New Ground - Mayo County Council

The Arts Office, Mayo County Council,
Áras an Chontae, Castlebar.
Tel. 094 90 24444 ext 7560
E-mail: mayoarts@mayococo.ie
ALL EVENTS ARE FREE
Mayo County Library HQ,
John Moore Rd, Castlebar.
Phone +353 (0)94 9047924
E-Mail: librarymayo@mayococo.ie
Design & Print: Cashin Print, Castlebar. Tel: 094 9026622.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT MAYO COUNTY
COUNCIL’S BEALTAINE PROGRAMME, CONTACT:
‘08
MAYO COUNTY COUNCIL
Bealtaine
2008
Cover Image: Detail of painting by Annie Mae Cullinane, Untitled, 2008.
C E L E B R AT I N G C R E AT I V I T Y I N O L D E R A G E
‘08
Welcome to Bealtaine 2008. This is the thirteenth year of Bealtaine, the
national festival which celebrates creativity in older age – co-ordinated
nationally by Age and Opportunity (an agency set up to challenge negative
attitudes to ageing and to promote greater participation by older people
in society). Bealtaine aims to involve older people in the arts, through
expression and active participation. It also encourages older people to
engage as an experienced audience for all art forms.
Workshops Programme
ALL EVENTS ARE FREE
Kilmaine ARA
Storytelling with Clare Murphy
Monday 12th, 19th & 26th at 8pm
Kilmaine Hall
Crossmolina ARA
Town Hall, Crossmolina
Castlebar ARA
Welcome Inn, Castlebar
Westport ARA
Programme Launch
Plougastel Court, Westport
Everybody is welcome to join Mayo County Council Arts
Office and Library Service at the launch of Bealtaine 2008
programme in the Welcome Inn Hotel, Castlebar on
Thursday 1st May at 2.30pm. Cllr. Seamus Weir,
Cathaoirleach, Mayo County Council will officially launch
the programme. Tea/Coffee and sandwiches will be served
and music will be provided by The Jazz Ladds.
The Orchard Age ARA
The Jazz Ladds are a 5 piece Band, i.e. Trumpet, Tenor Saxophone, Clarinet,
Harmonica, Lead Guitars, Bass, Rhythm Guitar, Drums and four members also
feature on vocals. With regular appearances at the now world famous Cork Jazz
Festival or a trip to the Kempten Jazz Festival in Germany, The Jazz Ladds have
firmly established themselves as one of the busiest bands around. Originally known
as a traditional jazz band the Ladds’s programme now includes Salsa, Blues,
Country and even the odd old time waltz, when required.
St. Colman’s, Cornmarket, Ballinrobe
The Programme
This extensive programme features a residency, four major special projects, six music
recitals, two theatre performances and twenty-two workshops covering the entire
county. Bealtaine is expanding every year and in order to deliver the programme,
Mayo County Council is working in association with Active Retirement Groups and
Health Care settings. This year, four ARA groups are participating in twelve-week
special projects in the areas of Visual Art, Music and Drama. In addition, four other
ARA groups will be doing three consecutive arts workshops. These workshops were
offered on a first come first served basis and will provide a better arts experience for
those involved. Furthermore, Arts Venues in the county offer excellent
opportunities to participate and see quality arts events.
