19th – 20th April | Dock Arts Centre, Carrick-on-Shannon, Co. Leitrim.

“phase one” is a new festival takeing place in the Dock Arts Ctr, Carrick-on-Shannon, Co. Leitrim on the 19th and 20th of april 2013. It is our vision to bring together both popular and less well known genres of electronic music and incorporate them with multimedia and electronic art for the enjoyment of all. There will be: Live Performances, DJ Sets, Multimedia and Electronic Art Exhibitions, 3D Projection Mapping, Workshops on the above and a Cinima Space.

MAEVE MULRENNAN DESCRIBES THE CURATORIAL STRATEGIES INVOLVED IN DEVELOPING THE EXHIBITION ‘SYNC’, WHICH OPENS AT THE GALWAY ARTS CENTRE IN OCTOBER 2012, AND IS AIMED AT CREATING A BENEFICIAL GALLERY EXPERIENCE FOR CHILDREN WITH AUTISTIC SPECTRUM DISORDER.

Left: Sarah O Brien, ‘Abalta’ (Sync work in progress 2012). Right: Elmarie Collins, ‘Blue Installation’, 2012

In October 2012, The Galway Arts Centre (GAC) will host an exhibition entitled ‘Sync’ as part of the Baboró International Festival for Children. My co-curator, John J Twomey, and I are currently researching methods and mediation techniques for children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in a visual art context that will inform this exhibition. GAC has been mentored by Ábalta ABA School for Children with Autism and I have also interviewed Carolyn Chin in the V&A Museum Childhood in London, who runs a mediation programme designed specifically for children and young people with ASD.2 ‘Sync’ aims to link together different sources and research, providing a support network to the invited artists. Our research has raised several questions: How can contemporary visual art contribute to the life of a child with autism? What happens to an artist’s practice when they are asked to make work for an audience that may have difficulty with perception?

The ways in which ASD manifests itself are extremely individual. However, the common link is perception. Film director Henry Corra, who made a film with his autistic son George, describes autism thus:

“[Autustic children] have very splintered intelligence, so that they can deal with facts really well, and they can process concrete information really well, but when it comes to the idea of making connections, or empathy, it’s a severe social impairment.”3

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Cover image: Colin Darke. For Courbet III (2011)

5. Roundup. Recent exhibitions and projects of note. The latest developments in the arts sector.
5. Column. Treasa O’Brien.
6. Column. Christopher Clarke.
8. News. The latest developments in the visual arts sector.
9. Regional Profile. Visual arts resources and activity in Leitrim.
13. Profile. Space Time Travel. Artist Sara Haq writes about her unique use of barter and exchange.
14. How I Made. The Artist’s Studio. John Beattie describes his upcoming exhibition at the RHA,Dublin. (Archived)
15. Profile. Night School. Áine Macken introduces her unusual night club art classes. (Archived)
16. Event. Of Other Spaces. Aoife Desmond reports from Manifesta 9.
17. Conference. Like a Buck. Alan Phelan gives his impressions of a recent heritage conference at the University of Gothenburg.
18. Issue. Are you Re -entering the Art World? Noel Kelly provides advice and guidance for those who are.
19. Critique. Our four-page Critique supplement features six reviews of exhibitions, events, publications and projects – that are either current or have recently taken place in Ireland.
23. Profile. Long-term Let. Emma Loughney assesses the long-term sustainability of vacant space initiatives.
24. Interview. First Resort. Jack Nyhans interviews the initiators of a new residency in Donegal.
26. Seminar. Art Law Canada. Kathleen Killin reports from the CARFAC Art and Law conference.
27. How I Made. A Congregation of Vapours. Sound artist Fergus Kelly writes about the production of his new album.
28. Opportunities. All the latest grants, awards, exhibition calls and commissions.
30. Event. 100 Thoughts. Jonathan Carroll reports from Documenta.
31. Issue. In Sync. Maeve Mulrennan details a recent project aimed at engaging autistic children in the visual arts.(Archived)
32. Art in the Community. From Context to Exhibition. Michelle Brown illustrates Create’s Learning Development Programme.
33. Art in Public. Public art commissions, site-specific works, socially-engaged practices and other forms of art outside the gallery.
34. Regional Contacts. VAI’s Northern Ireland Manager reports from the region.

A Year in the Arts 2011-2012

The Arts Council recently aunched its Annual Review of funded activities during 2011-12. The Review covers many of the artistic highlights of a year which included the opening of the rebuilt Lyric Theatre and the completion of high-profile public art commissions, ‘Rise’ in Belfast and ‘Mute Meadow’ in Derry~Londonderry, and the birth of a new flagship arts organisation, the Community Arts Partnership. The Cultural Olympiad and Legacy Trust championed the arts and built a lasting artistic legacy across Northern Ireland in the run up to the London 2012 Games, and we followed the progress of our artists and arts organisations as they made further inroads and continued to impress on the world stage.

