Infrastructure Fingal County Council’s Public Art Programme 2017 — 2021 — Artists’ Brief 1 Infrastructure Fingal County Council is embarking on a new phase of Public Art Commissioning utilising funds generated through the Per Cent for Art Scheme. Infrastructure 2017 — 2021 is a local, national and international opportunity open to artists from all disciplines. Strands Infrastructure is offered in 4 strands; Public Art Awards, Co-Productions, Buildings and Public Spaces Artists Panel People’s Purchase. Selection Commissions will be awarded by open competition and proposal fees will be paid to shortlisted artists. Selections will be made by panels comprised of artists, curators and public representatives from Fingal’s Public Participation Network and Fingal County Council. Infrastructure supports artists in 4 principal ways — Establishing a series of ambitious Public Art projects to take place throughout the county. — Facilitating Co-Produced projects, which encourage active engagement between artists,community partners and local hosts. — Purchasing artworks for a variety of buildings used by communities in Fingal, giving the opportunity for citizens to actively select contemporary artworks for their individual active spaces. — Commissioning bold new artworks for the built environment and public spaces. Infrastructure has been developed by Caroline Cowley, Fingal County Council’s Public Art Co-ordinator and Curator Aisling Prior. 2 Introduction With the Infrastructure Public Art commissioning programme, the critical role of the Local Authority in providing supports, and a knowledge base operating from ground level outwards, will be demonstrated. “The Naul! Is it possible that you didn’t The civic role of the local authority and the arts know the Naul? You don’t say you were can be traced back to the Early Renaissance, in Milan and never saw the Cena!” to the powerful series of frescoes painted by Ambrogio Lorenzetti in 1338, titled ‘The Allegory — Samuel Beckett. ‘Fingal’. More Pricks of Good and Bad Government’. Located in the than Kicks, 1934 council chambers of the Town Hall in Siena, the frescoes were commissioned by the town council, The Council of Nine. The series is considered one of the foremost secular paintings in the history of art. A utopian vision of urban and rural society, it illustrates a set of ideals by which to govern and thus to live, depicting paradigms of good ways of living in society, by championing industry, culture, the arts, agriculture and commerce. For a number of years, Fingal County Council has established a reputation for facilitating unique opportunities for artists to explore its towns and communities in new and meaningful ways, and to tell stories about where and how we live now, through projects that have often exceeded expectations. The nature of many of these arts projects was perambulatory, or as one of our previously commissioned artists Dennis McNulty, put it, work was made by a means of a ‘derive’, a meander through the many facets of the county. “To be an artist, you have to move. The sheer scale and diversity of the county When you stop, you are no longer of Fingal has always required the artist to take an artist.” a broad overview of its rural, urban and coastal profiles and by way of exploration, journey through — Agnes Martin them physically and metaphorically. With Infrastructure 2017 — 2021 we are extending invitations to artists to see anew, to visit and return, to listen to histories and people, tracing the patterns that make connections and comparisons between local and global, with Fingal placed as a microcosm of an ever-changing world Caroline Cowley Public Art Co-ordinator Fingal County Council 3 “The Naul! Is it possible that you didn’t know the Naul? You don’t say you were in Milan and never saw the Cena!” — Samuel Beckett. ‘Fingal’. More Pricks than Kicks, 1934 4 Fingal is the third largest administrative Institute of Technology, the National Sports county in Ireland, with almost 6% of the State’s Campus and the National Aquatic Centre are key population living in the county. It has the most amenities of the area. rapidly growing population in the country, currently estimated at 300,000 people. Balbriggan which has a population of 20,000 people, has a strong multi-ethnic identity. It is The county is a pulse of economic and actively pursuing development of the town through entrepreneurial activity. Dublin Airport is located the arts having had a previously strong studio in Fingal and the county is also home to many presence in the area. light industry and manufacturing companies especially in the pharmaceutical, technological Balgriffin, Belcamp and Kinsealy rest to the edges and food production sectors. of Malahide. South of the M50 are the new towns of