaged arts practice; and to supporting communities and artists on the margins of society.

Since 2018, the Catalyst Residency has opened a dedicated space for Create and FSAS to work with and support artists from under-represented ethnic backgrounds. Each year, the Catalyst Residency responds to the specific needs of successful candidates, offering skills and opening relevant networks across the arts sector.

In 2024, the Catalyst Residency will emphasise the opportunity for the recipient to develop their artistic practice. The residency offers artists the opportunity to be mentored by a range of practitioners (see below); it is designed to enable the successful candidate to step away from their everyday responsibilities and to instead immerse themselves in a dedicated period of reflection, mentoring, peer-to-peer conversation and strategic networking.

We invite expressions of interest from artists with a track record of collaborative socially engaged arts practice.

About the Award – What the Catalyst Residency offers

In 2024, the Catalyst Residency is artist led, and it will offer a residential living space for up to one month in June 2024 at FSAS in Dublin to facilitate the following:

  • an experimental / developmental incubation 1 month period, based in an FSAS apartment
  • time to network and engage with the wider field of collaborative socially engaged arts field in Dublin, as identified by the artist
  • time to schedule focused work (meetings, research, events) in Dublin
  • a space for reflection and planning for future project and partnership development
  • an opportunity to engage with Dublin’s vibrant art scene (should the successful candidate live outside Dublin)
  • A place on the Create and Counterpoints Arts Summer School on Collaborative Practice and Social Change*.
  • Support from a dedicated Residency Coordinator who will engage with the successful candidate at critical points throughout the residency period, following a preparatory session with Create and FSAS.
  • A stipend of €1,200, with an additional budget for agreed expenses associated with the residency, for example travel to and from Residency or Create Summer School

Please note that this is not a production residency, rather it is an opportunity for learning and unlearning, networking, research and discussion to generate new ideas and perspectives.

* 10-15th June – The Summer School residential will include full board, travel and an appropriate participant allowance to cover additional costs incurred.