Celebrating a return for audiences to the arts in seven towns across Laois, DunamaiseArts Centre is proud to present a major new project entitled re: CENTRING, a combination of free, live events between now and April 2022, led by artists and curators with origins in and strong connections to the county. re: CENTRING, which is funded by the Arts Council Initiative In the Open / Faoin Spéir, takes place in collaboration with Laois County Council Arts Office and Music Generation Laois. The first event will be headlined by singer-songwriter Jack L on Sunday 26 September in Stradbally – to book tickets for the evening concert, see dunamaise.ie and Dunamaise socials. And a range of free outdoor events will take place across the town throughout the day from 12pm – 6pm, with no advance booking requirements, guided by safe distancing outdoors. Members of the community can stroll through Stradbally and enjoy all that they encounter.

The Market Square will be a hive of activity with the Laois Arthouse Collective exhibiting a selection of art works, ceramics and sculptures with a live performance art event also taking place, coordinated by Ballyfin based artist, Kevin Mc Cann. The public can engage with artists to discuss their processes, as they create paintings live on site!

The Bandwagon will visit the Green at Courthouse Square, with an afternoon of live music and workshops, including Laois band Paper Planes and Portlaoise Singer-Songwriter James O’Connor.

From 12 noon entertaining puppet shows for all the family will colour and energise the garden of Laois Arthouse while the Arthouse Gallery will be open throughout the day for visitors to enjoy ‘Moving On’ – an Exhibition of ceramics by Artist Monica O’Meara.  All events will be presented in line with current Government Guidelines and restrictions and capacities will be managed. Please follow instructions from festival stewards to ensure everyone’s health, safety and enjoyment of events on the day.

Laois Arthouse Gallery presents  ‘Moving On’ – An Exhibition of Ceramics from 4pm-8pm  – Artist Monica O’Meara will exhibit a selection of her abstract ceramic works both wall and plinth mounted.  Meet the artist Monica O’ Meara in the Arthouse, Stradbally on Culture Night 2021.  “I feel deeply connected to untamed landscapes prevalent in the Irish uplands and coast – the physical marks, exposed rocks, cracks and folds, contrasting colours and textures that evidence their creation.  My work explores geology and the concept of time, investigating the notion of capturing and accelerating unfathomable time through ceramic processes. Ceramic construction methods and materials echo the brute natural forces intrinsic to the formation of geological strata and their subsequent breakdown and exposure through erosion – crushing, crashing, scorching, rupturing and shattering. My approach of using layers to emphasise on a micro level to convey what is evident in the natural world on a macro level has resonances with the passing of time in the life of humankind. ‘Moving On’ explores our responses to both time and nature in the rapidly changing times we presently find ourselves.”   Join Monica at ‘Moving On’ for informal conversations on the day.

Painting the Particular

The Laois Arthouse Gallery , Stradbally, Co Laois is delighted to re-open with an exhibtion entitled Painting the Particular – Paintings of Suburban Dublin 2004-2016 by Mary Burke.

Mary Burke studied Fine Art at NCAD graduating in 1982. 
She has exhibited extensively both in Ireland and abroad and she has been awarded residencies at the Leighton Artists’ Colony at the Banff Centre for the Arts in Canada and a United States Information Agency fellowship to work at the Vermont Studio Center, USA. She has received several awards including three Arts Council bursaries, a bursary from the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation (Montreal), a Golden Fleece Merit Award from the Lillias Mitchell Trust and two Professional Development grants from Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. Her work has been purchased for many public and corporate collections including The Arts Council, AIB International Financial Services Centre, Ulster Bank, KBC Bank, Eircom, Dublin Airport Authority, Aer Motive Ireland, South Dublin County Council, Fingal County Council, Laois County Council and the Office of Public Works. She also has a Masters degrees in Anthropology and Digital Media Technologies. Recent projects include House Portraits (in partnership with Tallaght Community Arts and Maynooth University 2015) and TOWNSCAPE (in collaboration with Laois County Council Arts Office and the Sociology Department of Maynooth University 2018-19). Her most recent project At Home on the Farm is a commissioned exhibition for the Limerick City Gallery of Art (2021) A selection of Mary Burkes paintings will be on display in the Laois Arthouse.

