Opening Night is here

It is here, opening night is here. Coming home: Art & the Great Hunger has come home to Skibbereen. It is two hours until our official opening at 6 o' clock and the Uillinn is alive with the sounds of excitement - and cleaning!

The River Ilen Drainage Scheme

With all the work and preparation going on inside the Uillinn for the upcoming Coming home: Art & The Great Hunger exhibition, it is easy to forget about all the work that is going on outside of the building in preparation for our opening night.

Photo Courtesy of Jons Civil Engineering Limited on behalf of Cork City Council

The River Ilen Drainage Scheme is one of a number of major flood relief schemes undertaken in Cork county following a decision by the OPW in 2015. The West Cork Arts Centre is located in the Uillinn, at the meeting (or elbow) of the Caol Stream and the Ilen River, so we very much welcome these works!

The 15.8m scheme is a response to two destructive floods in 2009 and a total of 21 significant floods since 1943. Construction formally commenced with Jons Civil Engineering in June 2016 and I recently had a chance to talk with Simon, a foreman on the team. 


He explained that the entire town's flood defences would be raised 4 meters to protect from high water levels. For the work being done outside WCAC, this means that the Caol Stream has to be diverted to provide the workers with a dry working site. Sections of reinforced concrete are installed near the building. 


By design, the walls that have been created around the Uillinn have been finished with Corten steel echoing the aesthetic of the building and the vision of its architects, Donaghy and Dimond. Corten steel is an unusual material as it eliminates the need for painting and rusts and weathers over time adding character to a building. Architect, Will Dimond had said the use of the material was inspired by the red-oxide painted, corrugated steel roofs of traditional West Cork barns. 

Photo courtesy of Jons Civil Engineering Limited on behalf of Cork City Council

Aerial view of the flood relief work outside the Uillinn.

Internal view of the work being done inside the Uillinn.

All in all, WCAC is definitely a busy spot right now!

Bealtaine

With the arrival of the Coming Home exhibition comes the time to say goodbye to  'Bealtaine' for another year.

'Bealtaine' is an annual and nationwide event that celebrates arts and creativity as we age. WCAC Arts for an Active Mind programme exhibited alongside the Arts for Health programme in a spirited and colourful showcase of work. The event, held every May (Bealtaine), is always a great opportunity to see the Uillinn's impressive community programme.

Shadow of a bright day was created through the use of plants and hedgerow on cyanotype treated fabric by the residents of Skibbereen Community Hospital in collaboration with artist Toma McCullim.

 The Arts for Health partnership programme is the product of an innovative collaboration between the WCAC, Cork Education and Training Board, Cork County Council and the HSE. Activities, classes and events are held in community hospitals and day-centres across West Cork. The programme, which has been running since 2005, has inspired the outpouring of creativity that is evident in 'Bealtaine'.

The multi-disciplinary exhibition included sound art, poetry and visual art in a variety of forms; including painting, sculpture and print.

Similarly, the Arts for an Active Mind programme has created a positive environment for the local over-50's community to engage with visual art. Currently, there are 14 participants who meet weekly with artist Paul Cialis. The participants are given the opportunity to express, hone and investigate their creative skills. 

This is a special and celebratory event in the WCAC calendar - so if you missed this year's exhibition, save the date for next year's event!

Arrival of Work

The work has arrived, everyone!

Today was an exciting day at the Uillinn with the arrival of the Coming home exhibition.

The exhibition's themes will take on a heightened meaning now that it is situated within the context of Skibbereen, a town that has become almost synonymous with the Famine.

The work is now onsite and awaiting install, we have a busy week ahead in preparation for Opening Night on July 19th!

Preparations

The walls are painted and we are ready for the work to arrive tomorrow.

Preparations for Coming Home: Art and the Great Hunger

Preparation for Coming home: Art and the Great Hunger is well and truly under way here at the West Cork Arts Centre. The work will be arriving tomorrow along with the curator, Professor Niamh O' Sullivan and the excitement is building daily for the exhibition's opening on July 19th. I'm Sarah Long, the project intern and recent Fine Art graduate and I will be supplying you with all the behind-the-scenes access to this impressive programme of events. 

The Coming Home exhibition is a visual interpretation of one of the most pivotal events in Irish history, the Famine.Through an interesting relationship between historical and contemporary art, this collection of work raises thematic issues such as loss, emigration and economic upheaval which gives the exhibition contemporary and universal significance. 

This blog will act as an insight into the the exhibition's time here in Skibbereen, so watch this space!

Lauren Gault - residency research images: