10 Days in Dublin is Ireland’s only open-format arts festival. We aim to provide a platform for all artists to produce and promote their work- be it music, theatre, comedy, film, visual arts or spoken word.

This year at 10 Days in Dublin we’re expanding the Visual Arts section and hoping to get a really solid programme together. The form of practice can be anything, and the format as well.

Registration is now open so please follow the link below for more details on how to get started.

For more information, please visit: www.10daysindublin.ie

10 Days in Dublin is Ireland’s only open-format arts festival. We aim to provide a platform for all artists to produce and promote their work- be it music, theatre, comedy, film, visual arts or spoken word.

This year at 10 Days in Dublin we’re expanding the Visual Arts section and hoping to get a really solid programme together. The form of practice can be anything, and the format as well.

Registration is now open so please follow the link below for more details on how to get started.

For more information, please visit: www.10daysindublin.ie

Creative Ireland: The Visual Arts

[Contemporary Visual Art in Ireland 2000 – 2011]

curated/edited by Noel Kelly & Seán Kissane
ISBN: 978-1-907683-11-4

100 Irish Artists,
100 Colour Plates,
6 Commentaries from respected writers such as: Medb Ruane, Colin Graham, Valerie Connor, Fiona Kearney, Brian Hand and Noel Kelly

Creative Ireland: The Visual Arts presents an attractive record of the early 21^st century contemporary visual arts in Ireland with 100 artists who have been selected for their specific contribution to the contemporary arts in the first years of the 21^st Century.  Aimed at a general audience, as well as the art connoisseur and enthusiast, each artist is profiled with an iconic example of their practice shown in full colour.  The texts are engaging as they explain Ireland within the context of the early 21^st century, and the impact that this has had socially, economically and culturally.

Now available through D.A.P. Publications in the United States. More details can be found on the D.A.P. website.

This year’s Bealtaine festival is offering a wealth of visual arts exhibitions, events and activities across the country, with highlights including slow craft, a photographic focus on tattoos, and an innovative pilot project for people with dementia and their carers. Azure, project for people with dementia and their carers, is inspired by the internationally acclaimed Meet Me at MoMA programme. During Bealtaine 2012, this pilot project will invite groups of individuals with their carers into Kilkenny’s Butler Gallery for interactive guided visits offering a safe, responsive and welcoming space for people to be active cultural participants. Ink is an exhibition of photographs of older people with tattoos, first commissioned by Bealtaine in 2010, taken by Aidan Kelly, who continues to take new photographs and record new stories to add to this body of work. A celebration of diverse ways of ageing, the show challenges assumptions about tattoos and older people. Also in the visual arts area, Wandering Methods, an exploration of slow craft at Rathfarnham Castle, will see artists join with local older people to produce work inspired by this OPW property and by the lives of the surrounding community. For more information on Bealtaine visual arts activities see www.bealtaine.com

Visual Artists Ireland launched today a new events and deadlines calendar feature in its comprehensive guide to what’s on in the Visual Arts in Ireland.

The new calendar features details on forthcoming deadlines, visual art exhibitions, events, festivals, talks and conferences across Ireland.  The calendar is broken down across regions, and provides details of exhibitions openings and what’s on across Ireland on a day to day basis.

The feature is yet another free service provided by Visual Artists Ireland to increase awareness of the visual arts across Ireland.

Visual Artists Ireland’s information is also available through Twitter (@VisArtsIreland), Facebook (Visual Artists Ireland), an eMailing list, and Newsfeeds so that people can easily find out what is going on around the country.

Open communications is one of the pillars of VAI.  It is at the core of everything that we do.  In this we are also very conscious that we are not seen as simply a Dublin or Belfast centric organisation.  As an example of this we have been active in every county in the south, and each of these local authority areas in the North: Antrim, Ards, Armagh, Ballymena, Ballymoney, Banbridge , Belfast, Carrickfergus, Castlereagh, Coleraine, Cookstown, Craigavon, Derry , Down, Dungannon and South Tyrone, Fermanagh, Larne, Limavady, Lisburn, Magherafelt, Moyle, Newry & Mourne, Newtownabbey, North Down, and Omagh.

