Arts Office Events

Romeo and Juliet 2 July 2009

Shakespeare’s romantic tale of star-crossed lovers, the greatest love story ever told unfolded against the stunning backdrop of Malahide Castle. A large cast, magnificent costumes and an enchanting musical score promised to make this one of the most memorable evenings of the summer. Family and friends picniced in the magical surroundings of beautiful gardens and enjoyed an evening of love, music and beauty. 

Fingal Photography Seminar 23 May 2009

Photographers from all parts of Fingal came together in the Crown Plaza Hotel, Santry, on the 23rd May for a very special day seminar organised by the Councils Arts Office. The Fingal Photo Seminar was attended by the 10 photographic groups, which have been established and nurtured by the Arts Office over the last decade.

Over 120 participants were treated to an action packed day of workshops, in various different aspects of photography, undertaken by professional photographers and other experts. The programme was complied from feedback that the Arts Office received from the Fingal photo groups. The Arts Office wanted to tailor the day specifically to the needs of the groups.

The seminar was organised into 4 separate workshops, dealing with

- Printing & Presentation Skills
- Click Clinic/Camera Controls using your camera effectively
- Working as a professional photographer
- Basic Retouching, RAW files, basic lightroom

Drawing Day is a National initiative which promotes the practice of drawing at various venues across the country such as The National Gallery, The Royal Hibernian Academy, The Irish Museum of Modern Art, Kilkenny Castle and more.

Fingal County Council’s Arts Office and Farmleigh teamed up to programme a series of events for National Drawing Day on the 23rd May. Fingal County Council’s Arts Office, invited a number of contemporary artists to deliver unique drawing workshops. Featured artists include Magnihold Opdol, Sarah Hurl, Vanessa Marsh,Nicky Phelan, Astrid and Keristin Walsh. The aim of the day was to present a broad approach to drawing so that everyone could find a way to take part.

Light up Fingal – Naul 2006

Light up Fingal was inspired by Turin’s Luci D’Artista (or walk under the lights) whereby the city of Turin in Italy invited artists to create unique site specific lights which would adorn the city at Christmas Time artists included Daniel Burren, Jenny Holzer…In response to this Public Art Co-ordinator Caroline Cowley invited Balbriggan based artist Christophe Neumann to develop a lighting project for Fingal.Christophe Neumann’s practice incorporates sculpture and mixed media design and the artist was interested in this new challenge.We selected a site, the village of Naul and a appropriate theme – Mumming can be applied to a wide range of customs associated with for example “ The St. Stephen’s Day Wren Boys the Armagh Rhymers  and Medieval Court Masque traditions. A group of mummers are keeping the tradition alive in Naul performing throughout the county a mixture of music and theatre on St. Stephen’s day. ”. Cris Neumann created an installation using projections of life-size characters associated with Mumming, which were projected in the town square in the town so that it formed a type of Theatre setting. The event was enriched with performances by both the Naul Mummers and Mummers from Sardinia. This took place in December 2006 and was an interesting lesson in temporary, site specific art and how the contemporary and the traditional sat so well together through the artists work and the mummer’s performance.

Light up Fingal – Swords Castle 2008

In 2008 we invited Wexford based artist/theatre group Bui Bolg to facilitate workshops on lighting spectacle in Swords Educate Together National School. The workshops involved the construction of large scale paper and willow lanterns. The 6th class group were brought on a special tour of Swords Castle so that their lantern design would echo the shapes and themes found on their visit. Bui Bolg then installed all the children’s work at the castle and included some of their own creations. Fire Performers were present at the official launch in December adding to the children’s amazement. Collaborating with the Youth & Education Officer, Julie Clarke, the project proved to be a valuable opportunity to explain the temporary nature of public art installation and the workshops went through the basics of sculptural construction so that the children became producers of their own work, with many making additional pieces to display in their own gardens.

Sand Sculpture – Portmarnock 2007

Artist group Duthain Dealbh were invited to respond to the coastal location of Portmarnock Strand through their use of sand sculpture. The brief included activities and themes associated with the area. The artists worked on site for 10 days giving the public the opportunity to follow the developments and engage with the artists.

Sand Sculpture – Portmarnock 2008

Artists Duthain Dealbh were invited to respond to the unique history and heritage of Fingal for this commission. They chose the theme of Grainne Wale, The Pirate Queen, wh, when refused a meal a Howth Castle, kidnapped the kings son only to return him if the king always set a place at his table for an extra guest for forever more. The artists did workshops with local school,St. Marnock’s on how to create their own sand sculptures. The artists created a large figure of the pirate queen and a detailed banquet table in sand both of which drew favourable attention from the public and the media and the children enjoyed their beachside workshops.

Amharc Fhine Gall ( Fingal Gaze) is an annual exhibition programmed by Fingal County Council’s Arts Office in partnership with Draiocht Arts Centre. The exhibition was initiated in 2004 to celebrate the wealth of artistic talent in the County of Fingal. In 2004 we showcased contemporary artists, in 2005, we celebrated craft artists living and working in the area, in 2006 we invited students of Hartstown Community School in Dublin 15 to curate an exhibition drawn from Fingal County Council’s extensive public arts collection, and in 2007 we exhibited the photography of student Dianne Whyte, who was commissioned to document the diversity of cultural activity in Fingal, as part of County Council’s Five Year Arts Plan.

In 2008 we advertised an “open call “ to recent art college graduates who live and work in Fingal. The arts office felt that this opportunity to young graduates was another way of supporting and encouraging the early stages of their career through the local authority and reiterates our commitment to supporting local artists as part of Fingal’s rich cultural landscape. Five young artists were selected for this exhibition, Tracy Hanna ( Swords), Jennifer Phelan, ( Malahide), Logan McLain ( Carpenterstown), Lorna Fitzsimons ( Rush) and Deirdre Byrne ( Kinsealy). The show which took place in Draiocht in April 2008 titled It’s All in the Detail”  featured a range of media Public  Arts Co-ordinator with Fingal’s Arts Office explained that “The unifying aesthetic of these artists is a quiet, personal attachment to their chosen material. Through their work they display an intricate, gentle sensibility and attention to detail, in relation to both subject matter and practice. The artists chosen all expand and explore the properties of video, installation, thread, photography and pen  through themes of site, object, memory, nature and environment .The works causes the viewer to pause, look closely and move slowly around the gallery space. A catalogue featuring images of the artists studios taken by Arts Officer Rory O’Byrne is available.