Mayo County Council Arts Office would like to thank most sincerely all the
venues, groups and individuals associated with the Bealtaine Festival 2008
Drama with John Breen
Wednesday 7th, 14th & 21st at 8pm
Samba/Percussion with Peter Crann
Wednesday 7th, 14th & 21st at 8pm
Music & Memory with John Hoban
Monday 12th, 19th & Friday 23rd at 3pm
Dance with Claire Hughes
Orchard Community Centre, Swinford Monday 26th at 3pm
Roundfort ARA
Roundfort Community Centre
Ballinrobe ARA
Ballina ARA
Pastoral Centre, Ballina
Charlestown ARA
Pastoral Centre, Charlestown
Mayo Abbey ARA
Bishop O’Haley Centre
Taugheen ARA
Taugheen Community Centre
Kilcoman/Claremorris ARA
D’Alton Inn, Claremorris
Cairde le Chéile, Geesala
The High Chapparal, Geesala
Ballyhaunis ARA
Augustinian Priory House
Dance with Claire Hughes
Monday 26th at 8pm
Drama with Fiona McDonagh
Monday 19th May at 11am
Dance with Claire Hughes
Thursday 22nd May at 11 am
Storytelling with Clare Murphy
Monday 19th May at 3pm
Storytelling with Clare Murphy
Friday 9th May at 2pm
Drama with John Breen
Tuesday 6th May at 10.30am
Visual Art with Carmel Balfe
Monday 12th May at 8pm
Dance with Claire Hughes
Wednesday 21st May at 12 noon
Visual Art with Carmel Balfe
Thursday 8th May at 7pm
Bealtaine Artists in Residence
Mayo County Council Arts Office is delighted to announce that our
Bealtaine Artists in Residence for 2008 are John Fox and Sue Gill; formerly
artistic directors of Welfare State International, the legendary celebratory arts
company which they founded in 1968 and archived on April Fools Day
2006. The many prototypes of art in the community, such as installations,
site specific theatre, lantern parades, flag festivals, political carnival and a
holistic art centre, which the Welfare State Collective pioneered over three
decades, have had a world wide influence on mainstream culture. John and
Sue founded Dead Good Guides which picks up where Welfare State
International left off.
This residency ‘New Ground’ will involve working with Mayo Artsquad, the
Arts Community (and the wider community through the resulting event and
tangential workshops) and is viewed as a masterclass by highly experienced
and respected artists. This is a very special opportunity for all involved:
participants will have an opportunity, within a supportive environment, to
enquire into new ways of making art that is both direct and relevant.
New Ground
New Ground
A ten day workshop and final event will be led by John Fox and Sue Gill.
The project will be open-ended and organic in nature, asking questions
about the changing role of Art in an enterprise economy, and demonstrating
new applications and new contexts for creative work. The final event will be
held on Sunday 18th May from 2pm on, in The Rural Training Centre,
Castlebar, and be celebratory and family-oriented in nature. Welcoming
flags, archways, signage, wayside markers, hi tech sound and visual
installations and storytellers will form part of the final event.
Mayo Artsquad
Established in 1997 with FÁS support, Mayo County Council’s Artsquad
has continued to provide excellent training in community arts skills for
fifteen participants annually. The participants on Artsquad come from a
wide variety of backgrounds and work with groups from all communities,
providing workshops, training and street theatre. The Artsquad also works
extensively with festivals throughout the county.
Detail of painting by Peter Shaughnessy, Untitled, 2008.
Special Projects
Visual Art – Newport ARA with Lucy Hill
Visual Art – Balla ARA with Breda Murphy
“In terms of subject matter or themes, I hope to encourage
individual exploration and creativity and would like for
individual themes to emerge and be discussed and developed as
we progress through the twelve weeks. In terms of materials, we
have decided that drawing and painting in acrylic would be the
main focus but I would like to introduce a range of different
materials to stimulate different approaches to creating images
which I hope will be of value”. – Lucy Hill.
“The introduction week will include a show of examples of
work and ideas exchange to get to know the group and
individuals’ interests. We will start off by exploring markmaking using a variety of media and surfaces. The first three
weeks we will be concentrating on drawing from still life,
photographs, use of mirrors etc before deciding on materials
and focusing on working towards finished pieces”. – Breda
Murphy.
© Michael Donnelly
In 1994, Lucy Hill completed an M.A. at the Winchester School of Art in
Barcelona. She has exhibited all over Ireland and in other diverse locations
including Spain, USA and Estonia. She has worked on the annual RoolaBoola
Children’s Arts Festival, and in 2007 Lucy Hill was the Artist-in-Residence at the
2007 Claremorris Open Exhibition. She has twice been commissioned by Mayo
County Council under the Public Art scheme and her work can be viewed at the
Westport Fire Station and Blacksod Pier.
