Holger Lonze 2 Poetry Day Church Island 2019 Image Credit Valerie O'Sullivan
Following the launch of the Creative
Places pilot in Tuam in 2020, the Arts Council is expanding the
programme (June 2021 – June 2024). The new Creative Places include Athy
(Kildare), Bagenalstown (Carlow), Darndale, (North Dublin), Edenderry (Offaly)
and the West Cork Islands for three year programmes, while Shannon (Clare),
Iveragh Peninsula (Kerry) and Mac Uilliam (Tallaght) receive research awards to
develop their Creative Places.
Creative Places is an opportunity for places which had not benefitted from sustained arts investment in the past to build local arts programmes which will benefit the people who live in these places. Each programme will have a coordinator or researcher
who will begin local conversations to discuss and plan a range of brilliant creative and participatory projects for local people to take part in and enjoy. The approach is inclusive and diverse and rooted in socially engaged practice and community
development principles. It builds on existing cultural strengths and led by community participation and ideas and supported by artists.
The Arts Council-led programme is
underpinned by a commitment in its Making Great Art Work 2016–2025
strategy to increase engagement in the arts, whereby the Arts Council invests
directly in a place and its people, working with key local partners to uncover
each location’s key assets, resources and ambitions.
Creative Places Tuam
Tuam residents, artists and guests take part in an evening tour of Tuam
by local artists Jojo Hynes and Midie Corcoran, part of the Creative Places and
Create Networking Event 2022. Photo by James Ryan for Creative Places Tuam.
Creative Places Tuam is led by Create, the national development agency for collaborative arts. Since 2020, Creative Places Tuam has worked with the residents of the town and hinterlands, offering a series of residencies, artist developmental opportunities,
mentorships and local training opportunities, all designed to build capacity for artists and communities to work collaboratively together. This is facilitated by community conversations, a space for real conversation and listening to take place that
can and does directly impact and inform the programme of work. Recent highlights for the programme include the launch of new artist residencies with both local and international artists, including one in partnership with Create and Galway Arts Centre;
offering individual and group artists’ support and training; and hosting the Creative Places and Create Networking event in Tuam.
You can follow its progress and activities here.
Creative Places Athy
KARE, photo by Aishling Hyland Photograph
About the image:
KARE http://www.kare.ie/ service users worked with artist Emily
Rainsford on the theme of "home". The theme showcased the ideas and
interpretations of the diverse group to highlight their community, history, and
home. The group explored different aspects of mixed media, including, collage,
paint and clay, upcycled and recycled materials in making art. Athy Library
services supported the space for collaboration.
Now entering year two, Creative Places Athy is developing its programme which is informed by the rich arts and culture landscape across Athy Municipal District in south Kildare. Following a year of arts project award allocations, harnessing relationships,
and identifying communities of practice, the benefits of this funding from the Arts Council and Kildare County Council aims to increase participation and leave a legacy of participation in the arts. It will include strengthening projects already in
the incubation stage and the development of new and existing collaborations for meaningful arts opportunities. Coordinator Eilish Langton is excited to continue conversations from the local to the global in supporting the artistic and creative ambitions
of the people and place.
Website link: Here Facebook link: Here
Website link: Here Facebook link: Here
Creative Places Baltinglass
Baltinglass. Image Credit : Wicklow Heritage Office
Creative Places Baltinglass is led by Wicklow County Council’s Arts Office. Baltinglass is a small rural town located in West Wicklow bordering counties Kildare and Carlow. It is steeped in history and rich natural beauty. Built on the river Slaney,
the original settlement centred around the town's main market square.
Creative Places Baltinglass will promote inclusive opportunities to celebrate Baltinglass people and place. The programme development will ensure that there will be a mechanism of listening and responding to the community and artists at it's core. It
will celebrate the natural heritage and beauty of the town and support social regeneration alongside wider infrastructural regeneration plans. A wide range of arts and creative experiences underpinned by the principles of socially engaged arts practice
and community development will be delivered over a three year period.
Creative Places Bagenalstown
Angela Keogh & John McKenna and the first Culture Night in Bagenalstown hosted by Creative Places. Credit Michael O'Rourke)
Supported by Carlow Arts Service, Creative Places Bagenalstown continues to develop, in collaboration with project partners, a culturally diverse creative programme, centered on capacity building, collaboration, sustainability, and community development
principles.
2022 saw the first ever Bagenalstown Culture Night event held in the local library, hosted by Creative Places Bagenalstown. Creative Places Bagenalstown, in November 2022, was invited to Creative Places Tuam, the National Agency for Collaborative
Arts (CREATE) and Arts Council event to share the vision for the programme and connect with the National Network of Creative Places. The programme continues to work with local groups, schools and artists to develop and programme people-centred
creative events for 2023 and beyond.
