National Lottery Support for Individual Artists Programme -Creative Progression Scheme
Application Deadline: Thu 20th Aug, 2026, 12:00PM
This scheme has been developed following a review of the Minority Ethnic Artists Residency and Mentoring Programme. This review recognised how artists and creative practitioners from minority ethnic and migrant backgrounds make a vital and distinctive contribution to the arts in Northern Ireland. They bring perspectives and practices that expand and enrich the local arts ecosystem.
The scheme aims to support the artistic development, skills development, and career progression for artists and creative practitioners who self-identify as having a minority ethnic background and/or are migrant, across all career stages.
Who can apply?
Eligible applicants to the Creative Progression scheme are listed below.
- Artists of all disciplines and in all types of working artistic practice from minority ethnic background and/or migrants.
- Practicing artists from minority ethnic backgrounds and/or migrants who are also undergraduates, postgraduates and academics employed at 3rd level educational institutions are eligible to apply but where their project proposal lies within the same artform area as their study or work they must prove that the funds which they are seeking are for costs which are not properly the concern of their employer and/or are not related to their work or academic study. They must submit evidence of this in the form of a letter on headed paper from their Head of Department.
- In the case of post-graduate students, the letter must clearly state the title of the student’s PhD thesis and include a declaration by the Head of Department. This declaration must state “The project for which funds are being sought does not form part of any academic work undertaken in relation to the above-titled PhD nor will it be assessed as part of any academic course”.
- Applicants undertaking a Masters or a PhD must also include a separate statement which provides information on how the project applied for differs from their Masters or PhD work.
Eligible applicants must also
- Have made a contribution to artistic activities and/or creative practice in Northern Ireland within the past 5 years.
- Live in Northern Ireland: ACNI’s budgets are limited and subject to extremely high demand. Our priority must be for artists living and regularly contributing to the arts within Northern Ireland. If you are primarily living in another region of the UK, Republic of Ireland or elsewhere (ie. you live in that region for the majority of the year), you should apply to the Arts Councils in the relevant jurisdiction. Where the Arts Council has concerns regarding this matter, we may seek further clarification from you with regard to this.
- Be at least 18yrs old and not in secondary education.
What you can apply for
Eligible costs vary across schemes, and you should keep in mind that the Arts Council may choose to contribute to some of your eligible project costs, and not others. Individual schemes may have additional project costs eligibility criteria. Read the guidance for the particular scheme you are interested in carefully and contact us if you need advice.
For the Creative Progression Scheme, these can include:
- Costs of your own time in undertaking the proposed activity
- Artistic or technical fees including those towards production or post-production costs associated with presentation or exhibition of work
- Technical equipment related to the project/proposal (equipment requests cannot comprise more than 50% of the value of your request)
- Project-related travel costs
- IT Equipment
- Residency costs, including travel costs, accommodation
- Art materials
- Venue hire e.g., rehearsal space
- Translation costs
- Documentation costs
- Childcare costs
- Artistic fees of Mentors
Further information about eligible costs is available from the Programme's Guidance Notes.
Frequently Asked Questions
You are eligible to apply to this scheme if you are:
- An artist of all disciplines and in all types of working artistic practice from minority ethnic background and/or migrants.
- A Creative practitioner or an arts administrator from minority ethnic and migrant backgrounds.
- A practicing artist from minority ethnic backgrounds and/or a migrant who is also an undergraduate, postgraduate and academic employed at a 3rd level educational institution
You must also:
- Live in Northern Ireland
- be at least 18 years old and are not in secondary education
- Have contributed to artistic activities and/or creative practice in Northern Ireland within the last 5 years.
You may not be eligible to apply if you:
- Received 2 or more Minority Ethnic Artists Mentoring & Residency Scheme awards.
- Are in breach of any previous letters of offer (regardless of the letter of offer date).
You may apply to more than one scheme (for which you are eligible) but if successful, you will only receive one award in any funding round.
If you choose to apply to more than one scheme:
- You must complete a separate application form for each scheme.
- The projects within each application must be significantly different from one another.
- If your proposals to multiple schemes are not deemed significantly different, you will be contacted and asked to select which scheme and application you would like to proceed with.
You are not permitted to submit multiple applications for different projects to the same scheme.
The application deadline is 12noon on Thursday 20 August 2026.
The maximum amount you can apply for is £5,000. If you submit an application requesting more than £5,000 your application will be ineligible.
Remember: If your project is successful, you may be offered only a contribution towards your total request amount.
A term used to describe someone who may find that in one country or region their ethnicity limits access to arts networks or roles, while in another region they have not experienced that.
To receive advice about the eligibility of your project and/or project costs, please contact the relevant art form officer no later than Thursday 6 August 2026. Staff contact details are available on the Arts Council of Northern Ireland website at artscouncil-ni.org/about-us/our-people/our-staff
Our advice is restricted to general proposal eligibility and costs. We cannot offer advice on detailed budgets or written proposals. Please note, that it is only on submission of the full application that a final determination of eligibility can be made.
University of Atypical can provide support with your application. Advice sessions will start on/after Tuesday 30 June 2026. Please contact University of Atypical as soon as possible for support. Phone: 028 90239450; Email: [email protected].
You must provide the requested mandatory enclosures. If you do not, your application will be ineligible.
Mandatory enclosures are the documents which you must submit with your application.
You must submit the following mandatory enclosure with your application:
- Artistic CV (or CV if applying as an arts administrator)
- Detailed project budget (you must use the ACNI budget template)
- Artform-Appropriate Support Material (please see pages 16-19 of the Guidance Notes)
Remember, if relevant to your proposal, you must also submit the following documentation, where applicable:
- an invitation letter/letter of support from the host organisation - if you are applying for a Residency
- a detailed programme of the work you will be undertaking with your host organisation – if you are applying for a Residency
- a detailed programme of the work you will be undertaking with your mentor/mentor organization - if you are applying for Mentoring
- you must provide the CV for that individual mentor – if you are applying for Mentoring directly with an individual
OR - IF your mentoring arrangement is via an arts organization rather than directly with an individual, you must provide a letter of support from the named arts organisation.
- Letter from Head of Department regarding employment/academic assessment/study
- Masters/PhD statement
Your application might be deemed ineligible for the following reasons:
- You have not provided all relevant mandatory enclosures
- You have received 2 or more Minority Ethnic Artists Mentoring & Residency Scheme
- You do not live in Northern Ireland
- You have submitted enclosures which do not meet our requirements (e.g. you haven’t used the budget template)
- We are unable to open your enclosures (i.e. weblinks provided are not accessible, weblinks provided require log in details)
- You have provided dates which are outside of the programme timeframe
- Your proposal does not fit the remit of the programme
We will issue you with an email notification outlining the reason(s) for ineligibility. You will not be able to provide any missing enclosures or supplementary information after a notification of ineligibility has been issued. However, you may wish to address the reasons for ineligibility and submit a new application before the application deadline. Ineligible applications have no bearing on any further applications you wish to make.
Decisions will be issued in September 2026. The Arts Council will contact you with the final decision via email.
Submitting an application does not guarantee that you will receive an award.
How to apply?
You must apply using our online system. We will not accept applications in hard copy or by email.
If you feel you have a disability which affects your ability to complete the online application form, please contact us immediately.
- Online applications may be edited, saved and returned up to the closing date.
- You must submit all mandatory enclosures associated with the application at the same time as your application, ie. they must be uploaded to your online application prior to its submission. These enclosures are listed on the Attachments page within the online application and are detailed below.
- Please ensure that you leave sufficient time to upload all documents to the system as there can be long delays as the closing deadline approaches and the system will shut down at 12 noon precisely on the closing date, 20 August 2026. If your complete application is not fully uploaded when the system closes, your application will not be accepted.
- If you submit your application by the closing deadline, you will receive an automated email advising that your application has been successfully submitted to the system. If you do not receive this email, your application has not been submitted.
Please remember that it is your responsibility to ensure that we receive the application form and uploaded enclosures by the closing time and date.
Online Applications
You must apply using our online system. We will not accept applications in hard copy or by email.