Sligo Arts Service

Sligo Arts Service continues to develop the arts in County Sligo so that the distinctive contribution of the arts to people’s lives is fostered. As a department of Sligo County Council, working in partnership with Sligo Borough Council, The Arts Council of Ireland, and key stakeholders locally, regionally and nationally, we programme and support a range of activities from theatre to music, literature to dance, film to festival and photography to carnival. Each year we invest public money to create these high-quality artistic experiences that enrich people’s lives.

ARTS PARTNERSHIPS

Our Arts Development Partnerships initiated in the Space For Art Sligo Arts Plan 2007-2012 aim to develop the creative thinking skills of artists of all disciplines, supporting long-term projects between voluntary groups, educational institutions and creative professionals in the county. In 2008, artists received training through the contexts of Arts+Health and Arts in Education with long-term programmes established for Live Music in the Classroom, Primary Colours and the Arts Programme for Older People.

For the fourth year in succession Sligo Arts Service worked with Sligo Art Gallery to develop a successful Visual Arts Awareness Programme and  this was redeveloped as Primary Colours in 2008. The programme incorporates an annual curated exhibition in Sligo Art Gallery for young people and an artist-led participative programme in the gallery and six primary schools, nine artists and almost 180 pupils.

The Blue Raincoat Theatre Company undertook a programme of development initiatives with a group of 24 young people in Tubbercurry. Under the artistic directorship of Kelly Hughes, the group’s performance at the opening of the All Ireland One Act Drama finals was a huge success, duly described by the adjudicator as a ‘stunning piece of theatre’.

SLIGO MUSIC EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP

Phase two of the Sligo Music Education Partnership resulted in the commencement of Phase 2 of Live Music in the Classroom and the delivery of a creative music curriculum. The partnership focuses on interactions between musicians, teachers and pupils in primary schools in Sligo and supports ongoing learning and knowledge sharing. This programme is now active in 19 schools around the country and involves over 20 musicians and almost 850 students directly.

Stian Carstensen Accordion and Banjo Player from Norway (Vogler Spring Festival 2008).

Another music development partnership was with the Model Niland Gallery and together we commissioned research and recommendations on three music festivals currently in operation in Sligo: Sligo New Music Festival, Sligo Festival of Baroque Music and the Vogler Spring Festival. The report findings and proposals will be considered in 2009 in order to guide the development of these festivals and the development of music in Sligo more broadly.

Sligo Arts Service invests in local and voluntary run music promotion organisations that bring quality and variety to the music scene in Sligo. Con Brio run the high calibre Sligo Music Series and brought the London Irish Camerata and other classical highlights to local audiences. Sligo Jazz Project hosted the annual Jazz festival August and brought top international jazz professionals to tutor and perform memorable jazz shows. The associated ongoing jazz events in Sligo have created a wealth of new opportunities for emerging jazz artists to perform in public.

PUBLIC ART

Sligo’s Public Art strategy aims to secure the highest levels of creativity and innovation in commissioning artists and to ensure integration by placing it  within the planning and development process. Since 2000, 17 commissions have been completed and a further 5 are in progress. In 2006 Christine Mackey was commissioned by Sligo Borough Council to explore the landscape and history of Doorly Park, the Garavogue River and its environs from an artist’s perspective. Meticulous research has led to a record of an area that is an invaluable resource for the city. RIVERwork(s) is presented as a unique anthology of this place both here and now and times past in the form of an artist’s book (available from Sligo Arts Service) and an exhibition which took place in Sligo Art Gallery in June and July 2008.

Per Cent for Art Commission by Christine Mackey “Head Study”

Living Vestiges, cast bronze plant forms created by artist Elizabeth Caffrey, are the result of a commission by the National Roads Authority and Sligo Local Authorities and funded by the Per Cent for Art Scheme. The sculptural artworks installed in 2008 are placed on Sligo’s old limestone walls and vernacular structures in the vicinity of the Inner Relief Road.

A limestone memorial sculpture by artists Jackie McKenna and Seamus Dunbar was unveiled at the Boathouse Quay, Doorly Park to commemorate the lives of soldiers from the Sligo environs who gave their lives in the  service of peace with the United Nations. The commissioner was facilitated in this commission by the Public Art Officer of Sligo County Council who project managed the commission on behalf of the Irish Defence Forces.

GRANTS AND BURSARIES

The members of Sligo County Council awarded arts grants totalling €86,000 in 2008. Proposals were invited from artists, arts organisations, community and voluntary groups seeking funding to support their arts event. Bursaries support artists of all disciplines wishing to work independently on an arts project or develop their skills through training.

Arts Grants 2008 – Art at the Rally “Sunshine” by artist Ciara Layden

The funding schemes allow the Council to identify arts activities taking place in the county and provide opportunities to establish new partnerships and develop projects with local communities. Of the many highlights that emerged in 2008, the Tracey Avenue Walkway Street Art project by three young art students was professionally striking enough to catch the attention of the media and be broadcast on the national news. Another highlight was the 100 strong children’s choir, Harmony for Sligo, who gave an outstanding performance at the opening of the International Barbershop Convention hosted in Sligo. It certainly was a showcase of the young musical talent in the county.

