OnSight is a long-established partnership project between the National Museum of Ireland – Turlough Park, Mayo County Council Arts Service and Mayo Artsquad. The project commissions artists to develop new work in response to the Irish Folklife Collection. Over time OnSight has evolved across disciplines and outcomes including visual art, installation, performance and poetry.
In 2026–2027, OnSight will focus on music.
OnSight Live! invites a professional music-based artist or composer to create original work in response to the Irish Folklife Collection and to engage in creative collaboration with a group of young musicians in the development of new compositions.
OnSight is funded by National Museum of Ireland, Turlough Park, Mayo County Council and the Arts Council.
Deadline for applications: 5:00 p.m. on Friday, May 29th 2026
GENERAL CONDITIONS
- Late submissions or incomplete applications will not be accepted.
- All documentation submitted should be clearly labelled with the applicant’s name.
- The Selection Panel, whose decision is final, has the right to clarify any issue which may arise during selection.
- Artists may be asked to supply the names and contact details of referees as part of the selection process.
- The commissioning partners reserve the right not to award commissions and, in this instance, reserve the right to pursue other selection processes.
APPLICATION PROCESS
This is a single-stage open call.
Music-based artists or composers working across all musical traditions and genres are welcome to apply.
Music-based artists or composers from outside County Mayo are welcome to apply. Artists who are not based in the county must be willing to travel to and work in Mayo as required and to engage with their participant group and the project partners over the duration of the commission (September 2026 – June 2027).
Applicants will be required to provide:
- Project proposal outlining artistic concept and engagement with the Irish Folklife Collection (max. 800 words).
- An outline of proposed creative collaboration with young people. (max. 500 words)
- Budget breakdown covering all costs within the €28,000 allocation.
- Proposed timeline for the work (max. 400 words)
- Artist CV (or collective CV where applicable) (max. 2 pages).
- Artist Statement (max. 400 words).
- Examples of previous relevant work (maximum three projects).
Please refer to the Commission Guidelines for more detailed information. Commission Guidelines are available here. Irish Language guidelines are available here.
FURTHER INFORMATION
For further information about the commission, please contact: Tiernan Gaffney, Curator, National Museum of Ireland, Turlough Park
E- mail: tgaffney@museum.ie
OnSight is funded by National Museum of Ireland, Turlough Park, Mayo County Council and the Arts Council of Ireland.