Artist announced for public art commission in Irishtown

NOAH Rose has been announced as the successful artist for a public art commission in Irishtown village.

Mayo County Council’s Arts Service has collaborated closely with Irishtown Community Development to develop this exciting opportunity for an artist to work in a historic village with a strong community spirit.

Rose will be presenting a talk about his work to the local community on Thursday, May 12, at 7 p.m. at Irishtown Community Centre. All locals are welcome to attend and meet him. Over the summer months Noah will be engaging with the community as part of his research for the project.

Noah commented: “I’m delighted to have been selected for the Irishtown public art commission. I am fascinated by the relationship between historical events and the marks they leave on the land - so I'm excited to be working in this fascinating location with its unique historical significance as the Cradle of the Land League.

“I’m looking forward to meeting and working with the community over the coming months, researching historical material and developing new sculptural work that is unique to Irishtown.”

Noah Rose is an artist based in Headford, and working internationally. He specialises in creating sculptural work for public space, always developed in response to context, through original research, and often incorporating community engaged practice.

His work is fundamentally interested in investigating the nature of what defines a place, its specific qualities, within its geographical, cultural and socio-historical context.

Working through a variety of media including sculpture, drawing, installation, photography and archival research, his practice is rooted in a passionate desire to understand connections between the past and present.

He has undertaken a significant number of public art commissions across Ireland, the UK and internationally. Notable commissions and residencies undertaken in Mayo include ‘Changing Tracks’ (2014), a pan-European public art programme that led to a sculptural installation along the Great Western Greenway, and the Tír Sáile Research Residency (2017) in collaboration with artist Selma Makela.

This commission is part of Mayo County Council’s Public Art Programme, funded by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage under the Per Cent for Art Scheme. The purpose of the percent for art scheme is to commission artists to create new work.

For more information about the Public Art Programme, visit www.mayo.ie/arts/public-art or contact Aoife O’Toole, acting public art coordinator, Mayo Arts Service, Mayo County Council at aotoole@mayococo.ie.