Music – Tuesday Club ARA, Kiltimagh with Bríd Kivneen
“This weekly gathering will provide a forum where members of
the group can gather together and express themselves musically in
any or a combination of the following ways: singing together
with the group, singing solo, playing an instrument and
dancing. There will also be a space for storytelling or recitals.” –
Bríd Kivneen
Bríd Kivneen is a community musician whose love of music,
song and dance comes across in all her work. She plays
traditional Irish music which she learnt at the hands of the old
players in County Clare and she has a range of songs from a
variety of traditions which she loves to share.
Bríd studied an M.A. in Community Music at the University of Limerick and has
since worked as a facilitator for groups of people to come together to share music,
songs, stories and movement. As a result of some of this work the groups have
performed for the local community and one group participated at the Festival of
World Cultures in Dun Laoghaire. Bríd loves to encourage those interested to
explore their voices musically in an open, supportive environment.
Breda Murphy is a visual artist with a background in textile
art and lens based media. She has worked in the community
arts field for a number of years and has facilitated a range of
arts projects in counties Mayo and Galway. Workshops in a
variety of media are run in an encouraging and supportive
atmosphere that accommodates all ages and abilities. She
currently works on the Luisne Art Project with Crannmor,
Ballinrobe and as part of Mayo County Council’s Artists’
Mentoring & Networking Programme.
Drama – Foxford ARA with John Breen
“Over the course of twelve weeks, Foxford ARA and I will
devise and produce a piece of drama that is drawn from the
life experience and world view of the members of Foxford
ARA. It is envisaged that this work may then be presented to
audiences in Foxford towards the end of the project” – John
Breen
John Breen is Artistic Director of Yew Tree Theatre, Ballina.
He is best known as the writer and director of Alone it
Stands, which was nominated for the Stewart Parker Award
and Irish Times Award for best new play in 1999. He was
awarded the Irish Times/ESB Theatre Award in 2000 for
best director for Alone it Stands (which has toured
worldwide and been seen by an estimated two hundred and
twenty thousand people). His second play, Charlie was
produced to critical acclaim in 2003. More recently, 2007
saw Yew Tree’s production of Fr. Matthew receive rave
reviews from the like of RTÉ and the Irish Times.
Live Music Programme
Gráinne Hambly (Harp)
Fr. Peyton Centre, Attymass, Ballina
Áras Attracta, Swinford
St. Brendan’s Village, Mulranny
Gráinne Hambly
Tuesday 27th May at 2pm
Wednesday 28th May at 2.30pm
Thursday 29th May at 3.30pm
Horn Harp Duo
McBride Home, Westport
D’Alton Home, Claremorris
Tuesday 27th May at 11am
Thursday 27th May at 2pm
Joe Carey and Special Guest
Áras Deirbhle, Belmullet
Wednesday 7th May at 1.30pm
Horn Harp Duo
Aisling Ennis (Harp) and Mary Curran (French Horn) are both freelance
musicians performing in several groups. Aisling performs throughout Ireland,
Europe and Asia as both a soloist and group performer. Her playing and
repertoire span all disciplines of the harp from classical harp music through Jazz
and popular music to traditional Irish music. Mary is an integral member of the
Whistleblast Quartet and former musician-in-residence with Mayo County
Council. The duo performs a mixed programme of classical and light music, as
well as Celtic songs and music.
Gráinne comes from Mayo Abbey, and is a music
graduate of Queen's University Belfast. She
began to play traditional Irish music on tin
whistle at an early age, before turning to the
concertina and later the harp.
Over the past eight years, Gráinne has toured
extensively throughout Europe, the United
States and Japan. She is also a qualified teacher of
traditional Irish music and is in great demand at
summer schools and festivals both in Ireland and
abroad. Gráinne has featured on a number of
recordings and has released three critically
acclaimed solo CDs.
