Funding & Awards
Drawing on a longstanding background in writing, ethnography and participatory arts, Anna King has returned to visual art as the central focus of her multidisciplinary practice.
Selected Artistic Projects & Commissions
2026 - November 2027. SeedWays. Irish Case Study. Nordic Collaboration. Funded by Opstart Development Funding from the Nordic Culture Fund.
April - December, 2026. ‘The Well Gathering” Permanent Public Artwork in collaboration with traditional stone mason Dominic Keogh. Funded by the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund in partnership with Roscommon County Council and Creative Places Ballaghaderreen.
July - October, 2026. ‘The Lazy Wall’ Participatory Art Project. Funded by Roscommon County Council Creative Ireland Programme and supported by Ballaghaderreen Tidy Towns.
January - June 2025: The Cherry Blossom Tales, funded by Funded by Roscommon County Council Creative Ireland Programme 2025.
Artist Residencies
March - September, 2026. Ballindoon Artist Residency. ARRIVAL Art Exhibiton. Funded by the National Built Heritage Service & Ballaghaderreen Arts Festival.
Nov 2023 - Nov 2024 Creative Places Ballaghaderreen Artist-Research Residency. See details HERE. This project was funded by The Arts Council & Roscommon County Council. This residency included a Creative Story-telling Heritage Exhibition at The Ballaghaderreen Arts Festival, 2024 and an event supported by Heritage Week, which included a contemplative poetry reading by Anna.
Exhibitions:
August 2nd, 2026: Edmondstown House ARRIVAL Art Exhibition, as part of Ballaghaderreen Arts Festival:
‘Unfolding’ Graphite Drawing on Fabriano Artistico TW Hot Pressed.
‘Drawing Near’ Graphite Drawing on Fabriano Artistico TW Hot Pressed.
‘Beyond’ Digital Fine Art Print. Epson Luster Photo Paper Super A3
‘In-Between’ Digital Fine Art Print. Epson Luster Photo Paper Super A3.
‘The Boathouse’ Digital Print. Epson Luster Photo Paper Super A3.
Watercolour Sketchbook – Work in Progress.
KAVA Courthouse Art Gallery: August 6th - 16th, 2026:
‘Drawing Near’ Graphite Drawing on Fabriano Artistico TW Hot Pressed. 1/1
August 2025: Ballaghaderreen Arts Festival:
Fine Art Prints & Printed Poetry, as part of ‘The Cherry Blossom Tales Event.’
Ballaghaderreen Community Art Exhibition:
August 2024. ‘In the Delicate Present Moment’ Two Fine Art Prints, exhibited as part of the Ballaghaderreen Arts Festival.
Recognition
‘DAWN, River Cong’ Fine Art Print was preselected for the 2026 Royal Hibernian Academy of Arts 196th RHA Annual Exhibition.
Selected Talks, Workshops & Teaching
2026 | ECHOES: Enhancing Cultural Heritage Skills Across Europe
Invited presenter, Heritage in the Making: Art, Ethnography and the Practice of Exhibition, 20 October 2026. European capacity-building workshop exploring creative and ethnographic approaches to heritage exhibition-making, with emphasis on place-based artistic enquiry and community engagement. Organised by the Dry Stone Wall Association of Ireland (DSWAI) and Boulouki, Greece.
March 2026 | Atlantic Technological University (ATU)
Creative Writing workshop.
November 2023 | Atlantic Technological University (ATU)
Discover Your Creative Voice, creative writing workshop.
2010–2025 | Contemplative Practice: Teaching & Facilitation
Facilitated meditation, breathwork, contemplative retreats and sensory-based workshops in community and professional settings, including programmes for HIQA, Allergan Pharmaceuticals, Wayfair and other organisations.
Publications & Awards
2023 | Gourmand World Cookbook Awards
Winner, Best in the World, Lifestyle category, and recipient of a Special Award, Best in Europe, Food Culture, for Rekindling the Fire: Food and the Journey of Life, co-authored with Dr Martin Ruffley.
