Samhlaiocht Exhibition Inspired by Arts Council Collection

Exhibition by Tralee Studetns, 'Re-Marked', on display from Friday, Oct 31st to Fri, Nov 14th

During the Samhlaiocht Easter Festival an exhibition of drawings from the collection of The Arts Council of Ireland was on display in the Samhlaiocht and Siamsa Galleries. The exhibition called 'Making Their Mark' was a huge success and represented an unprecedented and unique opportunity for the people of Kerry to see works by artists of national renown. Samhlaiocht invited local students to visit the exhibition and to produce work of their own in response to that exhibition - the current exhibition, Re-Marked, is their creative response.

"The Making Their Mark exhibition featured works by artists such as James Hanley, Camille Souter, Brian Bourke and Stephen Brandes," said Trish Thompson, Gallery Coordinator at Samhlaiocht. "From traditional to contemporary, the exhibition revealed the breadth and imagination within the drawing practices of artists working in Ireland over the past 40 years and we felt it a wonderful opportunity for students in Kerry to both see the work and create work in response to it."

"The opportunity to submit work for public exhibition is at once exhilarating and daunting. The process of making a considered response to the works of others challenged the students' creativity in surprising ways," said Lillie O' Sullivan, art teacher at Presentation Secondary School. "The range of techniques and experimental approaches they employed in their work included making paper by hand, marbling, sewing, carving lino, driving nails, tearing up perfectly respectable charcoal drawings and putting canvas through the printing press."

"Samhlaiocht would like to congratulate the students from both Presentation Secondary School and Tralee Community College who have picked up the gauntlet to respond to the work of those well-known Irish artists," added Trish. "Taking on board other artists' ideas and creative approaches is no easy task, but these students have done so with great flair, successfully pushing the boundaries of their own creativity resulting in innovative, challenging and exciting work of their own."

"While it was a frustrating and exasperating process at times," added Lilie with a laugh, "it was also hugely rewarding and enriching. It's a great opportunity for the students to participate fully as artists in a public exhibition, to have their work acknowledged and their achievements celebrated. The students sparkle with creativity and spirit and I am very proud of each and every one of them!"

Samhlaiocht is indebted to the consistent support and cooperation of Lillie O' Sullivan from the Presentation Secondary School Tralee, Mary Kirby from Tralee Community College, and to Helena Gorey, Collections Manager with the Arts Council of Ireland. This project and the resulting exhibitions would not have been possible without their enthusiasm and unwavering commitment.

The exhibition, which is titled 'Re-marked', opens on Friday, October 31st, and runs until Friday, November 14th , in the new Samhlaiocht Gallery which is located in the Old Presbytery on Lower Castle Street in the heart of Tralee. The Gallery is open from 10 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday, is free to visit and all are welcome.

For more information on Samhlaiocht please log on to http://www.samhlaiocht.com/