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Donegal County Councils Public Art Programme is 21 years old this year and to celebrate and acknowledge this, Donegal County Council is launching the following on Tuesday 4th December at 2pm in the Regional Cultural Centre, Letterkenny and we are inviting you to come.
- Launch of Public Art Plan 2013 – 2017
- Launch of new www.donegalpublicart.ie
- Launch of 21 years on exhibition. (Exhibition continues until 8th Feb 2013)
As part of the Grafton Street Quarter Improvement Project, artist Michelle Browne worked with the design team to undertake work to improve the pedestrian experience on Clarendon Street. Planters with trees and shrubs, line the edge of what was parking space and the ‘black-top’ has been painted with design and text. Walk down Clarendon Street and share your photos and comment on the facebook page: www.facebook.com/artsoffice.dublincitycouncil
The BBC has launched Your Paintings, a website which aims to show the entire UK national collection of oil paintings, the stories behind the paintings, and where to see them. It is made up of paintings from thousands of museums and other public institutions around the UK, including the Arts Council Northern Ireland’s own collection of recent acquisitions. www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings
The Marsh Christian Trust and the Public Monuments and Sculpture Association (PMSA) have announced the shortlist for the Marsh Award for Excellence in Public Sculpture 2012. This year’s shortlist includes two works in Northern Ireland: the 38m high ‘Rise’ in Belfast by Wolfgang Buttress and ‘To the People of the Sea’ in Portrush by West Cork-based sculptor Holger Lönze. A total of eight works have been shortlisted for this prestigious UK-wide public sculpture award. The winner will be announced in London on the 6th November by the Duke of Gloucester.
Holger Lönze’s artwork for Portrush was commissioned by Coleraine Borough Council as part of a £1m public realm scheme for Portrush East Strand. The 4m high repoussé sheet bronze sculpture, depicting three traditional Drontheim yawl sails, was completed in February 2011 after only seven weeks of fabrication. A council spokesman stated that “Based on Portrush’s rich maritime culture and its boat building history, it celebrates not only one of Ireland’s famous boat builders (James Kelly) but also the elements that have determined live down through generations.” Images and information of the work is available on the project website www.peopleofthesea.info and on the sculptor’s website www.holgerlonze.com
Sculptor Wolfgang Buttress was selected to create ‘ Rise’ after a competition involving over 40 international artists. Standing at 37.5 metres tall, Rise, a geodesic sphere is suspended within a larger 30 metre diametre sphere by discreet, pre tensioned, galvanised wires. It is sited on the former site of the Broadway roundabout, at the junction of the Westlink and M1 motorway, and is visible for miles around the city. Wolfgang Buttress is an award winning artist working with public space. He creates simple, elegant and contextual public artworks which seek to define and celebrate a sense of place. Over the last 15 years he has produced artworks for the public realm in the UK, Europe, Australia, USA, and Japan. http://wolfgangbuttress.com/
This award provides support and studio space throughout the year for both emerging and established artists, in order to facilitate the production of new work. Rhona Byrne’s work is predominantly site and project specific. Her practice employs an interdisciplinary approach and manifest in many forms including sculture, video, photographs, drawings, context specific installations, collaborative event-based projects and books. She has exhibited extensively in Ireland and internationally and has been awarded several awards, artist residencies and has been commissioned and supported by The Arts Council of Ireland, Dublin City Council, Cork City Council, Culture Ireland, The office of Public Works and is currently working on a project for Tate Britain.
The Arts Council has announced details of successful recipients under round two of the Project Award for 2012. The Arts Council’s Project awards support specific project activities under each of the artform/arts practice areas. A total of €1,768,625 has been awarded to 72 Projects throughout the country from 322 applications received. The total value of the funding sought by the 322 applicants was €5,825,607.62. Full details on www.artscouncil.ie
The Arts Council and Culture Ireland have announced the artist and commissioner/curator to represent Ireland at the Venice Art Biennale in 2013, which is an initiative of Culture Ireland, in partnership with the Arts Council.
