To mark Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2026, Sligo County Council will deliver an ambitious multi-disciplinary cultural programme from July to November 2026, celebrating Europe’s cultural diversity, shared heritage and democratic values.

Bringing together artists, cultural organisations and international partners from across Europe, the programme will position Sligo as a vibrant hub for cultural dialogue and exchange. A major highlight will be the internationally renowned World Press Photo Exhibition, which will be presented in Queen Maeve Square during August and September 2026, showcasing award-winning photojournalism that captures some of the most significant global events and social issues of recent years.

The wider programme will feature performances, exhibitions, film screenings, literary events and collaborative projects across Sligo’s festivals, venues and public spaces. Audiences can look forward to European-focused initiatives from Cairde Sligo Arts Festival, Sligo Jazz Festival, Tread Softly Festival, Adaptation Film Festival, Sligo Baroque Festival, Sligo Live Festival and the Yeats Society, alongside youth, visual arts and publishing projects developed with partners in Belgium, the Netherlands, Lithuania and Spain.

Spanning photography, music, literature, visual art, film and youth engagement, the programme will celebrate Sligo’s strong cultural connections across Europe, foster new creative partnerships and provide opportunities for audiences to engage with contemporary European culture and ideas.

Funded as part of the Culture Programme for Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2026

This year SAS is delivering a series of free CPD sessions for full-time, professional Sligo-based artists, both online and in-person.

To date three session have now taken place covering: Finance & Tax; Organising & Documenting Work and most recently a session on Public Art: Proposals and Briefs.

The fourth session takes place on the afternoon of Monday 13^th July and will focus on Creative Proposals & Funding Applications. It will be delivered in person by Annette Maloney at City Hall in Sligo.

Creative Proposals & Funding Applications with Annette Maloney

This free, practical workshop and one-on-one clinics are suitable for professional practitioners working in all artforms or whose practice is multi-disciplinary, such as visual artists, musicians, writers, architects, theatre makers, film-makers, dancers etc, who may have an upcoming project or funding deadline, or intend to make one in the future. 

A select number of artists will also be able to avail of a one-to-one clinic with Annette on the morning of Tuesday 14^th July. Please indicate your interest in a one-to-one when signing up.

Annette Moloney (she/her) is a curator, commissioner, and collaborator with over 25 years’ experience. She spent eight years with the Arts Council of Ireland as National Adviser on Public Art, including the Government Per Cent for Art Scheme, where engagement with artists shaped her practice. Projects include the Skerries Art Trail for Fingal County Council, co-curated with Caroline Cowley and funded by Fáilte Ireland, commissioning works, and linking to autism-friendly initiatives and local stakeholders. She was Cavan Curator-in-Residence with Maeve Mulrennan in 2015, and received an Arts Council award to develop ENDURANCE | RESILIENCE at Source Arts Centre, Thurles. She holds Fine Art degrees (LSAD, NCAD) and an MA in Visual Arts Practice (IADT), specialising in curatorial practice.

Please note, spaces are reserved for: full-time, professional Sligo-based artists

Register your interest now by emailing: arts@sligococo.ie

The Arts Service Department hit the road this week to meet communities in four areas: Dromore West, Easkey, Collooney and Castlebaldwin.

Public meetings were held in all four locations on Monday 15^th and Tuesday 16^th June to allow local residents to hear about two planned public art projects and to be part of the conversation around what these might look like – thanks to everyone who came along on both evenings and contributed so willingly.

The sessions were facilitated by Rayne Booth, the Public Art Project Manager for the commissions and we were joined along the way by Cllr. Thomas Walshe, Cllr. Liam Brennan, Cllr. Gerard Mullaney and Brian Flynn Director of Services, Sligo County Council.

For anyone who missed the meetings, there are opportunities to still make a contribution and be part of the conversation:

1 Complete the online survey here: https://tinyurl.com/344azm22

2 Email Rayne with your thoughts/ideas: rayneboothprojects@gmail.com

3 Write to us: Glenn Gannon, Assistant Arts Officer, City Hall, Quay Street, Sligo

A closing date of Sunday July 12^th 2026 has been set for all submissions. Your submissions will help us design the briefs for the artists who are selected for both commissions which will happen in 2027.

Further information on Sligo’s Public Art programme can be found here: https://sligoarts.ie/public-art/

Sligo’s Bealtaine Festival happened in various places and spaces throughout the county this year, so a big thank you to everyone who got involved by either hosting or participating.

