Artists receive grants to create projects showcasing work for new audiences

The Arts Council, in partnership with the Cini Foundation and Museo Civico di Asolo in Italy, has awarded grants to four artists to create projects showcasing their work for new audiences. The recipients are poet Padraig Regan, visual artist Pádraig Mac Cana, author Bernie McGill, and inclusive theatre maker Andrew Stanford, each receiving the highest-value awards given annually by the Arts Council.

Regan plans to start a collection of poems exploring geology and the relationship between poetry and nature. McGill will write a work of fiction based on Eleonora Giulia Amalia Duse, an Italian actress from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, conducting research at the Cini Foundation and Museo Civico di Asolo in Italy.

Stanford's project includes creating "Home in a Boat!", an immersive sensory theatre experience for families to enjoy from their homes. Mac Cana intends to produce a series of paintings addressing historical trauma related to the Northern Ireland Troubles and will conduct research at several UK institutions, including the British War Museum and the Imperial War Museum.

These grants aim to support innovative artistic endeavors that engage diverse new audiences through unique creative projects.