Our First Solo Award offers support and funding at a key point in the careers of professional visual artists in the North East region who have yet to present a solo show.  Previous recipients include Eimear Murphy, with her exhibition Shape, Heap; thing in 2018, and Sean McGuill, with The Great Filter in 2019.

For 2021/22 we are delighted to announce the recipients are Olga Duka and Rodney Thornton. We look forward to working with both artists. 

Olga Duka is a Ukrainian artist living and working in Ireland. She graduated from Kiev College of Decorative Arts and Design in 1997 as a Textile Artist and Designer. She has been working as a freelance artist specialising in fine and decorative arts as well as tapestry making and textile design. Olga expresses her own trans-cultural background through a unique combination of styles that is reminiscent of medieval art. Olga’s work has featured in group exhibitions in Ireland, Great Britain, Italy and Ukraine. Her paintings are represented in private collections in Ireland, Great Britain, Italy, Spain, France, Japan, Mexico, USA and Ukraine. Olga recently participated in the Connection project at Droichead. Olga’s exhibition will open in September 2021. 

Rodney Thornton has been making paintings on the street since returning from Korea in 2008. The local sweet shop, the ice-cream van arriving on the street corner and the deep culture resting around the local GAA pitch, these are scenes which take place in every community across Ireland and they are some of the themes that turn up in Rodney’s paintings. Rodney’s work has featured in many group exhibitions including; the Boyne Room, Millmount; The Listoke Gallery; The Abbey Gallery, and as part of the Borrowed Ground Collective in 2019 in Droichead. Rodney’s current art practice is about looking and exploring how we receive our surroundings. Rodney’s exhibition will open in March 2022. 

1.VESTIGE

a trace or remnant of something that is disappearing or no longer exists.

“the last vestiges of colonialism”

2. BIOLOGY

a part or organ of an organism which has become reduced or functionless in the course of evolution.

Vestige is a selected body of work from Louth Craftmark members featuring contemporary craft design and visual art. Taking the word ‘Vestige’ as a starting point, members were asked to explore what trace, imprint or evidence of their practice they expect to leave behind for future generations. Artists include: Grace Brennan, Jane Campbell, Mary Cowan, Orlaith Cullinane, Maureen Finn, Robert Kelly, Michael Kobuladze, Caoimhe McCarthy and Rachel Tinniswood.

The  selection panel was made up of artists Brian Hegarty & Vivienne Byrne, and Droichead Director, Collette Farrell.

Louth Craftmark Network, founded in 2006, is a collective of makers and visual artists based in and around Co Louth. It is an impact driven membership organisation, currently with 57 members, with the potential to increase membership to all those engaged in creative practice in and around Louth. The network has widely exhibited nationally and strives to support makers and artists through access to funding, networking and collaborative projects. The creative disciplines of our membership include ceramics, print, jewellry, textiles, painting, sculpture, woodwork and furniture. All members are engaged working full-time or part-time in their discipline. 

Gallery Opening Hours:

11am – 4pm | Tuesday – Saturday

Box Office Opening Hours:

10am – 4pm | Tuesday – Saturday

“Image: Crossings (Ceramic) Artist: Maureen Finn”

A selection of new works completed during Creative Spark’s residency programme 2019-2020 in the medium of printmaking, weaving, mixed media and painting. 

Artists: Naoimh Larkin (Down); Annie June Callaghan (Fermanagh); Riley Waite (California); Jane Campbell (Louth); Niamh Hannaford and Tara Carroll (Dublin)

Hold Steady is Creative Spark’s sixth residency programme exhibition at An Táin Arts Centre. Residency programmes are established to support artists through offering studio space, research time, resources and creative opportunities they may not otherwise have in their own studio or practice. To date the Creative Spark residency has supported 35 artists over six years. 

A supporting exhibition of work by Creative Spark Print Studio members will run concurrently in the gallery.

Creative Spark Residency exhibition online. Thanks to the team in An Táin Arts Centre everyone can now view the exhibition virtually.

The exhibition will bring together new works completed during the residency programme 2019-2020 in the medium of printmaking, weaving, mixed media and painting. The artists involved in the 2019 – 2020 Programme at Creative Spark were Naoimh Larkin (Down); Annie June Callaghan (Fermanagh); Riley Waite (California); Jane Campbell (Louth) and Meilynn Cheung (Down).

Members of Creative Spark Pint studio exhibiting are; Cathy Fitzmaurice, Michael Stafford, Robert Kelly, Alistair Livingstone, Claire Conway, Gráinne Murphy, James McLoughlin, June Connell, Ciara Agnew, Isabel Lapuyade, Bernhard Gaul, Úna Curley and Tracy Fry, Niamh Hannaford and Tara Carroll

Hold Steady is Creative Spark’s sixth residency programme exhibition at An Táin Arts Centre. Residency programmes are established to support artists through offering studio space, research time, resources and creative opportunities they may not otherwise have in their own studio or practice. To date the residency has supported 35 artists over six years.

Link to catalogue/pricelist here.

Link to virtual exhibition here.

This programme has been generously supported by Create Louth (Arts Service of Louth County Council)

Two Artists. Two Generations. In Conversation.

Live in the Gallery

In-Person & Online

To mark the opening of this two-person exhibition, Simpaticojoin artists Raphael Hynes & Carey Clarke (online & in person in the gallery -whatever your preference) as they discuss their practice, their ways of thinking, making and the processes they engage.

Former student and tutor at the National College of Art & Design, Dublin, painters Raphael Hynes and Carey Clarke, share many influences, and have connected and professionally and personally over 30 years, but their practices differ formally and conceptually.

The exhibition opens Friday 4th September at 7.30pm, and continues until Saturday 31st October, 2020.

Please note the gallery’s new opening days/hours are:

Wednesday – Saturday 11.00am-4pm, closed 1-1.30pm

Contact tracing, face-covering, hand sanitising, and one-way system are the newbies, but everything else remains the same including a wholesome welcome from our team.

Booking for this event’s livestream can be made below and through Eventbrite.ie

Explore the wonders of the National Gallery of Ireland’s collection, and take a leisurely stroll around our beautiful galleries from the comfort of your own home in the first in a series of virtual tours.

Our physical buildings may be temporarily closed, but you can transport yourself behind our walls by taking a virtual tour of our rooms, where you are free to navigate and explore the works on display at your own pace.