Scéalta dar dTalún

Jackie O Neill lead artist initiated the Scéalta dar dTalún project at Ballyhaise Agricultural College and environs with stories and memories from the staff and local people. The project was based on the central notion of the landing holding collective memory and story. During the research Jackie worked with Joe Doherty, wood sculptor, Lisa O Neill, singer/songwriter and Ann Smith, storyteller.   Joe Doherty created an art trail for the Ladies Walk and his extraordinary responses to the stories in wood can be viewed on this walk at the historical Ballyhaise Agricultural College. Lisa O Neill created a new song from the research and she performed this at the opening event as part of Heritage Week for this joint arts and heritage initiative.  The storyteller Ann Smith with Lisa and Jackie O Neill visited the local school and shared stories with the children.  Jackie O Neill’s work from this project can be viewed at her studio on Bridge St, Cavan.
 

Ancient and Wild Project

Cavan County Council Arts and Heritage offices and the Geopark invited thirteen artists to engage with the landscape, geology, socio and political history of County Cavan and in particular the area of the UNESCO Marble Arch Caves Global Geopark.  Heather Brett participating poet speaking about the project said

“it was a privilege to be part of an exhibition that wouldn't look out of place in any city! I love the fact that we were so diverse and responded totally differently to the environment and history....all of the artists involved provided the public with new viewpoints and thought provoking work and that is positive.”

The exhibition continues at Johnston Central Library, Cavan into January.

Entirely Hollow Aside from the Dark

“Entirely hollow aside from the dark” a psycho-acoustic event within caves was conceived by the artist Alan James Burns.  The immersive installation created the sense of journeying into someone’s inner mind by using 3-dimensional audio. The event had an Irish tour culminating at -Pollnagollum Cave, Boho Waterfall , Marble Arch Caves UNESCO Global Geopark supported by the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, The Arts Council, Fermanagh and Omagh District Council and Cavan County Council through Creative Ireland.

Seagulls by Siobhan Harton and Mark Lawlor created quite a stir in Cavan when signs for the Wild Atlantic Way and Trá went up on the Triangle in Cavan.   Portrait of this Region by Johanna Nulty, a Bullock Lane Recipient curated by Sally O Dowd brought a light hearted focus to our obsession with things by this promising young artist.