Midland Arts and Culture Magazine | SPRING 2013

Creating a daily
encounter
with the arts in Edenderry
Public Access Arts is Offaly’s newest centre for the arts, based in JKL Street in Edenderry with the
remit to promote how people encounter the arts in the town, and to encourage arts participation with a
strong emphasis on community convergence.
Offering a broad-based programme of visual, performing and literary arts, being
accessible and involving the community is its tune!
Public Access Arts is a non-profit organisation that supports the belief that
community-based arts provide significant value both to communities and artists.
The people behind the project come from a range of creative disciplines but all
share a passion for year round and sustained access to culture in the town. The
team include: Timothy Mann, a professional artist with a keen interest in
community projects who is managing the project; Catherine Mann, an artist and
arts educator; Niamh Fitzgerald, a musician and educator; Denis Baker, a graphic
designer who runs his own business (Unlimited Design); Aidan Kelly, a journalist
working for RTE and Newstalk; Eithne Mooney, a community activist and
programme manager with a keen interest in the arts; Danna Davis, an actor and
singer who has worked on Broadway and Sinéad O’Reilly, Arts Officer for Offaly
County Council who has been advising and supporting the project.
Public Access Arts opened in November 2012 and its first project, entitled The
Crowded Room invited people to come into the space and make outline drawings
of one another onto large sheets of paper, effectively making a portrait of the
community. The participants varied from school children, local Gardaí, bank staff,
an MEP and many more. This was also documented using time lapse
photography by local artist Veronica Nicholson and can be seen on You Tube by
clicking on the following link, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGcVdB9yfNc
(or search for Crowded Room).
The project was facilitated by Timothy Mann, who explained: "We wanted to find
a fun way to actively engage and encourage the local community to get involved
and take ownership of this new creative space in Edenderry.
"It created a great buzz in the town and we had almost 2,000 figures drawn onto
the piece. We followed this with an open Christmas show of work by local artists,
giving local artists the opportunity to display and sell their artwork in a
professional space. Keeping the programme fresh, innovative and varied is
important for keeping audiences interested.”
The first one-person show was by local abstract painter Louise O’Brien, whose
large colourful canvases brought light to the dark December days. They
challenged and intrigued the many visitors and expanded the appreciation of
painting in its many guises. They also acted as a useful educational aid, with art
teachers in the local secondary schools bringing students in to see the work.
This was followed by An Duanaire, a fine art print exhibition by the artists of
Leinster Printmaking Studio in Clane and their colleagues from many parts of
Ireland (who together include members of the RHA and Aosdána). The theme of
the exhibition was based on the anthology of Gaelic poetry from 1600 – 1900
called An Duanaire compiled by the Irish scholar Sean O’Tuama and translated
into English by the poet Thomas Kinsella. This was a traveling print exhibition,
which Public Access Arts were delighted to have hosted. The show also involved
poetry readings from the secondary schools and the local community and
included Brendan Cummins, a sean nós singer, who performed on the opening
night.
But Public Access Arts is more than a gallery space, with theatre forming part
of the programme at the Gables in Larkins. The play, Dead Men Walking, written
by local writer Padraic Seery, was an opportunity for an audience to experience
the same one act play performed twice but with a slightly different cast and
different endings. This was followed by a critique with the Director Gay Veitch and
writer Padraic Seery being interviewed by the playwright Eugene O’Brien. The
audience participated enthusiastically in terms of questions and voicing their
preferences.
The future is to build on what has already been accomplished in a few short
months by engaging the community and collaborating different creative
disciplines and by encouraging and nurturing different arts projects that will
enrich the cultural life of Edenderry.
Speaking about how the project is being financed, Timothy said: “So far the
project has been run on a shoe string, with a lot of voluntary hours put in. Going
forward, funding will be a challenge but to be viable we aim to think like a
business, and encourage the role of patrons, supporters, sponsors, enthusiasts
and volunteers to ensure it can continue and to go from strength to strength.
Without art we only exist!”
For more information on Public Access Arts, follow its page on Facebook or email
pubicaccessarts@gmail.com or contact 086 606 5487 M
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