Soul Noir Festival

Studio artists Diana Chambers and Mary Cody will have paintings exhibited in the Soul Noir Festival on 31st of October at Laragh House, Maynooth, Co.Kildare.

Soul Noir is a Dublin based festival founded to celebrate all things Gothic and Macabre with the aim to promote Irish and international artists who work with Gothic themes in their practice. The festival is founded and curated by Sinéad Keogh who has been working in collaboration with Diana Chambers as part of the KCAT Engagement Project.

 Mary Cody, ‘Blue Green’, (2012) acrylic on canvas, 40x40cm.

 Diana Chambers, ‘Dancers’ (2018) acrylic on paper, 71x51cm.

 

European Art Summit at Project Ability

Studio artists Declan Byrne and Fergus FitzGerald having a great time collaborating and connecting with other artists this week at the European Art Summit hosted by Project Ability in Glasgow. The European Art Summit welcomes artists from Scotland, England, Ireland, and Germany for a three-day residency surrounding the theme of Friendship.

Here is studio artist Fergus FitzGerald’s account of his time spent engaging at Project Ability
 
‘Declan Byrne and I were doing art at Project Ability with some other art centers and some Scottish Camphill at Newton Dee and I have twice gone to Newton Dee. It was a part of The European Art Project and I painted some pictures of places. I have gone to and wrote onto them before I started some etching and printing art and I wrote onto some of it. It was Valerie’s idea. She is a native of Cork and of Middleton and is Irish but now that she lives in Scotland for many years and in Glasgow, she has a Scottish accent! She coordinates the studio at Project Ability for a few years now. We prepared for a European Art Project exhibition in relation to the opposite of Brexit’ (Fergus FitzGerald).

 Busy in the studio at Project Ability, Trogate 103, Glasgow.

 

Together Now, The Engagement Exhibition  

‘Together Now’ marks a milestone in the Engagement Project, a project where collaborations between artists from KCAT and artists from around the country have been on-going since 2014. The exhibition was launched in June 2019 at Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre by project curator Catherine Marshall.

The exhibition highlights different approaches to art-making. Through these collaborations a natural re-examination of how one makes art occurs as artistic methodologies are combined. The works on show are hybrids that provide viewers with an insight into the visual dialogues between artists. The exhibition is accompanied by a publication of the engagement process to date and will be installed next at the OPW galleries at Farmleigh in Dublin opening on the 26th of October.

Before travelling to, the Linenhall Arts Centre, Castlebar, Ballinglen Art Foundation and Ballina Arts Centre in Co. Mayo, the F.E. McWilliam Gallery in Banbridge and finishing back in Callan, Co. Kilkenny.

                              (Left) Self-Portrait by Andrew Pike, (Right) Cloaking device by Nevan Lahart                              Visitors engaging with artwork by Margaret Walker 

Drivers of Diversity

KCAT Studio Artists Group Exhibition as part of the Kilkenny Arts Festival
11th-18th August, open daily 11am-5pm

The Drivers of Diversity exhibition has been curated by Mary Butler, Arts Officer with Kilkenny County Council. This exhibition sheds light on the fourteen KCAT Studio artists who have been creative beacons in Callan, County Kilkenny for the last 20 years. This group has forged the way to a new understanding of diversity in the Irish professional art world. They have paved the way and laid the ground for others to find their rightful place in the diverse cultural landscape we all call home. This exhibition is a celebration of the inspirational and magnificent work created by this group of artists.

Mary Butler, Arts Officer says she was delighted to be invited to curate this exhibition. ‘It has been such a pleasure and a privilege to have the opportunity to delve into the art stores of the KCAT Studio artists. The sheer number of pieces created by the artists is incredible and selecting a small number from the storerooms of such beautiful and often challenging work was no easy task’

She also states that as Arts Officer she is more than aware of how KCAT’s work enriches the artistic and cultural life of the county and the significance of this. How their reputation and collaborations both as a studio and as individual studio artists, have helped to put County Kilkenny on the local, national and international stage. KCAT’s work and exhibitions serve to engage diverse audiences and participation in the creative sector thus broadening and developing audiences for the visuals arts and cultural activity and helping to bring the arts closer to local communities.

 

Mary Cody’s Mid-career Retrospective

Mary Cody’s mid-career retrospective exhibition will open on the 2nd of August and will continue from 3rd to 19th of August 2019 at KCAT Art Centre in Callan.

Mary first began on the KCAT Art Course in the summer of 1999 and subsequently joined the KCAT Studio. She has exhibited widely both nationally and internationally in a variety of group, duo, and solo shows, with most recently a solo show ‘String’ at the University of Atypical, Belfast in January 2019.

Since then, she has evolved into a unique and accomplished painter. This exhibition attempts to document a selection of work over that time and in particular the shift in Mary’s artwork from figurative compositions to abstraction.