The 2026 programme was truly multi-disciplinary and boasted performances, workshops, studio visits, residencies, gatherings, sharings, information days and our very own Dawn Chorus event compliments of Sligo Orpheus Choir. Coupled with this, SAS introduced two new opportunities for professional artists aged 50+, one of which was a residency opportunity at the renowned Tyrone Guthrie Centre.

Image: Slow Trad Music Sessions at No.45, Sligo’s Centre for Indepedent Living

The first step in the public consultation process for Sligo’s next arts plan is now underway with an online survey which everyone is encouraged to complete here:

https://survs.com/survey/wxe4izq4dl

The arts plan will set out Sligo County Council’s vision, mission and strategic priorities for the arts in Sligo over the next five years and so it is important that it is informed & reflects the priorities of a broad cross-section of the local community.

At the end of the survey, you have an option to let us know if you are interested in being involved in a group conversation about arts provision over the next 5 years.

Outside of the survey, submissions are welcome and can be sent to:

Dermot McLaughlin: d@dermotmclaughlin.ie

Or posted/hand-delivered to:

Averyl Dooher, Arts Officer Sligo County Council, City Hall, Sligo

28 MARCH 2026

Rayne Booth has been appointed on a contract basis as a Public Art Manager for Sligo to oversee the delivery of three new Public Art Commissions. Rayne is an independent curator and creative producer based in Ireland. She works closely with artists to support the development of new work, creating platforms for ambitious projects to be realised and presented to diverse audiences nationally.

She is Director and Curator of Superprojects, where she commissions artists to develop innovative visual arts projects with and for children and young people, with a particular focus on diversity and ecology.

As a freelance curator and producer, she has worked across a range of contexts including festivals, public art, and national touring exhibitions. She was founding Co-ordinator of Dublin Gallery Weekend (2024–2025), and Acting Public Art Officer with Dublin City Council (2024–2025). She has curated and produced national touring exhibitions with artists including Wagner/de Burca, Alice Rekab, Barbara Knežević, Marianne Keating and Leanne McDonagh.

In 2024, she co-initiated Angelica Network, a platform dedicated to supporting and amplifying the work of women and minority-gender artists from diverse backgrounds in Ireland.

A new arts + health programme, supported by the Arts Council & Creative Ireland is being piloted by Sligo Arts Service. “Folk / lure” will take place in a range of both daycare and residential settings for older people; the programme will also focus on engaging with Healthcare workers through a select programme of cultural activity and, subject to funding, there will be a pop-up programme of performances also programmed for spaces this year.

Working with the HSE, daycare settings in both Collooney and Easkey will participate in a new artist residency programme, with artists Miriam Needham and Medbh Gillard from Sligo Arts Service’s new Arts + Health Artist Panel.

Miriam Needham is a writer and theatre-maker based in Sligo. Her short stories have been published in literary journals such as The Stinging Fly, Banshee, and HOWL, and her plays have been performed at festivals and theatres around Ireland. She has placed in competitions such as the Dingle Lit Short Story Competition, the Cúirt New Writing Prize, and the Edinburgh Short Story Award. In 2024, she was one of 39 writers selected to take part in the Irish Writers Centre National Mentoring Programme, supported by Sligo Arts Service. Her writing has been described as “reflective, moving, funny and thoroughly engaging” (Bernie McGill) and “full of voice and humour” (Nicole Flattery). As a facilitator, she has worked in a variety of settings working collaboratively with communities to
create a work.

Medbh Gillard is a visual artist working across photography, painting and collage, exploring themes of memory, place, and travelling narratives. Alongside her studio practice she facilitates creative workshops with groups of different ages, backgrounds, and abilities. Through artist residencies she delivers participatory art projects in schools and community settings that encourage collaboration, experimentation, and visual storytelling. These processes support participants to develop confidence in making and to express ideas visually. Her approach emphasises shared creativity, play, and the value of each participant’s contribution. Her artistic research engages with history, oral narratives, and cultural memory. She has worked on collaborative projects with artists and researchers in Ireland and internationally.

Four Sligo-based artists — Lorna Watkins, Karen Webster, Brenda Kearney, and Anna Spearman — have been selected to take part in a new Arts in Early Years residency programme as part of Sligo Arts Service’s Arts in Education programme, delivered in collaboration with Kids’ Own.

The residency forms part of the Wonder Programme, a new pilot initiative funded by Sligo Arts Service in partnership with The Arts Council of Ireland. The programme explores how artists and early years educators can work together with very young children through creative, process-led practice that values curiosity, experimentation and shared discovery.