Joe Carey
Joe Carey is a well-known accordion player,
vocalist and guitarist from Geesala in County
Mayo. Joe has been playing traditional music
events both in Ireland and overseas for many
years. He has recorded on a number of albums,
most notably ‘Live at Lenehans’ with legendary
fiddle player Paddy Mills and guitarist Pat Egan.
Detail of painting by
Bridie Timlin, Untitled, 2008.
Theatre Programme
Mayo County Library Service
Raccoon
St. Colman’s Care Centre, Keel, Achill
Sacred Heart Home, Castlebar
Talks & Readings Programme:
Monday 26th May at 2pm
Tuesday 27th May at 10.30am
Meridian Theatre Company
Down Memory Lane: favourite poems and memories from
school with author Thomas F. Walsh
Kiltimagh Library—Tuesday 6th May, 3.00pm (Tel. 094 9381768)
Meridian is a Cork based company, which specialises in new work, exploring
particularly the potential of multi-media and music theatre. The company's
productions are part of a single, long term experiment in the creation of a
theatrical style which presents challenging contemporary content in a vivid,
accessible form.
Meridian produces two to three pieces annually, tours extensively and
engages in a wide range of research and development work ranging from
technical workshops to commissions to mentoring schemes for young
professionals to collaborative writing and devising processes.
Meridian Theatre Company is funded by The Arts Council, Cork City
Council and Cork County Council.
Racoon
Raccoon is a poignant, lyrical tale
of small town Irish life. Centring
on Saoirse, a waitress in a small
café, it explores the great
contemporary Irish themes of
children laid aside but held in the
heart as a lifelong yearning, of
parents named and unnamed,
lost and found. Saoirse doesn’t
know who she is or where she
comes from but by a bizarre
chance encounter in her café she
is offered the opportunity to
reconstruct her past and her
future.
Broadcaster, teacher and writer, Thomas F. Walsh was born near Headford,
Co. Galway, and reared with his brothers and sisters on the small farm that
he so lovingly describes in Once in a Green Summer. It was a world where
ghosts were real, where stories were as old as time, where imagination was
more powerful than fact. It was a world we once lived in, now vanished
forever.
In this book, and in his bestselling Favourite Poems series, Thomas Walsh
has put together a delightful collection of memories of that vanished world.
Favourite Poems we Learned in Schools is a collection of the most quoted and
most memorable poems we learned in school. The poems are evocative and
will stir a nostalgic chord in all our hearts.
Thomas’s latest book In Silent Moments is a delightful and moving
collection of short reflections, some lyrical, some nostalgic and varying in
theme from clearing attics to a death in the family, from a Roman holiday
to memories of pupils past. They invite the reader to pause and reflect, to
accompany the author on a journey into memory and emotion. In a busy
world quiet moments are more necessary than ever before.
Mayo County Library Service
Alice Taylor: “A Journey through Time”
Castlebar Library—Tuesday 13th May at 3.00pm (Tel. 094 9047936)
Alice Taylor is the author of some of the biggest-selling books ever published
in Ireland. Her first memoir of country life, To School Through the Fields, is
acknowledged internationally as a classic account of childhood with its sequels,
Quench the Lamp, The Village, Country Days and The Night Before Christmas
all acclaimed as international bestsellers.
John Quinn: “A Personal Narrative of a time worth recording”
Claremorris Library—Wednesday 7th May at 8.00pm (Tel. 094 9371666)
Ballina Library—Thursday 8th May at 12.30pm (Tel. 096 70833)
John Quinn, from Ballivor Co. Meath, retired from RTÉ Radio in 2002
after a career spanning twenty-five years. He presented The Open Mind series
since 1989 and his well-known documentary A Letter to Olive is a deeply
personal account of his life with his wife Olive before her untimely death in
2001. Published in book form as Sea of Love, Sea of Loss, it is the memorable
story of a remarkable woman and a man’s undying love.
