Grant for Coleraine writer Carolann

She has been provided funding for the career development grant to work on her poetry collection Rising and Falling on Wingspans.

She is one of 44 d/Deaf and disabled artists have been awarded £94,000 in funding to create new work and support them through the Covid-19 crisis. This work will go on exhibition and long term loan to special educational needs sector schools, libraries and other public venues.

The University of Atypical, on behalf of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and the Department for Communities, has awarded the grants from the d/Deaf and Disabled Artists Support Fund 2020/21 at a time when artists’ potential to generate income has been seriously impacted by the closure of art galleries, theatres, music venues and other creative outlets.

Deaf with a capital D is part of cultural identity and refers to people who have been deaf all their lives, or from before they started to talk ie prelingually deaf. For many Deaf people, sign language is their first language and English a second language. This means complicated statements in English can be difficult for a Deaf person to understand. There is also a strong and close knit Deaf community with its own culture and sense of identity, and this is in part based on a shared language. The Capital D can also represent those who are profoundly deaf and the lower case d those who are hearing impaired.

The d/Deaf and Disabled Artists Support Fund awarded grants in two categories, Firstly, commissioning new work from visual arts and crafts practitioners with commissioned work being made available for exhibition in public spaces including special educational needs sector schools, libraries and disability organisations. Secondly, career development grants from practitioners in all other disciplines.

Grants will enable d/Deaf and Disabled Artists and performers to buy time to create, purchase equipment or materials, and access mentoring and training to enhance their professional practice and career development.

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