BUT, we still get contact that people didn’t know that we were doing something in their area.  For this reason here are some of the ways of keeping in touch with what we are up to:

1. The Visual Artists News Sheet is available around the country, but as a paid member you get it delivered to your door.  This means that you will never miss an edition.  Last year it contained not only news, commentary and exhibitions, but also in excess of €3,750,000 worth of opportunities.
2. The e-bulletin service researches, compiles and distributes 2 – 3 emails per week each containing 30 – 40 items of news, opportunities and listings. There are currently over 8,500 subscribers.  This is an increase from 7,300 in 2009. It is free to subscribe and we receive regular and consistent feedback from artists regarding the value of this service.
3. In addition to our mailing list, this information is disseminated through:
   • Twitter (#visartsireland),
   • Facebook (Visual Artists Ireland & Visual Artists Ireland Professional Development) profiles,
   • our website http://www.visualartists.ie,
   • and The Common Room Social Network for the Visual Arts.

It is good to be able to report that

1. in excess of 8,500 individuals receive the eBulletin,
2. 885 individuals follow our twitter account,
3. 1245 followers of Visual Artists Ireland on Facebook,
4. 299 followers of Visual Artists Ireland Professional Development on Facebook,
5. over 1300 artists are subscribed to The Common Room Social Network for the Visual Arts,
6. and in excess of 700,000 unique visits to our website have taken place in the past 12 months.

We are also physically present throughout the country.  Coming up next week, we will be doing visits in Galway, Sligo, Letterkenny, Donegal, Enniskillen, and Belfast.  This is in addition to the work that our regional reps are undertaking in Galway, Derry, and Belfast.  It is also in addition to the professional development workshops that we are constantly delivering around the country.   We may not be able to get to your specific town, but we always hope that we find central points where a good number of artists can gather conveniently to learn and discuss topics as wide ranging as taxation and accounts to peer critiques or areas of specific interest to professional visual artists.

We do receive calls from some people to say that “VAI is not in our area”.  Our reply is simple… ” We aim to get to as many places as possible.  and so, gather the artists together in your area and tell us your needs…  ”

We also receive calls from artists about workshops.  It is for this very reason that we have so many different ways of getting information out.  So, after you finish reading this missive, have a look at the above list, and find the easiest way for you to keep in contact with what is constantly going on with VAI.

The Visual Artists News Sheet

Andrew Duggan Hole 2009

Contents:

1. Cover Image. Andrew Duggan Hole 2009
5. Roundup. Recent exhibitions and projects of note.
5. Column. Mark Fisher. The Game Has Changed
6. Column. Sarah Searson. How to be a Mensch
7. Column. Jonathan Carroll. Failure, Success and Engagement.
8. Column. Chris Fite-Wassilak. Real Art Top Ten 2010.
9. Column. Eamonn Maxwell. Come Together.
10. News. The latest developments in the arts sector.
11. Regional Profile. Visual arts resources and activity in Kerry
14. Conference. Central & Indispensable. Joanne Laws reports on ‘Writing Irish Art History’ a research day held at TRIARC, Dublin.
15. Profile. Airport Art. Sara Baume introduces ‘Terminal Convention 2011′ ­ a major project that will place on the site of the former Cork International Airport. (Archived in our Articles Section)
16. Profile. Polyphonic Public Conversation. Rachael Thomas and Oliver Dowling talk to Jason Oakley about the background, aims & ambitions of Dublin Contemporary 2011
18. Profile. Ghost Modernism. Katherine Waugh reports on ‘Unbuilding’ (21 August ­ 17 October 2010)
19. Art in Public: Profile. Return to Sender. Claire Meaney Talks to Emily Robyn Archer about ‘the Post Room Project’ at Waterford Regional Hospital.
21. Art in Public: Profile. Art or Social Engineering? Aisling Prior reports on Jochen Gerz’s 2 ­- 3 Streets project for the Ruhr Valley, Germany.
23. Opportunities. All the lastest grants, awards, exhibition calls and commissions.
27. Conference. Joining the Dots. Sara Baume reports on ‘Making in Two Modes’ a conference on the cross-overs between the visual arts and writing, that was held at University College Cork and the Crawford Art Gallery, Cork.
28. Laughism. Laughism. Cartoons by Borislav Byrne.
29. Focus. United State. Maeve Mulrennan, Galway Arts Centre’s Visual Arts Officer reports on the artist-led movement in Galway City.
30. Conference. Things could be Otherwise. Jesse Jones reports on ‘Approaches to Collaborative Arts Practice’ a conversation between Malaysian artist Chu Yuan and Mick Wilson of gradcam, an event held at Dublin Civic Offices.
31. Art in Public: Roundup.
32. Regional Contacts. Visual Artists Ireland’s regional contacts report from the field.
33. Profile. Honouring Creativity & Craft. Anne Callanan talks to Deirdre Quail, acting Curator, FE McWilliam Studio & Gallery. (Archived in our Articles Section)
34. Profile. Architectural Essence. Cliodhna Shaffrey profiles ‘Commonage’ a project merging art and architecture. (Archived in our Articles Section)

A new campaign, I Value the Arts, went live on Monday 13 September 2010 urging the public to voice their support for the arts. Anyone who values the arts in their community is being asked to register their details on a new website: www.ivaluethearts.org.uk. All those who register will be kept in touch with plans that could affect arts provision nationally and in their local neighbourhood, with practical suggestions on what they can do to strengthen the arts in their area.

I Value the Arts is led by the National Campaign for the Arts (NCA), the independent umbrella body for all the arts in the UK. Industry bodies are lining up to support the promotion of the campaign, including the Society of London Theatre, the Theatrical Management Association, Visual Arts and Galleries Association, the Association of British Orchestras, Equity and Audiences UK. The campaign website and associated technology has been made possible thanks to generous donations of skills, time and resources by industry suppliers. No public money is being used to fund the campaign.

Louise de Winter, Director of the NCA commented: “Three quarters of the adult population attend or participate in arts activities every year and an even higher proportion of young people. At a time of recession, more and more people are turning to the arts and culture. Reduced opportunities to take part in the arts could have a major impact on the quality of people’s lives and the vibrancy of their communities. As the Government is encouraging us all to get engaged and create a ‘Big Society’, we believe it is important for those people who care about the arts to get involved in the decisionmaking about what their communities will look like. This campaign gives everyone who cares a chance to have their voice heard and collectively show that the arts provide a valued public service.

“This is a really simple and straightforward campaign. It will take thirty seconds for someone to visit the www.ivaluethearts.org.uk website to register their email address and postcode, and then we’ll be able to keep them up to date with information about plans for their local area. The website will go live from 9am on Monday, 13 September.

With a wide base of support within the sector, we hope this campaign will gain public momentum and snowball throughout the UK.”

Visual Artists Ireland attended a consultative breakfast on the visual arts in Iveagh House hosted by Micheál Martin T.D. Included at the breakfast were representatives of the Arts Council, Culture Ireland, the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Department of Tourism, Culture & Sport, key commerical and not-for-profit institutions, and independent curators.  The meeting was to discuss how the Irish diplomatic service can work with the visual arts sector for the promotion of the visual arts internationally.  The meeting provided strong input in many areas of cross over that will inform government policy in this area.

The Common Room Social Network for the Visual Arts is a social network that promotes mutual understanding among members by highlighting practices, commonalities, and experiences through forums, blogs, photos, and videos. Integrated with other social networking site. The Common Room offers comfort, flexibility and the opportunity to engage with peers on a local and world wide basis.