To download a pdf of the Annual Review 2011-12, click here

It has come to our attention that some of our members have recently been contacted by the Parallax Art Fair, looking to sell them a space at their fair in 2013. Our members were informed that their contact details had been provided by Visual Artists Ireland. VAI would like to confirm that we are not familiar with this art fair, have no connection to it and have not provided the organisers of the fair with any of our members contact details. VAI strongly advises artists to verify all details and terms and conditions of opportunities to their own satisfaction before forwarding artwork, monies or documentation or signing contracts.

Northern Ireland’s first Andy Warhol show is one of the highlights of the fifth Artist Rooms tour. Artist Rooms is an important public collection of international contemporary art, shared across the UK through a unique collaboration between the Art Fund, Tate and National Galleries of Scotland. The collection will travel to sixteen venues in 2013, ten of which are joining the tour for the first time.  Artist Rooms exhibitions have already been seen by 21 million people, and by the end of its fifth tour over 50 venues will have exhibited works from the collection. Warhol will be at The MAC, Belfast from 7 February to 28 April 2013.

UCD College of Science is delighted to announce the four recipients of the new artist in residence scheme. They are Siobhán McDonald, Meadhbh O’Connor, Mark Cullen and Emma Finucane. Each of the selected artists have worked on significant projects in the area of art and science and each in very different ways.

The aim of the residency is to enable artists, scientists and students to collaborate in creating new work. In this pilot phase, a one year residency is being offered to these artists, that includes studio space in Science Centre South, artists’ fee, access to lectures, and other resources within the College of Science. Most importantly, it will facilitate direct collaboration between the artists and scientists in UCD.

www.ucd.ie/science/news/12nov/091112_artists_in_residence.html

Into the Light: the Arts Council – 60 Years of Supporting the Arts has been developed by Lead Curator, Karen Downey and is a partnership between the Arts Council and a number of prominent Irish art galleries. Partner curators have been invited to select works from the Arts Council collection and to create exhibitions which reflect the interests and ethos of their individual institutions.

‘Meditation’ (2009) by Patrick Scott, is the title image for a major series of exhibitions which will take place from December this year to celebrate the work of Irish contemporary artists and 60 years of support for the sector by the Arts Council.

The exhibitions will include over 150 works from the Arts Council collection. Many of the works have been recalled from loan locations across the country and will be on display at the following locations:

• Dublin City Gallery, The Hugh Lane from November 28th
• Limerick City Gallery of Art from November 30th
• Crawford Art Gallery from December 5th
• The Model, Sligo from December 7th

Orlaith McBride, Director of the Arts Council said: “The collection, which was formally established in 1962, is not a ‘museum-like’ or definitive collection representing an Irish art canon. Instead, its development was guided by the deeply held principles of assisting artists to make a living from their work and of using that work to provide opportunities for the public to experience art in their locality. These values still endure, with the Council buying from contemporary artists while also ensuring that the majority of the collection remains out on loan in local libraries, museums, hospitals and other public buildings.”

As part of Into the Light, the Arts Council and RTÉ are supporting the making of four short films which respond creatively to the Arts Council collection and which will be broadcast in RTÉ Television’s weekly arts series, The Works, in November. The films to be made are as follows:

Variations on a Collection – An over view of the Arts Council collection and how it reflects who we are, by James Kelly

The Nettle Coat – Exploring the public’s response to Alice Maher’s Nettle Coat, by Pat Collins and Sharon Whooley

Reframe – Following the artist Karl Burke during the development of his new work commissioned for the exhibition at Dublin City Gallery, The Hugh Lane, by Tadhg O’Sullivan

 A Prevailing Wind – Celebrating six decades of the arts, by Ian Cudmore, Alan Kavanagh and Donal Dineen.

www.artscouncil.ie

The Citizen Artist project is an online platform that presents PDF publications of artistic interventions and investigative art projects relating to the role of the citizen. Topics of inquiry are organised under two categories: ‘Investigative Arts Practice: within State Systems’ and ‘:at the boundaries’. Specific projects investigate ‘What is a University?’, ‘Protest’, ‘Assembling and Assembly’.

Projects are lead by the artist Daphne Plessner and involve differing members working collectively on specific projects. The site also archives activist art work.

The Apollo Gallery,  on Dublin’s Dawson Street, has closed following a six-year legal dispute over upward-only rent reviews. Julian Charlton, who runs the gallery with his brother, Edward, criticised the Government for reneging on a pre-election commitment to address the system’s archaic rules. He said: “This Government came in on an election promise that they would eliminate this but the first thing they did was turn around to the people who voted for them and said they are not going to do that. We are not a mobile phone shop, we are an art gallery, and we are part of Irish culture”.

It’s not all bad news however. Mr Charlton said he hopes to be able to open up another gallery around the corner on Duke Street in the coming months.

www.apollogallery.ie