My regular updates have been on pause since I returned from maternity leave — still catching my breath this semester! — but I’ve  too much good stuff to not share!

Project Arts Centre’s Gala Night (in support of its Project Catalysts programme) is tonight! If you can’t make it, their current show from Fishamble (Tiny Plays for Ireland 2) has been getting rave reviews – can’t wait to see it.

The Council of National Cultural Institutions is holding an important one-day conference (Lighting a Fire) on 19 April to address the recent Arts in Education Charter published by the Dept. of Arts, Heritage & the Gaeltacht. This is sure to be at capacity, so book asap!

Mark your calendars, form your teams: a fundraising pub quiz is going to take place on 18 April in Dublin to benefit the National Campaign for the Arts! Yours truly will be setting some of the questions, and more information will be forthcoming soon, so save the date!

Our semester for the 2012-13 class in Arts Management & Cultural Policy in UCD is winding down — they’ve been a great bunch to work with this year — but applications are closing on 12 April for 2013-14 admissions. Interviews etc. are ongoing at the minute, so if you’re interested in the MA feel free to drop me a line, or submit your application ASAP.

ENCATC (the European network on Cultural Management and Cultural Policy education) has announced details of its annual Cultural Policy Research award (€10,000), aimed at young researchers in the field. Deadline is 31 May.

The Desmond Guinness Award for research on Irish art and visual culture, 1600-1900 (sponsored by the Irish Georgian Society) is also open; deadline is 26 April.

There’s lots going on at the moment concerning national provision of creative arts and media education; no doubt this will feature again on blog posts to come. Latest report is from an HEA team who’ve issued a series of recommendations in their Dublin Creative Arts Review Report.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting the four artists (Siobhan McDonald, Mark Cullen, Emma Finucane and Meadhbh O’Connor) who are currently artists-in-residence at the UCD College of Science. It was fascinating to hear about their work & its intersections with research here on campus! Fantastic stuff.

I wish my family was here for this! : The Ark has a show from the Scottish Dance Theatre on 18/19 May (What on Earth!?) that includes a pre-show pajama party! No doubt this will be a sell-out, so book tickets asap if you have little uns.

The Dublin Dance Festival (14-26 May) has just released its programme — some great-looking offerings from Ireland, Europe, Australia, etc.

I recently caught Tadhg McSweeney’s show Edifice Complex at the VISUAL in Carlow — really loved it, and thought it used that massive space incredibly well.

Brian Kennedy (Director of the Toledo Museum of Art) was one of our speakers at the annual Irish Museums Association conference in Kilkenny a few weeks ago, and has kindly passed along details of the prestigious Mellon Fellowship at his institutions aimed at future museum leaders, who’ve completed their PhD in the last 5 years. Deadline is April 15 (download details here).

Finally… lots updated today on the jobs section of the blog, but if you’re interested in project work, do keep an eye on Derry/Londonderry City of Culture opportunities: short-term work & volunteering positions are consistently being advertised. Looking forward to heading there myself in June for Theatre Forum’s annual conference!