Andculturemagazine ISSUE a REVIEW of the ARTS in LAOIS, LONGFORD, OFFALY and WESTMEATH SUMMER 2018 29
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
VISUAL ARTS MUSIC, DANCE THEATRE, FILM MidlandsArts THE WRITTEN WORD andCultureMagazine ISSUE A REVIEW OF THE ARTS IN LAOIS, LONGFORD, OFFALY AND WESTMEATH SUMMER 2018 29 FREE Midlands Arts and Culture Magazine | SUMMER 2018 A Word MidlandsArts from the andCultureMagazine Editor A Word from the Editor ............................................................................................... Page 2 Since the late 1990s the Arts Council/An Mountmellick in Venice Biennale • Cronin Seal the Deal ....................................... Page 3 Athlone students Lead the Fash-Pack • Countdown to Castlepalooza 2018 ........Page 4 Comhairle Ealaíon has advocated the value State Lights Release New Single • Dance Residency in Mullingar .........................Page 5 of the arts within healthcare and arts officers A View through the Lens – Longford’s Brian McCann Puts Us in the Picture have been including aspects of the arts and Music Generation Laois Harpists Wow Audiences ................................................... Page 6 Inaugural Broderick Writer Residence Awarded health, including mental health, in their Longford Songwriter Addresses Social Stigma through Music .................................Page7 programmes. ‘The Lea-Green Down’ Facilitates Contemporary Response to Kavanagh’s Poetry Creative Ireland ...........................................................................................................Page 8 The Creative Ireland programme is guided by the ‘Townscape’ Exhibition takes us Behind Closed Doors ............................................Page 9 vision that every person in the country will have an Scaling the Heights – Portarlington Film-maker opportunity to realise their full creative potential. One Ken Wardrop makes the Grade ...............................................................................Page 10 of the three priorty areas pinpointed in the scheme is Spectacular Dance at the Backstage Theatre ........................................................Page 11 individual and collective wellbeing. Laois actor strikes out ..............................................................................................Page 12 The role that the arts can play in our mental health The Valley of the Squinting Windows – 100 years on Mountmellick Comhaltas ..........................................................................................Page 13 surfaces in a number of articles in this issue. The Birr Immerses Itself in the Arts ................................................................................Page 14 recent ‘Photovoice’ exhibition hosted at Westmeath Birr Vintage Week and Arts Festival Celebrates 50th Anniversary ........................Page 15 County Buildings is an output of a research project Nano Nagle Musical Set for Global Tour .................................................................Page 16 commissioned by See Change, Ireland’s organisation Swan Lake Story set in Longford Tours Midlands ...................................................Page 17 dedicated to ending mental heatlh stigma. Singfest Hits a High Note..........................................................................................Page 18 As Westmeath-based actress, Mary McEvoy observed, Malcolm Ross McDonald Shares his Selection Experiences from the Writers’ Residency, Birr ........................................................Page 19 we have learned to talk the talk on mental health and Portlaoise-born Author, Helen Cullen on her NewBook ..........................................Page 20 now we need to walk the walk. Ballymahon Woman Drives her Musical Career .....................................................Page 21 In Clara, Co. Offaly, the subject of how we approached Westmeath Dancers Awash with Medals mental health in the past versus the present, was explored Arthouse Lines Up Diverse Programme ...................................................................Page 22 by participants in the ‘Return to Sender’ initiative. ‘Look Beyond,’ Westmeath Arts and Libraries Participated in the Conversation on Mental Health Staying in Offaly, Shona Ellen Connolly, a photographer Letting in the Light at The Atrium .............................................................................Page 23 from Edenderry, did a photo essay depicting the burden A Spirited Response – Simon Carman on his New Sculpture ................................Page 24 that can be lifted by opening up to someone. Cruthú: Art in the Heart of Ireland............................................................................Page 25 Return to Sender Project ‘Better than Therapy’ ......................................................Page 26 In Laois, Stephen James Smith, recalling his stint as Laois ICA Celebrates Women of Collinstown and Fore Spoken Word poet-in-residency, outlined how the Longford Student in Poetry Aloud Final ...................................................................Page 27 subject came up in his interaction with students. Singing from the Same hymn sheet – Katherine Canty .........................................Page 28 Voices Literary Series Starts the Conversation Longford songwriter, Charles James Walker, spoke Together in electric dreams – Ian Keaveney on Glitch art .....................................Page 29 of his personal experience of hitting rock bottom and Celebrating Longford’s Poets, Past and Present ....................................................Page 30 building himself back up to release his debut EP. ‘Unravelling Laois’ Fostered a Sense of Place ........................................................Page 31 Various studies have shown that the arts can help keep Shona Ellen Connolly on Breaking the Mental Health Stigma Westmeath Artists’ Books Workshop ......................................................................Page 32 us well, aid recovery and support longer lives While Edgeworthstown Poet Dani Gill Ponders ‘Life after Love’ ......................................Page 33 much has been achieved in improving access to the arts, Poetry Workshops find Students Well Versed .........................................................Page 34 additional funding would make a signficant difference. ‘Homelessness is on our Doorstep’ First Fortnight will host the European Mental Health It’s all an Act in Athlone – the RTE All-Ireland Drama Festival ..............................Page 35 Arts Festival in Ireland next January. It will be interesting A look inside Step into the Surreal at ‘A Painted Otherworld’ ......................................................Page 36 to see the issues that arise. Page Page Page Page Caroline Allen 4 9 22 27 Guest Editor Main cover image from ‘Townscape’ by Mary Burke, supplied by Laois Arts Office. Other images supplied by Longford Arts Office: Shelley Corcoran; Westmeath Arts Office; and Offaly Arts Office. YOUR LOCAL ARTS OFFICERS County Offaly County Westmeath County Laois County Longford WHO: Mary Brady WHO: Miriam Mulrennan WHO: Muireann Ní Chonaill WHO: Fergus Kennedy (Temporary Arts Officer) WHERE: Westmeath County Council WHERE: Laois County Council, WHERE: Longford County Council, WHERE: Offaly County Council, County Buildings, Mullingar Portlaoise, Co Laois Great Water St. Longford. Charleville Road, Tullamore CONTACT: Telephone 044 93 32016 CONTACT: Tel: 057 8664109 CONTACT: Tel: 086 8517595 CONTACT: Telephone 057 9357400 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]. www.westmeathcoco.ie www.laois.ie/arts www.longfordcoco.ie/arts_office.html www.offaly.ie/arts 2 Midlands Arts and Culture Magazine | SUMMER 2018 Alan Meredith (Image: Alf Harvey Photography). Free Market Pavilion (Image: Matthew Thompson). Mountmellick is under the spotlight in the SMALL WONDER Venice Biennale 2018 Mountmellick, Co. Laois, is one of ten Irish towns featured in the Irish national pavilion at the Venice architecture Biennale 2018 - La Biennale di Venezia. The Venice Biennale is the foremost global architecture exhibition, expected to attract over 260,000 visitors over the six month period between May 26 and November 25, 2018. The Biennale alternates every second year between Mayo; Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal; Bunclody, involved in towns. It is hoped that this exhibition art and architecture exhibitions, with 63 countries Co. Wexford; Castleblayney, Co. Monaghan; and subsequent tour and symposium will become hosting national pavilions. 2018 represents a Kilmallock, Co. Limerick; Kilrush, Co. Clare; a catalyst in the way policy decisions regarding remarkable year for Irish architecture, as, for the Macroom, Co. Cork; and Templemore, Co. small towns are made and implemented. first time, the overall curators of the Biennale are Tipperary The Irish National Pavilion at the Venice Irish: Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara of In the Mountmellick study, members of the Architecture Biennale is an initiative of Culture Grafton Architects. group interviewed residents and business people Ireland in partnership with the Arts Council. The They set an overall theme of ‘FreeSpace’, which living and working around O’Connell Square Free Market team is grateful for the support of was articulated in their curatorial statement. Every in Mountmellick and proposed strategies to Laois County Council and Creative Ireland Laois. national pavilion is asked to respond to this theme encourage new houses and businesses in the town For more information: www.free-market.ie; in an exploration relevant to the architecture and centre. They also