Charlestown and Meakstown amongst others, and are characterised by housing developments Urban and Suburban Fingal and a large new retail centre. Swords, Thornleigh, Holywell, Balbriggan, Blanchardstown, Coolmine, Meakstown, Charlestown, Balgriffin, Kinsealy, Mulhuddart, Rural Fingal Ongar, Hansfield, Carpenterstown, Porterstown, The Naul, Ballyboughal, Oldtown, Garristown, Sheepmoor, Clonsilla, Castleknock, Hartstown, Lusk, Balrothery, Balscadden, Rowelstown. Corduff, Phibblestown, Kilbarrack, Malahide. The protection of the unique rural profile of Fingal With its proximity to Dublin Airport and its rich is high on the Council’s agenda. Controlling natural and cultural amenities, Swords is widely growth and careful planning of new developments, acknowledged as the county town. Future growth recognising the value of rural communities and estimates that it will soon have a population re-affirming those communities’ contribution to of 100,000. Exciting developments are already the overall richness and value of this vast county underway in the planning of a cultural quarter are just some of the ways by which the Council for the town beginning with the newly renovated protects and supports rural life in Fingal. The Swords Castle and the opening of a Civic and Council has put in place a number of measures Cultural Centre in 2020. The town is eager to see to mitigate the effects of climate change, by more arts activity and arts presence in its centre implementing a range of progressive biodiversity and environs. practices and green infrastructural policies. It is also committed to protecting and conserving Blanchardstown, with a population of the County’s rich and diverse heritage in all its approximately 120,000 is one of the largest forms, preserving and activating places for future commercial and residential areas in the country generations. and has a significant population of international newcomers. The ethnic diversity of the residents in Rural Fingal is made up of villages most of which suburban Blanchardstown and its hinterland is well have a population of less than 1,000 people. reflected in the young school going population. The County is characterised by gently rolling Through the Per Cent for Art Scheme and the countryside to the centre, extending upwards provision of new primary and secondary schools to the north of the county as you move towards in Dublin 15, the rich cultural heritage of the Garristown and the Naul. The County’s quality soils new residents of the area has been celebrated. are extremely suitable for cereal production and Blanchardstown is edged by the Phoenix Park, horticulture, and its location makes it ideal for food the Tolka Valley, the Royal Canal and Dunsink production and agri-business, which flourishes Observatory. It has its own dedicated arts in areas such as Rush and Lusk. Fingal County centre, Draiocht and a busy public library. The Council has committed to maintaining the delicate Blanchardstown Centre, the Blanchardstown profile of these areas as an essential part of the 5 growth of Fingal both economically and culturally to further enhance the town’s open spaces. Howth, into the future. Key features of these towns include a working harbour town, is also popular with indigenous variations of vernacular architecture, tourists and day-trippers, walking the many scenic and existing, well-used community halls like those routes and the two piers, and taking boat trips in Rowelstown and Oldtown. Ballyboughal is over to Ireland’s Eye. Its Martello Tower houses celebrated for the Ballyboughal Hedgerow Society the Museum of Radio and the Howth Dublin which delivers a number of educational talks on Bay Prawn Festival is a huge annual attraction this important natural asset annually. The tradition each Spring. Sutton, Portmarnock, Balbriggan, of mumming also flourishes in this specific area. Donabate, Portrane and Loughshinny all have much loved scenic beaches. Coastal Fingal Sutton, Bayside, Howth, Baldoyle, Portmarnock, Community Generated Themes for Artists. Malahide, Rush, Donabate, Portrane, Loughshinny, Artists are free to research their own ideas and Skerries, Balbriggan. thematics for artworks and projects. However, in order to inform the Infrastructure commissioning Fingal boasts 88km of coastline. Prominent visual brief from the outset, a county-wide consultation markers on the coast are the twelve Martello process was carried out by the Arts Office of Fingal Towers, Lambay Island, Ireland’s Eye, Shennick, County Council in Spring/Summer 2016. St. Patrick’s Island and Rockabil. Previous coastal artistic activity has taken place with projects such This consultation process comprised of a series of as Fearghus Ó’Conchúir and Dan Dubowitz’s public presentations in Baldoyle Library,