Mary conducted this years annual Adult Summer Art course in the Malthouse, located in the centre of  Stradbally, Co Laois.  Eight particpants enjoyed the four day course and Mary shared her work methods and experience to assist and guide students in making art works that responded to the town of Stradbally. The Laois Arthouse is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year.

The exhibition open from 20 July until  3^rd September and from Tuesday to Friday, 1pm-4pm. and Saturday 10am-1pm.  The Gallery can be accessed through the Public Library each day except for Friday when it can be accessed through the Arthouse, on the Timahoe Road. Admission is free.

For further informaiton about the exhibition, please contact Muireann Ní Chonaill  and /or the Arts Office team at artsoff@laoiscoco.ie on  057 86 64109

Painting-the-Particular-List-of-Works

For 2021 Laois Arts Office on behalf of the Culture & Creativity team launch the Cruinniú na nÓg Art Competition  –  Laois Series: A Sense of Place and invite  children and young people up to 18 (living in Laois) to create a piece of art inspired by their ‘sense of place’.  The artwork can be in any visual art medium such as, drawing, painting, lego, sculpture, print, collage, digital photography, mixed media, graffiti, etc.  The age categories for submissions are under 6, 6-8, 9-11, 12-14 & 15-18.  One winner from each age category will be selected.  Their artworks will be professionally photographed and exhibited at Dunamaise Arts Centre.  The five artworks selected will also become part of a series of postcards reflecting the many facets of Laois and our ‘sense of place’ and will be available to the public for free.  The Competition is open for submissions until Wed 23^rd June.  For all entry details go to dunamaise.ie.

The Arts Office are currently  exhibiting  work by resident artists; Sarah Delany, Rennie Buenting and Jen Donnery from Laois Arthouse Stradbally online as part of the Laois Bealtaine programme of events.  The exhibition is titled  “A Road Less Travelled” in memory of those who lost their lives in care settings during this tragic journey through the pandemic.  Artists in residence at the Arthouse Stradbally were asked to respond to the theme of Caring and Sharing to create a piece of artwork for St Vincents Hospital Mountmellick, Abbeyleix District Hospital and St Brigids’ Hospital Shaen.  Selection of the work was made by a panel from each of the hospitals.  The artwork submitted as well as the  selected pieces can be viewed online until the end of  May to give people a  chance to consider purchasing a piece for themselves or to donate to a Care Home of their choice in the county.  Great credit goes to resident artist David Tully who curated and presented the online showcase.

Sarah Delany  is an award-winning artist living in Laois. She began her artistic training at the Byam Shaw School of painting and drawing London graduating in Fine Art.  Since then she has emerged as a gifted painter specialising in animals and landscape. Sarah intuitively applies her paint in thick broad, highly spirited brushstrokes that not only convey the essence of her subject but also highlights an artist who understands what paint is about. Sarah has exhibited widely in  both England and Ireland and her work is held in  public and private collections. She is currently a resident at Laois Arthouse Stradbally.

Rennie Buenting commenced her professional art career after many years of teaching in schools and education centres while running a thoroughbred racing stud farm.  Rennie submerges herself in her subject and allows it to dictate the medium she uses.  These include painting, printmaking, textiles, sculpture, installation, film and performance that deliver a unique experience of a space, a place, a cause, or a landscape, and often serve as a discussion platform.  Rennie has been awarded numerous bursaries and residencies and has exhibited in Ireland, Scotland, and on the continent.  In February 2021 she was awarded a month’s residency for the painting and song “Joya” in the Dunamaise Open Submission Exhibition.  The two most popular exhibitions to date, The Magdalen Laundries and Where has all the sugar gone? (an exhibition about the cessation of the Irish Sugar Industry) include large installations and audience participation and attract much interest and discussion.  Her work also features in the Prince of Wales’ art collection. ww.renniebuenting.weebly.com

Jen Donnery’s 2020 solo show Mater Materia took place in the Dunamaise Arts Centre; she was shortlisted for the DCCI Future Makers Awards in the same year. Her drawings, paintings and ceramic sculptures engage with themes of maternity, femininity, and the capacity of a woman’s body to produce and nurture human life. Donnery’s work has been selected for the 2019 Ceramics Ireland Selected Members Exhibition at Rathfarnham Castle, Dublin, and Sculpture in Context, 2019 & 2020, in the National Botanic Gardens. In 2017, she was awarded a residency at the Laois Arthouse for her work in the Dunamaise Open Submission Exhibition. www.jendonnery.com