2022 | Rekindling the Fire: Food and the Journey of Life
Co-authored with Dr Martin Ruffley. Published by Austin Macauley. Featured in The Irish Times, Irish Independent, Irish Examiner and Connacht Tribune.
A collaborative memoir exploring addiction, recovery and human resilience through food, memory and contemplative storytelling. Developed over three years, the book brings together Ruffley's lived experiences and recipes with Anna King's poetic prose, narrative witnessing and reflective writing.
2014 | An Alternative Gathering: Public Space and Shared Agency in the Lived Experience of Multicultural Ireland
Doctoral thesis, National University of Ireland, Galway (now University of Galway). Based on three years of immersive ethnographic fieldwork in Doughiska, Roscam and Ardaun, exploring intercultural relationships, public space and lived experience through participant observation, storytelling and participatory arts-based methods.
2010–2013 | Irish Research Council Scholarship
Awarded a three-year, full-time doctoral research scholarship at the National University of Ireland, Galway.
2000–2010 | Freelance Journalist & Columnist
Published in The Irish Times, Connacht Tribune, Galway Independent, Galway NOW and other Irish publications.
COMMUNITY & FILM AWARDS / FUNDING
Artist Award: Galway 2020: Annaghdown Well. A Short Film
In association with (& funded by) Galway 2020 European Capital of Culture. Featured April 2021. www.galway2020.ie Extract below.
In 2020 Anna supported Galway Hooker Sailing Club’s application for a Galway Hooker Restoration Project. This successful award was part of the Western Fisheries Local Action Group (FLAG) / Coastal Community Projects in Galway.
By Film-Maker Paul Murphy & Anna King. Filmed on a mobile phone, as part of an award by Galway County Council & Creative Ireland.
2018: Successful Galway County Council Cultural Heritage Department and Creative Ireland Award, to work with Film Maker & Videographer, Paul Murphy on a mobile film-making project. Title: The ‘Lovely Anne’ Hooker Restoration Project.
Anna has received funding for a number of Culture Night events at Katies Claddagh Cottage, including for an event with Back West Music, in 2017. See photo below.
Back West Music. Photo by Anna King
2012 Anna won an award from The Galway Film Centre I.D Film Project to produce a documentary out of one of her intercultural development projects in the East Galway community of Doughiska, Roscam and Ardaun (it was one of four awards out of 200 applicants).
Project managed ‘Making History’, a community documentary that used the tools of film-making to explore intercultural relationships in diverse social settings. This film was screened in the Town Hall Theatre, Galway, 18th, November 2012, and as part of the Galway Film Centre community screenings at the Galway Film Fleadh, on July 10th, 2013. Making History was featured in local newspapers.
2008 OXYGEN STUDENT MEDIA AWARDS: Nominated for an ethnographic radio documentary.
Education
2010–2014 | PhD, Philosophy
University of Galway (formerly National University of Ireland, Galway). Awarded a three-year, full-time Irish Research Council Scholarship.
Practice-based ethnographic research incorporating participatory, creative and arts-based methodologies, including theatre, film and storytelling. Co-produced Making History, recipient of a Galway Film Centre I.D. Film Project Award, screened at Galway Town Hall Theatre and Galway Film Fleadh.
2007–2008 | MA, Journalism
University of Galway (formerly National University of Ireland, Galway).
1989–1993 | BA (Hons), Human Geography & Politics
Oxford Brookes University.
1985–1986 | BA Fine Art, Year 1
Bristol School of Art and Design.
1984–1985 | Foundation Course in Art & Design
Swindon College of Art.
Additional Professional Training
2002 | Participatory Appraisal in Community Research
University of Sheffield.
Live filming of an event organised for Anna’s PhD: Making History - a short film, funded by The Galway Film Centre I.D Film Project. This was part of a 3 year ethnographic project exploring arts-based methodologies for building community.