Financial boost for Lisburn's disabled and deaf artists

The iDA (individual disabled/deaf artists) awards scheme, which is run across Northern Ireland, is for original proposals for bold and challenging work by musicians, writers, visual artists, theatre and dance practitioners.

The scheme, which is run by the Arts and Disability Forum with funding from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, has helped the careers of many artists who have gone on to achieve international recognition.

Chris Ledger, Chief Executive of the Arts and Disability Forum, said that the purpose of iDA was to provide a flexible process supporting disabled and deaf artists to produce exciting new work and gain new experiences.

She added: “This is a developmental scheme so we welcome applications from emerging talent as well as from more established artists but decisions are made on artistic merit, talent and ambition.”

The deadline for applications is 12noon on Thursday April 12. Projects can begin in June 2018 at the earliest and are expected to be completed by May 2019. Artists can download the criteria at https://idaaward.wordpress.com/.