Carraig-na-gCat is the Albers Foundation's artist-in-residence program in West Cork, Ireland. Located in a traditional farmhouse about two miles from the picturesque fishing village of Glandore, it offers wide views of untouched countryside, the ocean, and distant islands beyond.

Carraig-na-gCat is an Irish phrase, which translates to “Rock of the Cats,” referring to an age-old folktale about fairy cats who would steal the harvest.

The Alberses both believed that living in a simple, functional manner was the best base for making art.

We would like to offer visiting artists a similar kind of serenity by providing a simple, beautiful environment in which artists can work without the usual distractions of their own home and everyday environment.

We invite the artists to enjoy the landscape, read in the library, cook in the large kitchen, and perhaps even have the experience of boredom.

We believe that the change of scenery, and the vacation from habitual activities, will translate into the thinking and into the work, so that new perspectives naturally arise— thoughts and connections that could never have been imagined, or prepared conceptually, in advance.

We have space for one Royal Society of Sculptors member working on a small or large scale project, while enjoying the serenity of a separate, private bedroom and a private bathroom.

It is a regular occurrence for a second artist to also be present onsite for the duration of a residency period.

There is a large shared kitchen, a library, and a nice garden. The residency is located in an old farm house, and the residents are free to create their own work spaces in the rooms, or in the separate stone house in the garden.

This opportunity is open to members of the Royal Society of Sculptors, one member will be selected for a residency. The residency will run through November 2026 ie four weeks.  

£350 is available for travel, subsistence and materials.

How to apply

The application can be reached via the link in this page.

The online form will ask for the following:

• Five images of recent work
• A link to your page on the Royal Society of Sculptors website - this is in leau of an artists bio.
• A CV of no more than two pages long (pdf)
• Links to your social media account(s) or your artist's website
• A description of how the simple, beautiful environment without the usual distractions of the everyday will benefit your work (200 words)
  
  

Find out more

Join us for a Zoom Carraig-na-gCat residency talk on May 21, 2026, 05:00 PM (London time)

Lucinda Burgess shares information about her time in residence at Carraig-na-gCat, the Albers Foundation's artist-in-residence program in West Cork, Ireland.

Applications for the 2026 opportunity closes on 27/05/2026 - the residency will run through November 2026 for four weeks.

Please register - 

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/ZloaGVB4RTOtvIpd0VmYxg

Judges

Matthias Vico Persson  

Mathias Vico Persson (known professionally as Vico Persson) is a visual artist and cultural organizer. His practice engages play, transformation, and abstraction, reworking discarded materials as carriers of renewed possibilities. Persson has shown works internationally in venues such as Villa Empain in Brussels and Fuse NDSM in Amsterdam, and has curated exhibitions and led workshops in museums and social institutions. He is currently Director of the Artist Residency Program at the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation.

Ulysse Massey

Former artists-in-residence at CARRAIG-NA-GCAT, the Albers Foundation residency in Glandore, West Cork. Ulysse Massey is a French artist who works with observation and collected residuals. His weavings, sculptures and drawings take inspiration in his passion for the underwater world; connecting geological time scales during which the seas build grounds with the most recent layers of life. He shapes materials to pay homage to their origins and characteristics, avoiding any kind of symbolism and emphasizing processes instead of finalities. This also shows in the techniques he uses; crochet, threading or weaving work in cycles that help to persevere.

Almuth Tebbenhoff

Almuth Tebbenhoff is a Fellow and Vice-President of the Royal Society of Sculptors and has exhibited widely across the UK, also in Germany, Austria, Italy, Russia, Poland, the USA, and Hong Kong. Tebbenhoff is inspired by process and particularly enjoys the way objects of beauty and intrigue can emerge from a noisy session cutting and welding steel, or from a quieter but no less messy afternoon pushing and pummelling wet clay. Her artistic journey began when she moved from Germany to London in 1970 and trained in studio ceramics. Her curiosity and appetite for diverse materials quickly led her to use clay as a testing ground for more abstract sculptural forms and over the next four decades she would go on to explore the alchemy of drawing, metal fabrication, marble carving and bronze casting.

Rules

By submitting an application, the entrant promises that all of the information comprised in the application is correct.

The entrant also promises to comply with these rules and any other requirements specified by the Society (whether on its website or otherwise) and the Society reserves its right to exclude any entry which in its opinion does not comply.

All applications must be made using the online form. No hard copy applications will be accepted.

Applications must be received by the closing date specified.

Any submissions must be lawful, it must not be offensive, obscene, racist, discriminating or otherwise objectionable and it must not contain any form of advertising.

Entrants grant the Royal Society of Sculptors and Albers Foundations the unrestricted right (without royalty) to reproduce images of any work in connection with the opportunity be it online, printed or otherwise disseminated.

The Judge’s decision is final. If the Royal Society of Sculptors is unable to contact any short-listed artist or winners via the email address supplied by the entrant, the shortlist position lapses and the Society reserves the right to select alternative winners.

Eligibility

Applications are welcomed from all Royal Society of Sculptors members and fellows provided they have not been awarded or participated in a Society residency in the 12 months prior to the applications opening.

Please note that for your application to be accepted, your annual membership fee must be paid in full by the submission deadline or an existing quarterly direct debit be in place.