Fingal County Council Arts Office in partnership with Draíocht Blanchardstown announce the Artist studio residency recipient.
Fingal County Council and Draíocht Blanchardstown, are pleased to announce Laura Skehan, a Visual Artist from Blanchardstown, as the recipient of the four-month paid residency in Draíocht’s Artist Studio, further to its recent Open Call.
Fingal County Council and Draíocht Blanchardstown, are pleased to announce Laura Skehan, a Visual Artist from Blanchardstown, as the recipient of the four-month paid residency in Draíocht’s Artist Studio, further to its recent Open Call.
This residency, based in Draíocht’s Visual Artist’s Studio, offers an artist a unique opportunity to develop their practice in a comfortable, practical and supportive environment. It aims to provide time and space for artistic growth and experimentation. This Residency consists of the use of Draíocht’s Visual Artist’s Studio, from September-December 2025, rent free. A fee of €4000 for the 4 month period together with €1,000 material costs are in addition.
Fingal County Council Arts Officer, Sarah O'Neil commented, "We are delighted to have Laura Skehan, a Blanchardstown based artist in Draíocht's studio for 2026. The four-month residency provides an ideal space to develop ideas in a creative and supportive environment."
Artist Laura Skehan said, “I am thrilled to be awarded the 2026 Fingal County Council and Draíocht studio residency. Having this time, space, and support to engage deeply with my practice will give me the opportunity to develop more ambitious and sophisticated work while also expanding my research and socially engaged practice through direct collaboration with the local community.”
About the Artist:
Laura Skehan is an artist from Blanchardstown working across moving image, sound, photography, and installation.
Her research-led practice investigates the interconnected dynamics of ecology, memory, migration, and environmental change, with a particular focus on how these relationships are mediated and represented through public spaces and institutions. Through interdisciplinary methodologies, she investigates how plants, seeds, landscapes, and living systems act as repositories of knowledge, carrying stories of adaptation, resilience, and transformation across generations. Working between artistic research and environmental inquiry, Skehan develops projects through collaborations with ecologists, botanists, seed custodians, cultural organisations, and local communities. Her works often examine hidden ecological processes and forms of communication that exist beyond human perception, inviting audiences to reconsider their relationship with the natural world and the complex networks that sustain life.
Artist Biography:
Skehan graduated with First Class Honours Degree (BA) in Fine Art from the School of Creative Arts, Technological University Dublin (former Dublin Institute of Technology) and with a postgraduate certificate of Cultural and Creative Entrepreneurship at Trinity College Business School (2020).
She was awarded the Dublin Fringe Festival’s ‘Make Space for Art Scheme’ in 2023 for the first performance of her curatorial research project “A Symbiotic Symphonic Movement,’ a series of collaborative discussions and sonic performances exploring the intersection of human and plant migration at Botanical Gardens around Europe.
Skehan has been supported through the Arts Council Project Award, Dublin City Arts Office Bursary Award, the Fingal Artists Support Scheme Award, Fingal Arts Act Grant, the Arts Council Agility Award and Culture Ireland and the Goethe Institute.
Recent exhibitions include 'Memory of A Future Once Imagined' at Sun Valley Museum of Art, Idaho, USA (2026), Evolving Landscapes at Ardgillan Castle, Dublin, IRE (2025), SeeDjerba Biennale Tunisia, (2025) Periodical Review 14 at Pallas Project/Studios, Dublin, IRE (2024), INTERZONE, ZK/U Berlin (2024), Irish Energy at Die Möglichkeit einer Insel, Berlin (2024), ‘Home as Land, Home as Island; Traversing Cultures’ at Annabelles Home, Reykjavik IS (2023), ‘A Future Distant Memory Calls’ at Roscommon Arts Centre, IRE (2023) and ‘Confliction’ Malahide Castle October, IRE (2023).
Upcoming exhibitions include 'A Thinning of The Veil' at Malahide Castle and Gardens (2026).
Image caption: Laura Skehan, photo credit Elisa Georgi.
For further information, please see:
Fingal Arts | Fingal County Council
Follow Laura on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurske_/