John Quinn publishes his new memoir of childhood Goodnight Ballivor, I’ll
Sleep in Trim in April, 2008. This latest book also grew out of his radio
documentaries and is not just another regressive desire to capture a golden
weren’t we-poor-but-happy age – nor a pursuit of dark days and misery
either. This is a journey into John’s past in a quiet, sleepy midlands village
and describes how he lived sixty odd years ago. He states simply that “these
are my memories and the collective memories of some of my contemporaries.
I feel it is important to set them down in print so that my children and future
generations will know the world from which they evolved.”
“In those fields and streams where you grew up, there you will always
live and there you will die” (from the Greek poet Cavafy).
This simple and straight forward story is John Quinn’s odyssey home!
In 1997 her first novel, The Woman of the House, also established her as a
bestselling novelist, with her subsequent novels Across the River and House of
Memories becoming immediate bestsellers in Ireland.
Her most recent publication The Parish (April ’08) evokes the virtues of life in
rural Ireland and explores the positive values of community. Once-vibrant
villages and towns are empty, their former inhabitants now in housing estates
from which they emerge to drive their children to school and crawl on trafficchoked roads to go to work. No one walks to the school or shops, and most
of the village shops have been replaced by supermarkets and shopping centres.
Village post offices, once vital social gathering places, have been closed. In a
series of vignettes of life in her own village, Alice Taylor reasserts the priorities
of public space and social community.
“People read Alice Taylor’s books; people crave Alice Taylor’s company
because they want to find peace. They find it in the leaves of her books and the
folds of her laughter……She has rare things in a policed, anaesthetized world
– a sense of place and a sense of person” (Ireland on Sunday)
Mayo County Library Service
Averil Staunton: “Intrigue of the Miniature”
Ballina Library—Tuesday 27th May at 12.30pm (Tel. 096 70833)
Antique Jewellery with antiques expert, Phyllis McNamara
Ballinrobe Library—Monday 12 May at 11.30am (Tel. 094 9541896)
Westport Library—Thursday 29th May at 3pm (Tel. 098 25747)
th
Jewellery for Phyllis MacNamara is more than a business
it's a way of life. Her academic knowledge married to her
passion and enthusiasm for these objects of beauty is
infectious. She holds a degree in Fine Art from Trinity
College and has studied with Sotheby's London and
Cartier London.
Phyllis is regularly invited to contribute to national
publications and TV shows including recent appearances
on RTE’s The Dealers and Ireland AM. She travels
extensively to jewellery shows throughout Europe and
yearly to shows in Las Vegas, Miami and New York.
Phyllis will give a talk entitled Fashion and Jewellery: Who
Follows Whom? which will be a potted history of the world
of fashion and jewellery, from the court of Elizabeth 1 to
the 20th century. Phyllis will also give her opinion on any
pieces of jewellery you would like to bring along for her
expert consideration.
“What a curious feeling!” said Alice, I must be shutting up
like a telescope” And so it was indeed: she was now only ten
inches high, and her face brightened up at the thought that she
was now the right size for going through the little door into
that lovely garden (Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland)
‘An introduction to Miniatures’ is a journey through time
with a variety of cultures and countries. Over the past three
thousand years many different miniatures, created from a
variety of materials, have been made by artists to fulfil their
own or their patrons needs.
The talk will cover a selection of miniature images from the
Chinese Han to the miniature Tudor paintings of Henry
V111, to the Dutch Dollhouse Cabinets period to the
present day. It covers examples of ceramics, paintings, Dutch
cabinet houses, Fabergé eggs, doll houses, miniature books,
contemporary sculpture and lots more.
Many people have been inspired to continue investigating
these wonderful pieces of art and become either collectors
or pursue a new art practice, hobby or craft themselves.
Old Time Movie Magic
Ballina Library—Tuesday May 20th at 2pm
Antique jewellery is, says Phyllis, “ my passion”.