For more info or to purchase a piece of work contact:  E artsoff@laoiscoco.ie or T: 057 8664000 or visit www.laois.ie

Culture Night in Laois, Friday 18^th of September – with FREE EVENTS happening live and online across the county.  Celebrate Culture Night in Laois.   Live events include;  An exhibition at The Gallery Laois Arthouse, Stradbally from 2pm – 8pm. At Fitzmaurice Place Plaza, Portlaoise – In celebration of Helen Roe from 8pm-11pm, view a looped video (10 min) projection that encapsulates and gives a fascinating insight into the life and work of Mountrath born, Helen Roe.  Dunamaise Arts Centre, are showing a wonderful exhibition entitled ‘Children of the Free State’ by Annie Holland from 10am-11pm. Also see Live Portrait Painting with Blaise Smith from 6pm-9pm.  In Mountmellick an outdoor performance by CCE Mountmellick on the steps of the Art Centre,  Mountmellick from 4pm.   All live events will run subject to Covid-19 restrictions. Go online to view an Eco Printing Workshop with Artist Angelina Foster and an Earth Art Workshop, with artist Aishling Hennessy,  filmed  earlier at Laois Arthouse.  Or learn how to paint an eye with artist Rebecca Deegan live streamed from the Arthouse.  Enjoy a  series of Art Workshops from Mount Henry Arts Studios including a Plein Air Workshop with artist Mary Slevin and two childrens’ workshops titled:  How To Make A Dinosour for  ages 5-8 year  and Creating Affirmation Cards for ages  9-12.  View Laois Series: A Sense Of Place: a video featuring 26 young people including, Laois Youth Theatre, Laois Youth Dance Ensemble, Laois County Library Service, Music Generation Laois and young people interested in nature and biodiversity.  Bringing Bacon Home from Heritage House Abbeyleix is a short film exploring the artist Francis Bacon’s time at Farmleigh House, Abbeyleix.  For Music lovers see a short video ‘The Impossible Dream,’ a specially commissioned suite of music inspired by the life of Colonel James Fitzmaurice with musician and songwriter Martin Tourish in collaboration with Music Generation Trad Orchestra or Stepping through Irish Music with Emer Dunne with songs and music of old.   All the online events are available from www.culturenight.ie from 4pm-12am.  Chat through Irish, join Ciorcal Cainte ar Zoom from 6pm-7pm, from An Sean Chistin, Ballyfin, Portlaoise.  To book in E: seanchistin@gmail.com with your request to join.

Coming soon to the Arthouse Musings of an Artful Life’ and exhibition of work by the Old School Collective;  comprising of artists;  Antoinette Breen , Mike Rafter , Kevin McCann and Liam Phelan. Opening on Thursday 7^th May at 7pm, the work will be on display throughout the month of May. Visitors are welcome to view the wonderful selection of paintings, including still life, portraits and landscapes developed over the year by the group.  Antoinette Breen, is a self taught Laois artist. Studied in N.C.A.D and D.L.I.A.D.T., she paints in oils and acrylics mostly. Antoinette has work in several collections in Ireland and abroad. Mike Rafter is a self taught artist from Castletown who works mainly in oils and prefers to paint out of doors in a loose alla prima style. Kevin McCann is a self taught artist, who works with oil paint, wood and ceramics. Most of his work includes people in some shape or form. Liam Phelan is a retired local businessman who has focussed more on his artwork since his retirement. His preferred medium is acrylic on canvas and his work includes landscapes, seascapes and local historic buildings.  Having formed the Old School Art Collective the group meet regularly in Bloom HQ Mountrath.

The most recent exhibition at the  Arthouse was a wonderful collection of works by Pakistani born artist Hina Khan. The exhibition was formally launched on Saturday 11th January by Miniser Charles Flanagan, Minister for Justice.

Previous exhibition on show was by Kildare based artist Cathy Whelan who specialises in ceramic artwork. titled “Losing Ground”.

Cathy’s work explores evolving ideas about the environment and highlights the intersection between humanity and nature. It serves to question the impact of human activity and the pressures we exert upon the natural world through a modern culture of excess.

