The Laneways Art Project is helping the community to reconnect with some of the oldest parts of the town, writes Jackie Keogh
NEW and exciting things are happening at Ludgate, Skibbereen, not least of which is a rather brilliant mural project that has drawn on the talent of 20 local artists.
The project had its genesis in research carried out by Skibbereen Tidy Town on the 20 alleyways in the town, some of which date back to the 19th century.
Last year, Skibbereen Arts Festival ran with the idea of depicting their historical significance in a more vivid way by commissioning the artist Iris de Vries to do a mural of Mrs Coppinger at Coppinger Lane off Townshend Street.
New to Skibbereen, but not new to the concept of making things happen, Katy Wareing arrived as the new boss at Ludgate and ran with the idea.
With the blessing of Skibbereen Arts Centre, Katy contacted a friend, who is an artist, and soon the project mushroomed to become a significant artistic and community event.
Business people, for example, came on board with funding and, as a thank you, Katy and her team at Ludgate organised a series of video interviews that went down a storm on social media.
Long-term, Ludgate and Skibbereen Arts Festival – with the support of locals and businesses – plan to create an entire mural trail right throughout the town.
Katy Wareing working on her mural.
Katy, who is from Lancashire, told The Southern Star she got the idea to completely cover the 42m of wall at the laneway between Ludgate and the Horse and Hound pub from the famous art and graffiti laneways in Melbourne.
Katy, who has a PhD in biological sciences, and previously worked as a senior lecturer in a school of medicine in the UK, where she also ran her own degree programme, admits: ‘I am very well-travelled but I found Ireland, particularly West Cork, to be the only place that has ever felt like home.’
Katy said she pivoted when she moved to live in Bantry more than six years ago. From there, she used her business skills to do consulting for start-ups and scale-ups, and international companies wanting to land in Ireland.
Of her title at Ludgate – the director of strategy and innovation – Katy said her role is to run the entire operations of the hub and define and navigate its strategic direction to support businesses within the region, as well as the local community.
The Laneways Art Project is, she added, one of the ways that Ludgate will be opening up to engage with the community.
As if on cue, Martin O’Donoghue, who is not a member of Ludgate, but uses its facilities, arrives in the canteen and Katy introduces him as the head of play development for Let’s Play Cork.
Martin, who recently relocated from Cork to live full-time in Union Hall, said Let’s Play Cork is an organisation that promotes play in the public realm and promotes an understanding of the power of play in the transformation of cities and towns.
Member of the Laneways art group include, from left to right, Sandra Walsh, Sharon Whooley, Lisa Marie Coyne, Helen Stone, Katy Wareing, Helie Holden, Hannah Joy, Chris Gaughran.
Both Katy and Martin joined in the mural project – their work, amongst others, and organisations such as CoAction – has been much admired. But Martin, in his rather fantastical role, went one step further: he extrapolated the mural into a dance called Dancing with Trees at Lughnasa and turned 300 people at its premiere (at the Global Roots Stage at the All Together Now Festival) on August 4th last into dancing trees.
Martin and Katy are fun, high-energy, people and their interest in art, community, play and development is rather infectious.
Martin, who humorously described himself as ‘the artist formerly not known for muralism’, can’t say enough about the vibe the Laneways Art Project generated. Katy said lots of people have to be thanked for embracing the project so wholeheartedly, especially the group of 20 artists who did the work free of charge.
‘We got an incredible amount of sponsorship and support from local businesses in Skibbereen,’ she said. And while it is dangerous to mention one above another, Katy can’t help but praise Albany Fusion Home who provided all the paint free of charge. Fields’ SuperValu provided the food so no-one was famished while the work was being carried out over the opening weekend of the recent Skibbereen Arts Festival.
Who needs Electric Picnic when you can stay at home and have a painting picnic?