Phyllis spent many years studying the history of jewellery:
“not only did it deepen my understanding of the jewels,
it opened up a whole world both politically, socially and
geographically. The perfect antique jewel should reflect
its own moment in time. Amazingly it is still possible to
buy perfect examples of Victorian jewels for very modest
amounts, thus allowing us to literally wear a piece of
history.”
Do you remember the first movie you ever saw? Are you nostalgic for black &
white pictures? Ever long for the old movies where the dialogue was as sharp as
the mens’ suits! The wait is over.
Ballina Library presents an afternoon of Classic Old Time Comedy
Laurel & Hardy in Blotto–This short film is a comic delight
and contains everything a Laurel and Hardy fan would want,
the usual slapstick, an irate wife, and a plausible plot.
The main feature will be Duck Soup. This is the Marx Brothers’
funniest and most insane film and probably the Marx Brothers'
most famous comedy.
For an afternoon of sheer nostalgic delight,
travel back in time and see a real old time movie!
Mayo County Library Service
Venues in Mayo
Computer Classes for Older People:
There are a variety of excellent venues providing
arts events and workshops throughout the year.
If you would like to be added to these venues’
mailing lists and receive regular information on
events and activities, please contact them directly.
These classes are aimed at those with little or no experience
of using computers or the Internet and will cover the following :
➢
➢
➢
➢
Introduction to using keyboard and mouse
Accessing the Internet
Opening websites
Searching for information on the Internet
Linenhall Arts Centre
Linenhall Street, Castlebar, Co. Mayo.
Tel: 094 90 23733
Email: Linenhall@anu.ie
The classes are free but booking is essential :
■
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■
■
■
Ballyhaunis Library
Ballina Library
Westport Library
Castlebar Library
Louisburgh Library
Claremorris Library
8th May
12th & 13th
12th & 19th
19th & 26th
22nd May
27th & 28th
May
May
May
May
(094) 963 0161
(096) 70833
(098) 25747
(094) 904 7554
(098) 66658
(094) 9371666
All Mayo County Library Bealtaine Events are FREE
but booking is essential for computer classes.
Contact your local library for details or visit,
www.mayolibrary.ie
Detail of painting by Peter Shaughnessy, Untitled, 2008.
Ballina Arts Centre
Barrett St., Ballina, Co. Mayo.
Tel: 096 73593
Email: ballinaartscentre@eircom.net
Custom House Studios
The Quay, Westport, Co. Mayo.
Tel: 098 28735.
Email: customhouse@eircom.net
Kiltimagh Town Hall Theatre
Aiden St, Kiltimagh, Co. Mayo.
Tel: 094 9381494
Email: annmariemcging@ird-kiltimagh.ie
Townhall Arts Centre
Barrack St, Charlestown, Co. Mayo.
Tel: 094 9255812
Email: thac@eircom.net
Áras Inis Gluaire
Belmullet Civic Centre, Belmullet, Co. Mayo
Tel: 097 81079
Email: info@arasinisgluaire.ie
National Museum of Ireland – Country Life
Contact the Education and Outreach Department
Turlough Park, Castlebar, Co. Mayo.
Tel: 094 90 31751
Email: educationph@museum.ie
Detail of painting by
Mary Hope, Untitled, 2008.
Bealtaine Events in...
BALLINA ARTS
CENTRE, Ballina
CUSTOM HOUSE
STUDIOS, Westport
IRD KILTIMAGH
ARTS OFFICE
ÁRAS INIS
GLUAIRE, Belmullet
Writing Workshop:
Exhibitions:
Workshop Programme:
Bóithre na Smaointe:
Memories: Creative Writing
workshops with
Bettina Peterseil
Thursday 15th, 22nd & 29th May,
11am – 1pm.
Juliette de la Mer Until 4th May
Memory Boards with Older
People in Ballyhaunis
Áras Inis Gluaire is hosting
‘Bóithre na Smaointe’ as part of
the Bealtaine Festival this coming
May. This festival will take place
for the entire month of May and
its main objective is to celebrate
creativity in older age. Bóithre na
Smaointe is a project which will
incorporate the images and words
of older people in the Erris region
of North -West Mayo. Archive
photographs will be displayed in
the new Arts Centre in Belmullet
to a soundtrack of people’s
memories and recollections.
