UPSTART award recipients are revealed by council
The annual UPSTART awards support quality arts and disability projects throughout Co Mayo.
Mayo County Council’s Arts Service has announced the recipients of the UPSTART 2026 Awards.
The council department has made a considerable investment in arts and disability programming throughout the county over the last number of years. The annual UPSTART awards support quality arts and disability projects, and following assessment by an external, expert panel, seven projects in Ballina, Ballinrobe, Belmullet, Castlebar and Westport have been selected to receive this year’s awards.
is a series of ten workshops at the Hub, Ballina where artist Catherine Gannon facilitates service users using mixed media techniques such as printmaking, drawing, painting and other such mediums. The project will culminate in an exhibition at Ballina Arts Centre next December.
Also in Ballina, is a collaborative art project involving the Bridge Day Service and the Mary Robinson Centre. It’s a series of visual arts workshops that will culminate in an immersive installation to celebrate this year’s International Day of Persons with Disabilities. The installation will also be presented at the Climate Action Conference in Ballina.
Elsewhere, the sees artist Ruby Staunton, a local writer’s group and Luisne Art Group, oversee six Ballinrobe workshops in stained glass and storytelling. The workshops will run from September to November this year and culminate in an exhibition.
Artist Henri Hedou will facilitate , a series of pottery workshops for members of the Western Care Day Service in Belmullet; which will culminate in an Open Day for family members and the local community., while is a series of arts workshops facilitated by artist Jane Cassidy. Students of St Angela’s School will learn to use microcontroller technology to design and prototype their own accessible musical instruments inspired by their personal ideas and creative interests.
Beginning in the summer, artist Maya Bullard will begin a project to create a video of songs accompanied by Irish Sign Language interpretation with invited guests in celebration of International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
r will be a collaborative 3D Textile Project with members of the Carrowbeg Artists Collective and guest artist, Mags Duffy. A series of workshops will culminate in an exhibition at Westport’s Custom House Studios.
