Spacecraft Artist Studios | Limerick School of Art & Design TUS

Spacecraft Graduate Residency Award 2026

Announcing the second year of the spacecraft Graduate Residency Award! Spacecraft is delighted to be offering this award for the second time. The aim of this award is to celebrate and nurture the creative practitioners emerging from the fine art department at Limerick School of Art & Design, to provide supports and resources for recent graduates to sustain and develop their practice and to provide an opportunity for them to build connections with the wider creative networks/communities in Limerick city. We cannot wait to see all the incredible artworks within the fine art department and to learn more about the practices of this year’s cohort of artists.

The aim of this award is;

● To support a recent graduate from the Fine Art department at Limerick School of Art & Design.

● To nurture creative communities and practices in Limerick city and to provide opportunities for recent graduates to enable them to continue making work in the city, and to develop the skills and tools to sustain their practice post-graduation.

● To provide them with space and time to make, explore and develop their practice

● To offer them an opportunity to engage with the wider community of practicing artists in Limerick city

For this year of the award it is only open to students graduating from the department of Fine Art at Limerick School of Art & Design TUS in 2026.

What the awarded artist will receive:

● 40 days residency across four months in the Spacecraft Project Space (Jan– April 2027)

● In-kind mentoring support from Spacecraft studio and board members. The mentoring sessions will cover a range of topics and will be tailored to the individual interests and needs of the awarded artist.

● A solo public presentation of work (This could be an exhibition, performance, open studio, series of workshops, artist talks etc)

● Associate membership to spacecraft for the four month duration of the residency which includes access to all members’ talks, workshops and opportunities etc.

● Plus marketing support and a social media take over during the residency period.

How the selection process will work:

● The Spacecraft selection panel will attend degree show private view and make a selection of six shortlisted candidates

● The six shortlisted artists will be invited to submit applications (Deadline Friday 26th June)

● The panel will then invite those who have applied for an informal chat about their applications

● The panel will then select the awardee and arrange with them a start date and schedule of access to the project space which aligns with their needs/work commitments etc.

Shortlist artists application process:

The six shortlisted artists will be invited to submit applications for the spacecraft Graduate Residency Award in order to be considered for the opportunity.

The artists will be asked to submit:

● Up to 5 samples of work (Please provide either images of works or links to videos, sound pieces, if needed) – this can be from your degree show or from another body of work

● An artist statement (Max 350 words)

● An artist bio or CV

● A Project Outline (Max 500 words)

Please answer the following questions; What project/body of work would you want to develop during the residency? What kinds of themes, questions, concerns, materials, processes would you be exploring during the residency? How would you use the space and resources available during the residency?

● Project timeline/plan: An outline of how you would use the allocated days in the project space (Template will be provided)

Deadline for shortlisted artist applications: Friday 26th June

Poster designed by Spacecraft’s Graphic Design Placement Student Ross Gubbins @ross_anthony