Through a process of layering wool and paint, Mary creates abstracted artworks that speak out to the viewer through colour, form and texture. Whereby each piece embodies a unique energy that carefully tenses the boundary between painting and sculpture.

Together Now: The Engagement Project

The exhibition will be opened by Catherine Marshall on:
Friday 14th June 2019, 6.00pm at Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre
Duration exhibition: 15th June – 21st August 2019

Together Now: The Engagement Project is a large group exhibition of painting, drawing, installation, sculpture and film by KCAT Studio artists and artists from very different practice contexts from all over Ireland, who have been working together in residencies and other forms of engagement since 2014. Curated by Catherine Marshall, and following a symposium at KCAT in Callan at the end of 2018, this exhibition, drawing on the work of the 24 artists, is touring to venues across Ireland.

Together Now will then travel to the following venues in 2019-2020:

F.E. McWilliam Gallery, Banbridge, Co. Down
Linenhall Arts Centre, Castlebar, Co.Mayo
Ballinglen Art Foundation, Co. Mayo
Ballina Arts Centre, Co. Mayo
OPW Galleries at Farmleigh, Co. Dublin
KCAT Arts Centre, Callan, Co. Kilkenny

The work on show has been made as a result of collaborations and conversations between the artists from KCAT and artists who prioritise social engagement, performance, installation and a variety of media from film and video to very un-traditional interpretations of traditional media such as painting and sculpture.

The artists who are engaged in these collaborations of hand and mind are Saturio Alonso, Steven Aylin, Thomas Barron, Declan Byrne, Francis Casey, Diane Chambers, Mary Cody, Eileen Mulrooney, Lorna Corrigan, Sinéad Fahey, Fergus FitzGerald, Mary Ann Gelly, Brianna Hurley, Fintin Kelly,  Sinéad Keogh, Nevan Lahart, Alastair MacLennan, Paul Mosse, Rachel Parry, Andrew Pike, Anna Spearman, Dominic Thorpe, Jason Turner and Margaret Walker.

The exhibition will be engaging, challenging, colorful and fun. Most of all, it is designed to encourage awareness of the diversity of arts practice. It will be accompanied by a publication from the Together Now symposium.

Click here to find out more about Engagement project

 

KCAT Studio Arts Administrator Vacancy

KCAT invites applications for the position of part-time Studio Arts Administrator (2 days per week). The administration of the Studio focuses on project administration i.e. exhibitions, budget and representation/ documentation of the artist.

The Studio administrator will have a passion for arts participation centred cultural work and is expected to support high-quality artist led development for all the KCAT Studio artists.

For further information CLICK HERE

Application deadline: 17th June 2019, 2 pm

To apply please complete the application form and submit a current CV to the Centre Coordinator by email to anja@kcat.ie

Children’s Summer Camp 2019

KCAT is delighted to welcome Rachel Burke as Children’s facilitator this summer 2019. Workshops will be in response to Studio artist Mary Cody‘s Retrospective Exhibition. There are 15 places available for each session. Booking is essential on eventbrite.ie (click here). Find more info on the poster below.

Children's Summer Camp

KCAT End of Year Show 2019

KCAT invites you to join them in celebration of student work for 2018/2019.

Over a hundred students of various art disciplines under one roof. This is a celebration of the most eclectic group of artists in Kilkenny. The work on show is diverse in theme and technique, full of colour, vibrancy and individuality. An encounter with an absorbing and enjoyable collection is promised.

All are welcome to the opening of the End of Year exhibition Friday 31st May 2019 at 7 pm in KCAT.

If you would like to attend the theatre or dance performance, please make sure that you book a ticket.

Find more information on the flyer below.

End of Year Invite 2019
End of Year Show 2019

New Portfolio Course 2019/2020

Portfolio course This comprehensive course has been designed to help both school leavers and mature students who are interested in developing a portfolio for entry to Art College.

Through expert guidance, students will develop their ideas through research, working on a personal project and keeping a sketch book. Subjects covered include drawing from observation, experimental drawing, ideas development, collage, 3D building, painting, colour work and basic printmaking.

Features of this course include:

  • Light, spacious, well-equipped studios
  • Continuous assessment throughout the course
  • Project based activities
  • Presentations from Third Level Art Colleges and former students and guest artists
  • Interview preparation
  • Access to IT and Art Library
  • Tuition by dedicated and skilled artist teachers
  • Affordable fee

The course runs from June 2019 through to January 2020 with 174 contact hours.

KCAT is an inclusive centre. All are invited to apply for a place on this course, but applicants must be 16 years or over. Places are limited to ensure quality tuition.

For more information or to make a booking, please contact Alice Bennett, Education Coordinator on 0567786896 or 0567755115 or email alice@kcat.ie

KCAT is supported by Kilkenny/Carlow Educational Training Board.