We have some seriously exciting news to share with you: Greywood Arts initiated a project called Creative Killeagh, and we’ve received the necessary funding to make it happen!

Creative Killeagh is a series of arts workshops, performances, and events for the Killeagh-Inch community leading up to May Sunday 2018.

The program includes:

• Two Artist-in-the-Community Residencies here at Greywood Arts.
• A large-scale community project developed in collaboration with local groups. The community project draws on the history of Killeagh’s May Sunday Festival and the village’s stunning Glenbower Wood.
• May Sunday festivities on 6th May, 2018.

Creative Killeagh is the only East Cork recipient of the competitive Cork County Council Creative Communities grant!

With Cork County Mayor Cllr Declan Hurley at the awards ceremony.

Their generous support of €13,000 will bring at least five different artists to Killeagh to work with people in the village, and will help fund the May Sunday event. The project has also received €1,000 from Creative Ireland for the first artist residency. Initiated by Greywood Arts, the project will be shaped in partnership with community groups including the Killeagh-Inch Community Council, Inch Fóroige, and local volunteers.

Creative Killeagh launches on Halloween at 8PM and all are welcome to the celebration. There will be traditional Halloween games and treats, a performance, and the Creative Killeagh programme will be announcsed. Head to the brand new website, creativekilleagh.ie for more information.

Creative Killeagh kicks off next week with W O O D S H O P, the brainchild of Irish artist Léann Herlihy. W O O D S H O P is a collaborative art project that explores craft and social values. Motivated by the materials, skills, and practices of Killeagh’s former sawmills, Léann will lead craftsmanship workshops, give an artist talk, and create a performance.

You can find details here on http://www.creativekilleagh.ie

The remainder of 2017 will yield a period of research by the Collaborative Community Arts Project team: Lisa Cahill (movement/education), Carol Anne Connolly (visual arts/community projects), and Kara Sweeney (photography/film). The new year will bring more workshops, events, and artist-in-residence Sara French. The project culminates on May Sunday (6^th May), historically an important festival date for Killeagh. Traditionally, May Sunday was the only day villagers were invited up into the then private Glenbower Wood. The festival continued until 2001 and is much missed by many locals.

We believe you have to make the kind of community you want to live in, and we want Killeagh to be invigorated with creativity. It’s important that we listen to our neighbours, discover what people desire here, and what they are missing – like the May Sunday festivities.