Workshop for those who want to
tap into their inner wealth of
memories to find clarity and
understanding and celebrate the
uniqueness of their own story
through writing. This workshop is
aimed at older people.
Bettina Peterseil is a teacher and
writer based in Castlebar. She is
currently in the process of writing
her own life story. She has run
several workshops on many
aspects of creative writing. Adm:
Free. Booking essential.
Film Screening:
Grow Your Own
Friday 23rd May, 2pm
Ciara Healy 8th May – 1st June
KILTIMAGH TOWN
HALL THEATRE
Film Screening:
Grow Your Own
Tuesday 20th May at 4pm
TOWNHALL ARTS
CENTRE, Charlestown
Film Screening:
Grow Your Own
Wednesday 21st May at 3pm
Facilitator Breda Murphy will
complete three workshops based
on Memories with Older people in
Ballyhaunis.
Writing about Memories
with Older people in Urlaur
Terry McDonagh will facilitate
two Creative writing workshops
with Older people in Urlaur.
Music and Memory with
Older People in Kilkelly
John Hoban will facilitate two
Music workshops with older
people in Kilkelly.
As part of Bealtaine, we are also
hosting a number of events every
Tuesday at the Arts Centre
• Landscape Art Workshop with
Graham Stuart.
• Storytelling with Vincent Pierse
from Roscommon.
For further information on
Dates, Times and Venues, please
contact Ann Marie McGing or
Ann Marie Carroll on 094 938
1494
The above are funded by East Mayo
LDP and administered by IRD
Kiltimagh Arts Office
• Singing with Liz Edwards &
Cathy Ryder
• Traditional Music with Liam
McGonagle, Trevor Noone &
Cillian O’Mongain
For further information, please
contact Áras Inis Gluaire on 097 –
81079 or info@arasinisgluaire.ie
Bealtaine Events in...
Film Screening:
Grow Your Own. Wednesday 7th May at 3pm
LINENHALL ARTS CENTRE, Castlebar
Art:
Writing:
Creative Writing for Older Adults with Jean Tuomey
Thursday mornings, 11am – 1pm, starting 1st May
Strike your Note, take up your pen and write. Over four Thursday morning
sessions, this course offers an encouraging atmosphere in which to write
freely. Triggers will be provided to help you get started. No previous
experience of writing is necessary, just a willingness to participate.
Informality will be an important aspect of the course, making it especially
suitable for first-time writers. The course is under the guidance of Jean
Tuomey, a teacher with over 20 years experience and a passionate
enthusiasm for creative writing. Who has led many extremely successful
writing projects for the Linenhall.
Creative Writing for Older Adults takes place over four
Thursday mornings commencing May 1st from 11.00am – 1.00pm
(continuing May 8th, 15th, 22nd). Cost for the four sessions is €20 per
person. Places are limited, and booking is ESSENTIAL.
Drama Workshops:
Drama with Donna Ruane
Tuesday mornings, 11.00 – 12.30pm, starting 6th May
There is an actor in all of us – here’s the chance to let him/her out. Try your
hand at drama in this series of informal, fun-filled workshops. Facilitated by
drama teacher, director and performer Donna Ruane, this workshop series
will help you bring your imagination to life. We don’t need any TV cameras
to create our own Linenhall soap opera or award-winning drama!
Drama Workshops take place over four Tuesday mornings commencing
May 6th from 11.00am – 12.30pm. (continuing May 13th, 20th and 27th).
Cost per head for the workshop series is €20. Places are limited, and
booking is ESSENTIAL.
Gallery Tour and Workshop with a Difference!
Friday 9th May at 11am
Explore the work of artist Fidelma Sheridan with the Linenhall Arts
Centre’s very special community arts team. This gallery tour and hands-on
workshop is sure to impress and delight participants!