The Commissioner/Curator for Venice 2013 is Anna O’Sullivan, Director of the Butler Gallery in Kilkenny, who has selected artist, Richard Mosse, to present a highly ambitious eight-channel multimedia installation on the subject of the ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Commenting on the selection, Ms. O’Sullivan explained: “Richard is an outstanding choice to represent Ireland at the Venice Biennale 2013.He has already gained international recognition, especially for his ongoing work, Infra. At Venice, Richard will push this work into a strong, immersive multimedia environment. I am thrilled for Richard, who I know will rise to the challenge of this important opportunity, and will create an extremely original installation that will represent Ireland powerfully on the international stage”.
www.richardmosse.com | www.artscouncil.ie | www.cultureireland.ie |
Friday 21st September – Nationwide night of Culture.
Jimmy Deenihan TD, Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht today (Wednesday 15th August) launched the programme for Culture Night 2012 which will take place nationwide on Friday 21st September. Culture Night, which has been held every year since 2006, is based on similar cultural events held in Europe and other cities called “White Nights” due to the fact that the buildings are lit up for the evening of the event. On Culture Night, arts and cultural organisations, including the National Cultural Institutions, extend their opening hours and are free of charge.
This year, the Culture Night programme launch is being held in Cork, the first time that the programme launch has been held outside Dublin. Such an initiative truly demonstrates how the event has grown from a relatively small scale cultural event staged only in Dublin in 2006 to the significant national cultural event it is now.
Commenting on the programme launch, Minister Deenihan said “Culture Night plays a critical role in terms of increasing and improving the public’s access to culture and the arts. It is a night for people of all ages to sample and connect with the cultural delights in their area and remind them that these venues are open all year round, not only on Culture Night.”
The 2012 event will feature a record 34 participating locations, making it the biggest and most extensive Culture Night to date. Amongst the new locations participation this year are Limerick County, Galway County and North Tipperary and 2012 also sees the welcome return of some locations which have previously been involved but were absent last year such as Sligo and Roscommon.
From live music, interactive workshops and gallery tours to talks, drama, dance and a vast choice of other creative activities, Culture Night offers a cultural form to appeal to all tastes. Live Sketchbook workshop at Cork’s Glucksman Gallery, Culture Night concert at the Hawks Well Theatre, Sligo, Culinary Culture at the National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny, Druid Murphy open house in Druid Lane Theatre, Galway and a guided tour of Na Piobairi Uillean on Dublin’s historic Henrietta Street are just some of the events on the programme taking place on Friday 21st September.
ArtLinks and the five partner local authorities have announced details of the recipients of the ArtLinks Bursaries 2012. These awards were designed to support artists who are resident within the ArtLinks five county partnership region of Carlow, Kilkenny, Waterford, Wexford and Wicklow and is supported by the Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon. A full list of all Artlinks 2012 bursary recipients can be seen on www.artlinks.ie
TempleBar Gallery + Studios(TBG+S), Dublin and Static Gallery, Liverpool will collaborate on a pilot, new cultural exchange project between our two cities in 2012. This pilot, cultural initiative for 2012 will support visual artists from Dublin to take-up an intensive two-week residency based at Static in Liverpool from 8–20 October 2012 timed to coincide with the Liverpool Biennial.
Reciprocally, TBG+S will host a visual artist/writer/architect/curator from Liverpool on an intensive two week residency at the artists’ studios in Temple Bar and Dublin City Council artists’ accommodation from 23 July – 3 August. TBG+S and Static share a vision to extend the collaboration into a prolonged series of production residencies and documented research involving wider EU partnership from 2013.
For the initial year in 2012, TBG+S and Static the studio residents will have dedicated use of excellent studio facilities, accommodation and access to shared networks provided by the respective organisations.
Thematically, the TBG+S and Static artists’ residencies will share a focus and interest in experimenting with ideas about Travel, Production and Place.
Jonathan Woodward is the selected artists/architect at At TBG+S from 23 July – 3 August 2012. Woodward runs Pointfive with Ste Thorpe. Pointfive is a young design partnership looking to converse with perception and narrative through the alteration and play of materiality. As training architects we are interested in the significance of material, its symbolic gestures and appearance in light and shade. The inherent motivation behind our work is to design and curate objects or spaces that engage participants through experience. Pointfive is supported by Static Gallery and Deutsche Bank. www.pointfive.co
During the first residency, Paul Sullivan, director of Static Gallery will carry out a five-day research collaboration with TBG+S in order to develop the residency programme for 2013 and beyond.
