I’ve been mulling over the Arts Act Grant application for 2007 for Devious Theatre since this morning and it has only just occurred to me that there is no means by which to submit the application electronically. Forms can be emailed out or picked up from the Arts office but as of yet there’s no means to register your interests online and submit your application for review.
The Arts Council itself doesn’t have this problem – for their revenue grant at the end of 2006 we were able to pick up application forms online, log in to a secure area on the Arts Council‘s own site and upload our finished forms for approval on or before the deadline date.
So why can’t local Arts offices do the same? The Kilkenny County Council‘s own website was the recent subject of a massive overhaul and why it has come on leaps and bounds (believe me, the previous iteration was a disaster of a site and I’ve no problems in saying that) but it still lacks in certain areas – filing grant applications is one of them.
Instead, we’ve got to rely on our trusty postal system to deliver the goods. Fingers crossed we’ll be successful in the application, worked wonders for KilkennyMusic.com last year as we hope will happen this year – the funding really does help to keep the whole thing alive – and with costs already seriously mounting for Devious Theatre in 2007 we hope that we’ll be just as successful there too.
So attention Kilkenny County Council – sort it out!
I would hazard a guess Ken that they are putting their resources into things like the online planning mapping service (planning.kilkennycoco.ie/website/internet) and that systems to handle a handful of Arts grants are less of an issue.
Sounds about right to me. So quit your commentary on the lack of facilities to apply online for your free taxpayers money and get printing out.
Feckin artists/creatives/lovies 🙂
keith
Can you cite the names of a dozen Kilkenny-based full-time artists who read blogs, listen to podcasts or count on e-mail as their primary means of information about cultural activities? I couldn’t find them when I lived in Kilkenny and visited studios, exhibitions and workshops. That’s probably why the Council doesn’t put online filing for cultural grants at the top of the priority list.
There’s a future note to myself to include rants of a personal nature! 🙂
Cheers to both though. I simply figure that if the Arts Council can do it themselves, and the money comes from there ultimately, why not have something to integrate the two?
Four of of the five of us around the meeting table this morning were amazed it couldn’t be submitted online (seen as the previous application could be).
Feckin artists have online needs too Mr. Bohanna….!
So long as you weren’t look for sympathy from your online audience. Cause apparently that is about as likely as your grant app facility 🙂
And easy with the ageist personal comments. Mr howareya 🙂
keith
PS – you simply figured….
that the money comes from the Government. Who have some online facilities.
And then it goes via the Arts Council. Who have some of those as well.
And then is distributed via Kilkenny Co Co. So have some, but none of the ones that I want.
So why can’t they all just share. And be happy 🙂
Did I say artists. I meant hippies.
Memo to self – do the PD’s need some more speech writers.
Oh its not a debate about the online facilities they already have, just merely a suggestion, or something that I would like to see in the future.
Last thing I would blog about is something to garner sympathy…. politics not my game really.
Of course, classing artists as hippies, now thats just not nice… ProgressiveDemocrats.ie doesn’t have a ‘speech writers section’ wanted either 😛