August 2009 Newsletter:January 2008 Newsletter ... - Dance Ireland

of 12 films of solo performances on top of each of the
Martello towers in Fingal. It was commissioned as
part of Fingal’s Per Cent for Art scheme.
It is not the very first piece of public art to involve
dance. I believe that honour goes to a work that
Catherine Young made in Kerry in 2007. Last year,
Dublin Youth Dance Company was awarded a public
art commission by Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown County
Council and the resulting work is currently in
development.
However when you consider how much money has
been spent on public art in the past few years, it is a
shame that dance has not benefited more. It is
certainly the case that in the early days of public art
commissioning, that the brief was written in a way
that was not welcoming of dance. The assumption
was that public art should be a large sculpture on a
roundabout and the language of the brief was
shaped by that assumption. However public art
commissioners have responded to the variety of arts
practices that could contribute something in the
public art context and, in recent times, the resulting
briefs are explicitly welcoming of dance.
And yet when Kildare County Council invited
applications from artists to become part of the panel
to which it would award commissions, only one
dance-based artist applied. Since I was that artist and
am very happy to have been selected to join the
panel, it may seem strange to be encouraging what is
ultimately competition for my future applications; but
it seems to me that there are opportunities to
develop dance-making in Ireland that are being
missed out. At a time when Arts Council funding will
be scarce, I do not think we can afford to miss those
opportunities. We are also missing out on a chance to
raise the profile of dance beyond the theatre setting,
to engage with specific communities and thereby
draw more people into an understanding of our artform.
Unfortunately, local authorities are also under
financial pressure and there may not be as many
commissions or much money in the schemes as
before. Nonetheless there are opportunities. Mayo
County Council has announced a call for applications
to its public art commissions, see the box ad. It is
offering commissions up to €64,000. I will be
applying but if I do not get selected, it would make
me happy to know that a fantastic dance proposal
was being realised with that money. Maybe you have
an idea…
FERGUS BYRNE
Body/Landscape workshop
13 - 19 September
Body/ Landscape in the Burren
Seamus Dunbar/ Frank van de Ven
€320/€280 (concessions)
www.bodyweatheramsterdam.blogspot.com
A week-long Body/Landscape workshop will take
place from 13-19 September in the Burren, County
Clare. The workshop proposes strategies to confront
Body Landscape
Source: Fergus Byrne
PUBLIC ART COMMISSION OPPORTUNITY
Opportunity in County Mayo - calling artists of all disciplines
Mayo County Council has issued an open call out for artists interested in working on Public Art
Commissions. Artists are invited to apply for a place on a public art panel, from which a wide
variety of public art commissions will be awarded in 2009 - 2011 (budgets up to €64,000). The
panel is open to a wide range of disciplines, including music, dance, drama, literature, film, visual
and performing arts. There will be two categories within the panel, one pertaining to commissions
of €10,000 to €64,000 and the second pertaining to commissions of under €10,000.
The deadline for application is Thursday 13 August 2009
An application form is available on www.mayococo.ie
or contact Gaynor Seville on 094 90 47561, Email gseville@mayococo.ie.
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