As part of the Bealtaine Festival the Linenhall has turned its Visual Arts
Programme for Schools on its head and invited the 5th and 6th class students
of Cornanool National School to design and deliver a gallery tour and
workshop for older members of the community. Highly capable, well
informed and conversant in the vocabulary of visual art, the children of
Cornanool National School will lead a tour introducing the work of textile
and mixed media artist Fidelma Sheridan. During the tour participants will
be encouraged to engage in discussion about the exhibition. Following the
gallery tour participants will be brought to the Linenhall’s community arts
room where they will create their own art works exploring in a practical way
some of the techniques employed and themes explored in Fidelma
Sheridan’s work.
The Linenhall Arts Centre’s Visual Art Programme for Schools offers
gallery tours and workshops to selected primary schools in the Castlebar
area. The programme is ongoing through the school year and runs in
conjunction with the visual art exhibition programme at the Linenhall’s
gallery space. The 5th and 6th class students of Cornanool National School
have attended sixteen tours and workshops in this programme over the last
three years.
Admission is FREE. However, places are limited, and booking is
ESSENTIAL.
Gallery Tour and Workshop with a Difference!
Saturday 10th May at 12pm
Cornanool National School 5th and 6th class will be leading a tour and
hands-on workshop of the Fidelma Sheridan exhibition in the Linenhall’s
gallery. Designed as part of the Bealtaine festival, this Saturday tour is
open to all members of the public.
Admission is FREE. However, places are limited, and booking is
ESSENTIAL.
Cinema Film Screenings
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF IRELAND —
COUNTRY LIFE, Turlough Park House
GROW YOUR OWN
Natural Healing:
Director: Richard
Laxton/UK/2007/95 minutes
/Certificate : PG
Talk and Workshop, Thursday 8th May: 10am to 5pm
Cast : Eddie Marsan, John
Henshaw, Philip Jackson,
Benedict Wong
Co-written by Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Grow Your Own is a gentle sweet-smelling
comedy that is blessed with plenty of British charm. Set on an allotment in the
North of England, a bunch of grumpy old men spend their days nurturing their
beloved allotments, while passing comment on their neighbours' vegetables.
The story concerns a group of older enthusiasts who grow vegetables on a quiet
plot of land. When three refugee families are given plots on the same allotment
as part of their rehabilitation, they are initially met with hostility and suspicion
by the locals, but through shared experience they come to realise that they're
not so different after all.
This Bealtaine film screening is part of a national tour organised by
access>CINEMA and the Irish Film Institute, with sponsorship by Seven Seas
Active 55. access>CINEMA is the resource organisation for regional cultural
cinema exhibition in Ireland.
A workshop with Sonia Oldham. This workshop entails a walk in the
grounds of Turlough Park House identifying wild flowers and plants and
finding out about their domestic and medicinal properties. Participants have
an opportunity to sketch some of these in the worksheets provided. In the
afternoon, Sonia will demonstrate the methods of making infusions,
decoctions, tinctures, medicated oils, ointments and discuss the associated
folklore.
Watercolours:
The Arrival of Summer, Thursday 15th May: 2pm – 5pm
Join artist Louisa Nally and be inspired by the flowers and natural
environment of Turlough Park to create your own watercolour painting.
Oil Painting:
The Arrival of Summer, Thursday 22nd May: 2pm – 5pm
Join artist Deirdre Keetley and be inspired by the flowers and natural
environment of Turlough Park to create your own oil painting.
Admission FREE, all welcome.
SCREENINGS:
■ Ballina Arts Centre
Friday 23rd May, 2pm
■ Kiltimagh Town Hall Theatre
Tuesday 20th May at 4pm
■ Linenhall Arts Centre
Wednesday 7th May at 3pm
■ St. Colman’s Care Centre, Keel
Tuesday 20th May at 2pm
■ Town Hall Arts Centre, Charlestown Wednesday 21st May at 3pm