Upstart Awards 2026 - Disability-Inclusive Arts
Support for disability-inclusive artistic collaborations in County Mayo, Ireland. Grants €500-€1800 for new arts projects, events, and performances.
The Upstart Awards 2026 provide funding for meaningful artistic collaborations involving people with disabilities, artists, and arts organisations in County Mayo, Ireland. This scheme supports the creation of new, disability-inclusive arts projects that enrich the county's arts landscape while promoting inclusion and creative opportunity.
Funding ranges from €500–€1800, with additional funding possible in exceptional cases. The awards support diverse project types including events celebrating arts and disability, workshops led by disability-inclusive artists, collaborative performances, accessible mainstream arts events, exhibitions by emerging artists with disabilities, and closed events for specific disability groups.
Eligible applicants include venues involved in Mayo County Council's Arts & Disability Programme, artists with professional experience in disability-inclusive practice, individuals with disabilities seeking to create or exhibit work, groups of people with disabilities collaborating with artists or venues, and emerging artists with disabilities.
Applicants may request separate support for access costs (audio description, interpretation, captioning) up to 20% of the total funding request. The scheme encourages matched funding or in-kind contributions and does not cover total project costs.
Ineligible projects include those already completed, activities outside the arts context (advocacy, occupational therapy, wellbeing), healthcare-based activities, projects outside County Mayo, and activities already funded by Mayo County Council Arts Service or part of regular ongoing programmes. Applications are assessed based on artistic quality, community benefit, involvement of people with disabilities, collaboration strength, and evidence of matched resources.