The Wonder Programme builds on Kids’ Own’s current Early Years project, which is taking place in two Sligo-based Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) settings with support from the Arts Council’s Arts in Early Years Scheme. This new residency expands that work while also supporting Sligo artists who are interested in developing their practice within early childhood contexts.

The selected artists will work in pairs across two ECCE settings in Sligo. Over a six-week period they will collaborate closely with young children and ECCE practitioners, exploring creative processes that foreground play, material exploration, and relationship-building. The residency will also provide opportunities for the artists to exchange ideas and insights as part of a small cohort focused on this specialised and evolving area of practice.

Lorna Watkins
Lorna Watkins is a multidisciplinary visual artist based in Sligo. She holds a degree in Printed Textiles from National College of Art and Design and is a Ballinglen Fellow. Her awards include an Arts Council Agility Award, the John Richardson French Residency Award, and the Thomas Dammann Travel Bursary, and she has extensive experience working with schools through TAP+ and BLAST.

Karen Webster
Karen Webster is a Sligo-based visual artist and educator working at the intersection of art and ecology. With a background in ceramics, her site-specific practice incorporates oils, print, and alternative photography, informed by research and time spent in nature. She has many years’ experience delivering arts-based ecology projects with children and adults.

Brenda Kearney
Brenda Kearney is a multidisciplinary artist based and a studio artist at The Model. Working across ceramics, drawing, and textiles, her practice is often community-based and shaped by shared activities and collective making. With a background in anthropology, her work explores tradition, knowledge, and care for people and the environment.

Anna Spearman
Anna Spearman is a visual artist based in Sligo whose practice explores materiality and playful approaches to object-making and painting. She holds degrees from Trinity College Dublin, IT Sligo, and Falmouth University, and maintains a strong socially engaged and collaborative practice. Recent residencies include The Dock, Leitrim Sculpture Centre, and Wilton Place/RHA Studios.

19 March 2026

Sligo Arts Service recently hosted an Artist get Together in association with the Hawk’s Well Theatre at the theatre’s new studio space in Temple Street.  Over 50 artists and creatives were in attendance to hear about just some of the opportunities, funding and other supports that are on offer to support them as practicing artists in Sligo from the Arts Service Department, Creative Ireland, the Hawk’s Well Theatre, Cairde Arts Festival, Kids’ Own Publishing and Creative Heartlands.

The get together was also an opportunity for artists to meet & catch up with each other – this is the first of what is hoped will be a series of such get-togethers facilitated by the Arts Service throughout the year in response to the findings of the recent Artist Survey – Keep an eye on our socials for future such events.

Sligo Arts Venues, Organisations, Festival & Event Organisers Award Arts Grant Funding for 2026

In February of this year, Sligo County Council awarded arts grants totalling, €282,000 to 27 applicants.

Funding was awarded under two strands: Arts Infrastructure: Venues,
Workspaces & Organisations (Strand 1) and Arts Festivals & Events (Strand 2) as follows:

Arts Infrastructure:

Yeats Society (incorp Hyde Gallery & Yeats Summer School)	€11,000
Cáirde Sligo Arts Festival	€18,000
Sligo Concert Band	€3,500
Sligo Jazz Project	€7,000
Blue Raincoat Theatre Company	€33,000
Binder Arts (Incorp Pulled, Spilt Milk & Art for Blind)	€5,000
Hawk’s Well Theatre	€50,000
The Model Sligo	€100,000
The Coleman Centre, Gurteen	€4,500
Ard Voltas Ballisodare	€1,500
Subtotal:	€235,500

Arts Festivals

Tread Softly Festival	€7,000
Adaptation Film Festival	€1,000
Sligo Festival of Baroque Music	€3,000
CCE County Fleadh	€6,500
Ballintogher Festival	€1,500
Coleman Festival	€1,500
Fiddler of Dooney Festival	€3,000
South Sligo Summer School	€4,000
Subtotal:	€27,500

Arts Events

Feis Shligigh	€8,500
Con Brio Music Series	€2,000
Sligo Orpheus Choir	€500
Informal Music Afternoons	€2,000
Kid’s Own	€3,000
Sligo Drama Circle	€1,000
Queershed	€500
Trad Tine	€500
Dromore West Sings	€1,000
Subtotal:	€19,000
Total Arts Grant Funding allocated 2026	€282,000