Creative Places Darndale
Sunrise over Darndale, June 2021’ Image credit Julien Behal: Photography
Creative Places Darndale was awarded to Sphere 17 for the area of Darndale in north Dublin in June 2021. The purpose of Creative Places Darndale is to weave the arts into everyday life in Darndale. Over the course of three years, this will be achieved
by building on the variety of art forms and activities that are already present, introducing new creative and artistic experiences where they are not present, increasing participation and leaving a legacy of participation in the arts. Creative Places
Darndale is coordinated by Muirne Bloomer.
creativeplacesdarndale.ie
Creative Places Edenderry
The first full year of Creative Places
Edenderry has seen a range of important strands of the project beginning; including
Open Conversations sessions in Larkins’ Bar and Edenderry Library where
members of the local community were given the opportunity to discuss and express
what kind of local cultural life mattered to them, to supporting increased
engagement in flagship events such as Culture Night in September and the annual
Hullaballoo Festival. The project has sustainability at its heart, with
partners working on inclusion, cohesion and creativity by connecting,
cultivating and celebrating local arts and culture through community-driven,
socially engaged art projects.
www.creativeplacesedenderry.ie
Creative Places Loughlinstown
/ Ballybrack
Working on a research and
development phase and led by Southside Partnership this is “an amazing
opportunity for the community to discover how creative practice and public
spaces will improve social inclusion, wellbeing and connections for everyone in
the community. We believe this key investment in arts and culture will
encourage and promote vibrant, collective community participation that will
have far reaching ripples long into the future.” Sandra King
Creative Places Tipperary Town
Youth Work Ireland Tipperary are lead partners on this new addition to the Creative Places programme. Donal Kelly CEO said “This represents a wonderful and much-needed
opportunity for Tipperary Town that will connect people with artists, to
explore, imagine and create different futures. Creative Places will bring
opportunity and vibrancy to Tipperary Town and amazing arts experiences to the
people.”
Creative Places West Cork Islands
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Image credit
Anna Groniecka.
Creative Places West Cork Islands led by Cork
County Council includes a consortium of local arts and development agencies such
as Bere Island Projects Group, Sherkin Island Development Society,
Comharchumann Chléire and Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre. It will strengthen existing local
contemporary and traditional arts practice, create long term community-led
engagement in the arts and make visible and strengthen the interconnectedness
of the islands and the coastal communities on the mainland in West Cork.
“Many individuals and groups have worked tirelessly to ensure that the
rich, unique cultures on the West Cork Islands are sustained and continue to
thrive. Creativity and culture are at the heart of what makes us human, and how
we can connect to others; whether they are our neighbours, visitors to our
shores or connecting digitally. This programme is bringing us together –
starting on Whiddy Island – to create something new and exciting.” Cllr. Gillian Coughlan, Mayor of the County of Cork.
Creative Places Uíbh Ráthaigh
Féile na Gréine Rinnce. Image credit: Valerie O'Sullivan
Creative Places Uíbh Ráthaigh is led by Comhchoiste Ghaeltacht Uíbh Ráthaigh. “We are delighted to have this opportunity to reinvigorate community creativity in Gaeltacht Uíbh Ráthaigh. The area has deep wells of culture and this research and development
will help us to renew and refresh them for and with the whole community. We look forward to writing new stories together and to developing new ways of working together so that we can look to the future with confidence.” — Áine Uí Bheoláin, Manager
Creative Places Mac Uilliam
Photo by
Jonathan Stokes
Creative Places MacUíllíám is led by Tallaght Community Arts, in partnership with South Dublin County Arts Office. The project aims to reach out to the local community through working with MacUíllíam Development Action Group and Youth Arts Action Group
to identify and support the kind of cultural activities that are valued by the residents of MacUíllíam. Our eighteen-month active research project has brought participatory arts to the community with range of projects: theatre research for early
years, arts camps for young people aged 7-19 years, dance performance & workshops, a ‘trashcatchers’ parade and felt making workshops.
‘The
Creative Places funding has been a fantastic opportunity for us to work in
partnership with residents of the MacUíllíam Estate to engage in creative
collective actions, to build capacity, to change their social and built
environment. It continues to be a vital resource to increase participation
among key residents in mapping, planning, and delivering much-needed activities
and programmes to all residents.’ — Tony Fegan, Director of Tallaght Community Arts.
https://tallaght-arts.ie/creative-places-macuillium/
Creative Places Shannon
Shannon Town Park Opening. Image courtesy of Clare County Council
Creative Places Shannon is led by Clare County Council. “The pioneers who established Shannon are now the older generation, a generation that has shown resilience and fortitude. Shannon is a town of welcomes, it welcomed and developed new communities
from near and far when it was established, and this warmth is evident today in its community spirit. This spirit now gets to be explored creatively through the Creative Places initiative and we look forward to seeing our creative and cultural ambitions
realised.” — Siobhán Mulcahy, Arts Officer
For more information please contact the Local, Place and Public Art Team sinead.oreilly@artscouncil.ie and Eimear.Kelleher@artscouncil.ie