Bursary Awards
The Limerick Printmakers (LP) Printmaking Bursary was introduced over fifteen years ago and is reflective of LP’s ethos of promoting printmaking as an art form and supporting artists and printmakers at all stages of their careers.
The Bursary has been an integral element of LP’s programming since shortly after the inception of the studio, having been devised to acknowledge outstanding work by exceptional printmaking graduates and to then provide unique opportunities for recipients to continue to develop their practice in the often challenging period following graduation.
LP has always maintained close links with the Limerick School of Art and Design (LSAD), having been established in 1999 by three recent graduates of its printmaking department. The founders of LP received invaluable support from many of those working within the print department in LSAD. The bursary supports printmakers who wish to remain connected to Limerick following graduation and assists them in establishing their practice in the city.
In 2018 LP adapted the award to better reflect emerging printmakers needs and to encourage experimentation and skills development in the supportive environment of the LP studio. Alongside a year of studio membership, the bursary now includes:
- Ten hours of dedicated one-on-one mentorship with experienced tutors in a selection of printmaking processes of the recipient’s choice.
- A materials stipend to support the development of the recipient’s own work and skills.
- Regular support meetings with LP’s technical and management team.
- Featuring in LP’s permanent bursary archive, with a separate stipend and technical support to assist in creating a small edition.
Each bursary recipient and their resultant body of work has been unique, exploring diverse subject matter through variant printmaking and photographic processes. LP is proud of its established history of supporting emerging printmakers and its bursaries will continue to form an important aspect of its programming.Recipients of the Limerick Printmaking Bursary include:Cecily Kenny, Paul Nash, Eithne Deloughrey O’ Byrne, Kieran Herlihy, Emilie Doyle, Orlagh Spain, Niamh Fahy, Eoin Barry, Dawn West, Kate McElligott, Aine Finnegan, Louise Maher, and Sorcha Peyton.
LP Website – Tom Fox Exhibition Award (2013 – 2017)
The Tom Fox Exhibition Award was established in 2012 to commemorate the life and untimely passing of Limerick based painter Tom Fox in September 2010. The award was devised with, and very kindly funded by the Fox family. A prolific artist, Tom exhibited extensively both nationally and internationally and a posthumous exhibition of his work sold out in its entirety.
This award was then created in Tom’s name, each year supporting a graduate painter through the provision of a prominent solo exhibition in a well-established gallery. Limerick Printmakers were extremely proud to be responsible for implementing this award, which ran very successfully over a period of five years. Through the award, the Fox family created a lasting legacy in Tom Fox’s name, one that greatly contributed to the careers of other talented printmaking graduates.
Tom Fox Bursary Recipients
2012 | 2013 Rochelle Lucey
2013 | 2014 Trish Taylor Thompson
2014 | 2015 Martina Gleeson
2015 | 2016 Edwina Morrissey
2016 | 2017 Jim Furlong
LP Website – LP Curatorial Award (2016 – 2018)
Limerick Printmakers is committed to supporting artists and creators at every stage of their career in a range of tangible and practical ways. The LP Curatorial Award is one of several bursaries that LP has offered over the years to outstanding graduates of a degree programme from Irish art/design colleges.
By creating this award, LP wished to acknowledge the evolving role of the curator and to provide a challenging, career expanding opportunity for a recent graduate.
LP also sought to acknowledge and celebrate those working across multiple disciplines within the visual arts, incorporating different methods and processes dependent on the work being created.
Curatorial Award Recipients
2015 | 2016 Ellen Egan
2016 | 2017 Luke Donnelly
2017 | 2018 James Canty
