Fingal County Council Arts Office announce recipient of the Ardgillan Castle Studio award 2025-2026
Fingal County Council Arts Office in partnership with Ardgillan Castle is delighted to announce visual artist Maria Atanackovic as the recipient of the Ardgillan castle studio award.
The award offers a funded studio space for professional artists for a one-year period starting 1st October 2025. The Studio Award includes full coverage of studio rental, utilities, and administration costs, offering artists an invaluable opportunity to develop their practice in supportive environment.
Ardgillan Castle Ltd. and Fingal County Council currently support 15 studio spaces for artists and designers with a diverse range of practices. The initiative began in 2020.
Spectra by Maria Atanackovic
On announcement of this award Fingal County Council Arts Officer, Sarah O’Neil, commented ‘We are pleased to announce Maria Atanackovic as our Ardgillan studio award recipient. This funded year long residency provides an opportunity for a professional artists to explore and refine their work in the historical grounds and castle of Ardgillan.’
Recipient of the studio award, Maria Atanackovic said ‘I'm delighted with this opportunity to scale up and develop my practice. I intend to use the dedicated time and space to translate the geometric visual language that I've developed through printmaking into more ambitious sculptural forms.’
About the Artist:
Maria Atanacković is a Dublin-based artist working across printmaking, assemblage and textiles. Through abstraction and experimentation, Maria constructs pieces that explore space, composition and form.
Maria studied Surface Design at the London College of Communication and has a background in printed textiles. Alongside her studio practice, she is the screen print tutor at Graphic Studio Dublin and has worked extensively as an arts facilitator, leading workshops and residencies in schools and community settings. In order to develop her digital making skills, Maria is currently a student on the Professional Diploma in Digital Making, with NCAD and Creative Spark Enterprise Fablab.
She is a studio member at Graphic Studio Dublin and has participated in several residencies, including Clifden Arts Festival (2024), Draíocht (March 2025), Creative Spark (2025). Her first solo exhibition, Navigating Space, is currently taking place at Draíocht, Blanchardstown until 20th September 2025 and will have another solo show Taobh le Taobh at Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich, Belfast in October 2025.
Other notable exhibitions include, The Shape of Memory, a two-person show with the late Irish painter Tony O’Malley at Graphic Studio Gallery (2025). In February 2025, Maria was one of 22 artists selected to represent Ireland at Collect in London, supported by the Design & Crafts Council Ireland (DCCI). She was also selected as one of 12 artists to represent Ireland internationally at Not About the Rain, in Klaipėda, Lithuania (May 2025), this show was funded by Culture Ireland and Klaipėda City Municipality.
Her work has been recognised with multiple awards, including the DCCI Future Makers Studio Award, Arts Council Agility Awards (2021, 2023), the Fingal Artist Bursary (2023, 2024), and the Signal Open Best in Show award (2024). She has also received commissions from Mason Hayes & Curran, The Leinster Hotel, and The Dean Hotel.
About Ardgillan Castle:
Ardgillan Castle, a grand country house located in Balbriggan, North County Dublin, was built in 1738 by Robert Taylor, with its west and east wings added in the late 1800s. The house, consisting of two storeys over a basement extending under the southern lawns, has been restored with the ground floor rooms and kitchens open to visitors for guided tours. The expansive 200-acre grounds also feature a rose garden, walled garden, and seasonal gardens.
For further information please see:
www.fingalarts.ie
www.fingal.ie/arts
www.ardgillancastle.ie