Cathy is graduate of the National College of Art and Design and is currently in residence at Laois Arthouse. She has exhibited work in Gallery Zosimus Dublin, NCAD Window Gallery and as part of a Group show in Laois Arthouse.

The exhibition was opened by Wildlife Conservationist, Ricky Whelan. Ricky studied Zoology in NUIG He works with BirdWatch Ireland’s Conservation Team.

A free, illustrated talk by the National Gallery will take place at Laois Arthouse on Monday 17th June at 7pm. Titled Shaping Ireland: Landscapes in Irish Art,  the talk will explore the exhibition: its timely topics, the works displayed and the powerful impact of humans on our environment.

Shaping Ireland: Landscapes in Irish Art is an exhibition spanning 250 years. On display in the National Gallery of Ireland from 13 April to 7 July, it explores the relationship between people and the natural world.  Contact: 057 8664033/13  or email artsoff@laoiscoco.ie to express interest in attending.

‘Painting the portrait from life’

The Laois Arthouse is delighted to welcome Una Sealy RHA for the annual summer arts programme for adults. In these two day workshops, Una Sealy led the participants through the process of painting a portrait from life; from planning the composition, through tonal under painting, to completed painting.

Una painted alongside the participants to demonstrate the various principles, and gave  individual guidance according to each artist’s level of experience.

An exhibition of Una Sealy’s portraits and a selection of participants work is now displayed in the Laois Arthouse Gallery. The exhibition was opened by Sinéad Ó Reilly, Head of Local Arts and Participation at the Arts Council of Ireland.

Una Sealy RHA is an Irish artist based in North Co. Dublin. She paints domestic interiors, streetscape, landscape and portraiture. She paints from observation and often the compositions evolve organically, with elements appearing and disappearing before the final arrangement is arrived at. The works form a kind of visual autobiography. This exhibition of Una Sealy’s portraits showcases a personal selection of works depicting friends and family, shown together for the first time. Sealy works from life, and spends varying amounts of time with her sitters, from a single three hour sitting, to longer term projects requiring multiple sessions. This connection between artist and sitter is important to Sealy, as the resulting conversations inform the work, and contribute to a certain fluidity in the paint handling.  The aim is that the resulting work somehow encapsulates time passing, as opposed to one static moment.

Further information from Muireann Ní Chonaill at, artsoff@laoiscoco.ie +353 57 86 64109

Portraiture Workshops with artist Una Sealy RHA

‘Painting the portrait from life’

course A June 4, 5                       Course B June 6, 7

Booking required:  Places limited €60 per two day course

The Laois Arthouse is delighted to welcome Una Sealy RHA for the annual summer arts programme for adults.

Una Sealy RHA is an Irish artist based in North Co. Dublin. She paints domestic interiors, streetscape, landscape and portraiture. She paints from observation and often the compositions evolve organically, with elements appearing and disappearing before the final arrangement is arrived at. The works form a kind of visual autobiography.

In these two day workshops, Una Sealy will lead the participants through the process of painting a portrait from life; from planning the composition, through tonal under painting, to completed painting.

The workshop will begin with an introduction to the anatomy of the face, head and neck, which will help with the structure of the portrait, and then proceed with composing the piece.

Working in oils, we will look at colour mixing using a limited palette, effects of light, and the colour of the shadows. Warm/cool contrasts will be studied in order to increase the understanding of depicting 3 dimensions on the picture plane.

Una will paint alongside the participants to demonstrate the various principles, and will give individual guidance according to each artist’s level of experience.

An exhibition of Una Sealy’s portraits will be displayed in the Laois Arthouse gallery.

This exhibition of portraits showcases a personal selection of works depicting friends and family, shown together for the first time.
Sealy works from life, and spends varying amounts of time with her sitters, from a single three hour sitting, to longer term projects requiring multiple sessions.
This connection between artist and sitter is important to Sealy, as the resulting conversations inform the work, and contribute to a certain fluidity in the paint handling.  The aim is that the resulting work somehow encapsulates time passing, as opposed to one static moment.

A selection of work undertaken by the participants during the courses will be shown also. This exhibition opens on Friday 7^th June at 4pm.

Bookings for the courses can be made by paying a €30 deposit. Forms can be downloaded here Application form Una Sealy

Further information from Muireann Ní Chonaill at, artsoff@laoiscoco.ie +353 57 86 64033/13.