Street Art at Treacy Avenue

The recipient of the inaugural Fred Conlon 3 Month Residential Studio Bursary award in Easkey, west County Sligo was visual artist Patricia Curran Mulligan. The John O’Leary Fine Art Graduate Award was introduced in 2008 at the opening of the annual Degree Show Exhibition in the Institute of Technology, Sligo. Tessa Marsden won the award which supports a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Art student in IT Sligo who has shown promise of artistic excellence in the visual art field and it is delivered in partnership with the Sligo Art Gallery and the Fine Art Department, Institute of Technology Sligo (IT Sligo).

Studio Bursary for Artist Cléa Van der Grijn

Sligo has a strong tradition of hosting annual feisanna and festivals, particularly traditional music weekends, summer-schools and festivals such as the Sligo International Choral Festival, Cairde Summer Festival and Sligo Live that host spectacular world class events for all the family to enjoy. Funding from Sligo County Council grants scheme supports many of these events that have grown to become regular fixtures on the festivals and events calendar.

In 2008, the members of Sligo County Council awarded two special grants to the International Barbershop Convention and to the Western Drama Festival who both hosted major events in Sligo during the year. Annual grants to the main professional arts organisations in Sligo enable the Model Gallery, The Blue Raincoat Theatre Company and the Hawk’s Well Theatre to present their own programmes of art and culture to the widest possible audience.

FESTIVALS AND EVENTS

The May Bank Holiday weekend featured the ninth Vogler Spring Festival. Once again the festival programme was a fantastic mixture of the best of chamber music by accomplished Irish and international performers, attracting large numbers of local and visiting music enthusiasts.

Bealtaine Festival Intergenerational Dimension 2008 Magic Me event in Ballymote

For the ninth consecutive year, Sligo Arts Service, in partnership with the HSE and other relevant agencies, offered opportunities for older people to access and enjoy the arts through an arts workshop programme, special project commissions and artist residencies in the lead up to the annual Bealtaine Festival during the month of May. Sligo’s newest visual art space, the Atrium Gallery in Nazareth House, hosted the first Bealtaine Artist-in-Residence Exhibition throughout the month.

YOUTH

The arts have an extraordinary power to deepen, broaden and transform the lives of children and young people. To this end, Sligo Arts Service invests in providing opportunities for children and young people to participate in arts and creativity. The first Sligo Youth Fair held in October was an event aimed to promote opportunities for young people to get involved in activities in their communities. A range of local organisations were involved and Sligo Arts Service promoted drama, music and visual art opportunities for the 15 – 21 year olds.

Sligo Youth Fair October 2008: Make Your Own DVD Workshops with artist Andy Parsons

County Sligo Youth Theatre now operates as an independent company. Sligo Local Authorities allocated increased funding to secure a full-time Director for the development of the organisation –Jean Marie Perinetti was appointed in 2008. A key area of focus of engaging a director is to expand the Youth Theatre beyond Sligo Town by establishing branches around the county. The Youth Theatre presented a very successful production of At the Black Pigs Dyke at The Factory Performance Space in March by both the junior and senior members combined. Their newly renovated space ‘The Fridge’ is located on the grounds of the Factory Performance Space where workshops take place every weekend. Significantly, Sligo Youth Theatre collaborated in the Omagh Sligo Joint Cultural Events Project 2007-2008 during which time it assisted Omagh District Council in the establishment of Omagh Youth Theatre.

County Sligo Youth Theatre Rehearsals 2008

FILM

Cinema North West, the mobile cinema continued to roll out its boutique cinema screenings to Grange and Tubbercurry bringing Irish releases such as 32A, by award winning local director Marian Quinn as well as foreign language films and English language independents. The cinema is a partnership developed between the board of Cinema North West and funders Sligo County Council and Leitrim County Council. The mobile cinema played host to a range of suitable films for secondary school students as part of the Model Arts and Niland Gallery Education Programme.

The full length feature film, ‘Occi vs The World’, written and directed by Conor McDermottroe was due to start filming in September 2008 on location in Sligo. Sligo Arts Service assisted the crew who were on location for almost 6 weeks and used various locations during this period.

LITERATURE

Sligo Arts Service and the Sligo Library Services partnered in delivering a Literature Festival for Sligo’s readers and writers in March 2008. The two-day festival marked the completion of Sligo’s first Writer-in- Residence programme by author and playwright Niall Williams. Readings, workshops and associated events took place in libraries and other venues in Sligo town and county.

All Ireland Poetry Day Sligo – Left-Right Leland Bardwell, Eva Bourke, Mary Branley, Steve Wickham. Photo James Connolly

Continuing the literary theme, Sligo participated in the inaugural All Ireland Poetry Day in October to mark Poetry Ireland’s 30th birthday. The audience was treated to readings by Sligo’s esteemed poet, Leland Bardwell together with Eva Bourke and Mary Branley. A special feature of the evening was the poets’ collaboration with musician Steve Wickham.

Sligo Arts Department is part of a wider national network of Local Authority Arts Offices and is an important source of information and advice on a wide range of arts and cultural issues and topics both locally and nationally. For more information log onto www.sligoarts.ie or sign up for the free monthly Sligoarts E-Bulletin.

Young at Heart Active Age Group with their Benbulben Pottery Figures