Open Call: WOWTE Residency Awards 2026
We Only Want the Earth 2026: Residency Awards
A4 Sounds invites applications from visual artists for two residency awards as part of our We Only Want the Earth Programme 2026. Each residency opportunity will run for 5 months starting September 2026, and aims to support an artist currently living in Ireland to develop their arts practice.
The awards are open to visual artists from four priority communities:
Artists who are transgender, nonbinary, or gender nonconforming,
Artists who are from racially or ethnically minoritised backgrounds including members of the Traveller Community
Artists who are from countries in the Global South
Artists who are disabled
Deadline: 5pm, Thursday 6th August 2026
Stipend: €8,000 per award (€1,600 per month)
Access Budget: Available
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About the awards
The purpose of the awards is to support the research and development of new, ambitious and critical work that resonates with the themes of the We Only Want the Earth Programme.
This award will support two visual artists to research and develop a body of work at the A4 Sounds Studios and to help them further develop their artistic practice.
The award will provide the selected artists with material support and an opportunity to work collaboratively with the curatorial team to develop their ideas and skills, experiment with materials and approaches in making new work, and to deepen their understanding and approach to their practice.
Please note: the artist is free to work on any topic of their choosing; there is no requirement that the work deal with issues relating to their identity in terms of the four priority communities of the award.
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What the award involves
The award includes
Free 24-hour access to a studio space at A4 Sounds.
A monthly stipend of €1,600 towards materials and residency costs (Total €8,000).
Access to a range of professional development, training and technical supports.
Access to the facilities at A4 Sounds, including a sculpture workshop, photography darkroom, printing suite and equipment.
Access to all A4 Sounds workshops and courses for the duration of the residency.
Opportunities to experiment with ways to disseminate their work in public
Throughout the residency, advice and mentorship will be provided by A4 Sounds and our consulting artists.
Note: this residency does not include accommodation as part of the award. However, we can provide a small monthly budget towards travel costs.
Access Budget
An additional access budget is available for participating artists who may need it. We will work with the awardee artists individually to discuss any specific support needs they may have and endeavor to support them as best we can with the available budget. Examples of this support include cost of travel support, assistive technology support, and additional time.
If known, please let us know in your application what supports you may need. Please note, we understand that applicants may not be familiar with what supports may benefit them at the time of making their application and this will not impact available accommodations being provided later if successful in their application.
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How To Apply
Please visit our website to read our full guidelines and access our online application form.
Guidelines and application questions for offline editing can be also be downloaded in various formats.
https://a4sounds.org/wowte-awards/