Fingal County Council and MART Gallery & Studios announce recipient of MART Studio Graduate Award 2025

Fingal County Council Arts Office and MART Gallery & Studios are delighted to announce Andrew Grace as the recipient of the Graduate Award 2025.

Andrew will avail of a 12-month fully funded studio space at MART Gallery & Studios, providing the artist with time and space to develop their practice as well as opportunities to engage with other creatives. Fingal County Council Arts Officer, Sarah O’Neill comments “The Fingal Arts Graduate Award is invaluable for any emerging artist. It is essential for a graduate to have both space and time in order to expand and strengthen their practice. The award also offers a nurturing environment allowing the graduate to connect with their peers, Fingal Arts Office are delighted to offer the award in partnership with MART.” 
 
This opportunity is part of a series of initiatives by Fingal Arts Office to promote and support the professional practice of emerging artists. It provides an ideal environment for the development of creative projects, development of graduate’s practice and an opportunity to network with other artists. The artists will also participate in a group exhibition at MART’s annual exhibition award show 2025 where they will showcase their work.

MART Gallery & Studios was established in 2007 by Ciara Scanlan and Matthew Nevin and aims to provide opportunities to creatives from all stages of their careers. Currently MART Gallery & Studios are one of the leading sustainable workspaces for the creative community in Dublin and Galway, with six studios facilitating multidisciplinary artistic work and over 150 members. These spaces promote the growth of artistic communities and engagement.

About the Artist

Andrew Graces’ practice revolves around creating visual essays of certain environments and communities. Specifically, they work around the evolution of queerness through space and material, and the understanding of how we get here and what the future looks like. Andrew is a heavy researcher; they vastly investigate Queer Theory to give their practice a basis to work from. From there they build up a collection of visual research through photography, moving images and other experimental tests. These works by moving through queer geographies, ecologies, and mappings of areas, where further explore the expression of identity through space, materials. Their aim through their practice is to pose questions to viewers, they don’t wish for them to be answered but more so thought about, considering place and identity, through past, present and future.

For further information please see:

www.fingalarts.ie
www.fingal.ie/arts
www.mart.ie


Image caption: MART Studio Graduate Award 2025 recipent, Andrew Graces