We are delighted to team up with the RDS to add a new prize for the second year of the RDS Visual Art Awards. Valued at €5,000, the winner will have full-time access to a room and studio space for three months (June, July, August 2018) in the Centre Culturel Irlandais in the heart of Paris.
The RDS Visual Art Awards provide an exhibition platform and significant prize fund for graduating artists as they transition from student into early professional career. The top prize is the RDS Taylor Art Award, now worth €10,000, which has been awarded since 1860 to some of Ireland’s most successful artists. It was won in 2016 by NCAD graduate Elaine Hoey. The other major prize is the R.C. Lewis Crosby Award of €5,000.
Pictured above (L to R) - Nora Hickey M’Sichili, Director of the Centre Culturel Irlandais, Liam Guidera, Partner, Mason Hayes & Curran and Dara O'Leary, Arts Programme Manager
A team of independent professional curators have been engaged by the RDS to visit the degree shows in selected art colleges around the country. They will longlist the artists who can then apply online with the chance of being shortlisted for inclusion in the RDS Visual Art Awards exhibition which will take place in the RDS from October 25 – 30, 2017. Sligo-based painter Nick Miller will curate this year’s exhibition. The judging panel will be chaired by Noel Kelly, CEO of Visual Artists Ireland.
Speaking on foot of the new prize, Liam Guidera, Partner, Mason Hayes & Curran, said: “The support by Mason Hayes & Curran for the RDS Visual Art Awards is a natural extension of our long association with the arts. For many years, Mason Hayes & Curran has supported Irish artists through commissions, hosting exhibitions and purchasing work for our collection, one of the most important private corporate collections of contemporary art. The Paris residency award has the potential to be something very special for an emerging artist and will hopefully act as a springboard at a formative stage in their professional career.”
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