The Movement Studio ready to set up the exhibition

The Opening Celebration is just days away and we’d like to share a really special project with you. Samantha, our intern with a background in museum studies, has been working diligently on an exhibition for the Opening Celebration.

This exhibition, called Greywood House, aims to introduce the history of the house, explain what an artist’s residency is, and what our goals are. It will be set up in newly finished movement studio.

Sam has been working very hard on both on the content and on the visuals to create a pleasant experience through the history of Greywood House.

Sam says: Our Opening is an opportunity for us to tell you more about Greywood Arts. As we are now a part of the Killeagh village, it is important that we be understood by its inhabitants and that our presence here makes sense for them.

working out the details

• Did you know that the house was built in 1767 and was the original Killeagh House?
• Or that after more than a century in the Davis family it became an RIC barrack?
• And that it was a sawmill from the 1920s to the 1950s? And a guest house in the 1960s?
•  Did you know that from now on, we are able to welcome writers, painters, musicians, dancers, performers and many more?

Leaves Gathered from Glenbower Wood

Frames found in the house and repurposed for the exhibition

Do you know something about the house – details, stories, anecdotes that we should know? If so, get in touch!

We already have a rich historic foundation, and are currently writing new chapters Become a part of our story at the Opening Celebration on July 1^st and start this new adventure with us!

We’re having a great time introducing you to all of the talented artists collaborating on the opening! Last, but not least, we have Lola Delton, who will exhibit her micro-bookshop Exile.

Lola is a French artist based in Cork. In 2015, she started to get involved with Cork Community Printshop. She created Exile Project, to host exhibitions in relation to the screen-printing studio. It carries on in the form of an itinerant micro-bookshop – a selection of books curated by Lola, chosen not only for their content but for their design. It all packs up into a little suitcase.

This name comes from the idea of self-imposed exile when one looks at artwork or reads a book and is sent travelling to unknown places – the enriching journey that we may be carried into.

She tells us its story :

In beginning 2016, I went to Brussels and met a self-taught artist and the collective he belonged to, “Hashet”. I helped them prepare a poster for the opening of a show by three French illustrators (Les freres Guedin and Craoman). It was a sparking encounter.

Those illustrators had worked with a publishing company in Marseille, called “Le Dernier Cri”, which I had heard about. I was so curious and excited by the work and I dived into it.

Through encounters, contacts, interests, (which just kept on growing and transported me in this creative whirlwind), I started to collect some books; books that were actually pieces of art in themselves.

This enthusiasm was really such that I thought some other people might also like to hear about it, find out, share it. And I was also so grateful that there were such wonderful people doing such amazing works, that I really wanted to support it in my own way.

And I thought of this micro-bookshop project.

Exile blossomed.

Will you find a book or zine to treasure at the Opening Celebration?

Natasha Bourke is a Cork-based artist and is currently making a feature film, Concrete Keys. She has an exhibition of pop cam photography TidaLight on at Gulpd cafe in the Triskel Arts Centre through the end of the month.

Behind the scenes at the shoot for Concrete Keys

Greywood Arts produced Tash’s darkly humorous ‘non-quest to nowhere’ Only the Conely for the Midleton Arts Festival in May, and is assisting with an appearance of her conefaced alter-ego for the Sirius Arts Centre Gala on Saturday 24 June.

A fine art graduate from the Crawford College of Art and Design, Natasha comes from a background in dance, circus, theatre, visual art and design. She has been involved in multiple solo and group performances, residencies, collectives, organisations and events in Ireland and overseas.

Natasha uses analogue and digital lens-based media, performance, sculpture, light, sound, drawing and installation as languages in her practice. The work often contemplates universal themes of self and society such as time, obsolescence, perception, isolation, pathos, dystopia and the sublime.

Keep your eyes peeled for Tash’s performance at the Opening Celebration!

The roadworks here are starting to wear on even the most patient of souls, so it’s fantastic to see a bit of colour, humour and craft brightening up the place.

Thank you mysterious yarn bombers ❤

Imagine this: it’s July 1st, around 6:00 in the evening. You arrive at Greywood Arts, are greeted at the door, and are directed into the library where beautiful cello music is playing. You get a glass of wine, and settle back to listen and relax for awhile before going upstairs to see the Greywood House History exhibition. Sounds nice, doesn’t it?

We are over the moon to have Ilse de Ziah, a world class cello player, composer, arranger and improviser, join us for the Opening Celebration. She will be coming to Greywood Arts fresh on the heels of a two-week run of ProdiJIG at Cork Opera House – you don’t want to miss your chance to hear her in such an intimate setting! 

Born in Connecticut USA, Ilse grew up in Sydney, Australia. With sisters, parents and grandparents musicians, her childhood was rocked by music. Nowadays, she shifts adeptly between Folk, Baroque, Classical and Experimental music.

Ilse composes and arranges cello pieces for Irish Airs and she also performs with the contemporary Australian ensemble Ozmosis, the  experimental Quiet Music Ensemble, and with her classical Scarlet String Quartet. She is principal cellist of the City of Cork Symphony Orchestra, and has been involved in theatre, folk music, free improvisation, and dance. She composes music for dance and film, does many recording sessions, and arranges strings for singers and other musicians.

Our intern Sam selected this tune of Ilse’s for you to enjoy:  Solise in Darkness

The excitement at Greywood Arts is growing as we prepare for our Opening Celebration on July 1st. It promises to be a very beautiful night you won’t want to miss!

We are delighted to welcome Anna Mitchell, who will please your ears with her extraordinary voice. She will play the Opening with the support of her band and it is going to be powerful!

Anna recently took the Opera House in Cork by storm as a special guest with Jack O’Rourke. The singer–songwriter-keyboardist moves confidently between soulful Americana, brooding late night ballads, and country-tinged folk. Her music pays homage to the past yet carves out a unique and contemporary space for her gorgeous voice – called “hauntingly beautiful” by RTE.

With a reputation as a passionate live performer able to capture an audience, Anna has performed and toured with many celebrated singers and songwriters including Sarah Jarosz, Aoife O’Donovan, Mick Flannery, John Smith, Duke Special, Lisa Hannigan and many more. She impressed the celebrated American poet and songwriter Simone Felice so much that he invited her to work with him on his new album.

After the release of her debut album ‘Down to the Bone’ in 2015, she has returned to the studio to record the follow up. Look out 2017, we will soon see some new music from the Cork-based songstress.

It’s Friday night and we say start your weekend off right with some great music by Anna Mitchell!

Click here to see “Dog Track” live with the Cork Opera House Concert Orchestra. Look carefully and you will see our other musical guest for the opening, Ilse de Ziah, playing some bad ass cello!

Our Opening Celebration is fast approaching – mark Saturday 1 July on your calendars! See the full line up and let us know if you’ll be coming on our Facebook event.

What better way to celebrate our purpose than by awarding a residency to an artist, who will then share their work with all of you on the evening?

We were very impressed by the proposals we received, but with only one space available it was quite a competitive process. The quality of work submitted was very high, and we truly appreciate the time each artist put into their proposal.

We are delighted to announce the artist-in-residence leading up to the opening will be Naomi Litvack!

Naomi – a painter who lives and works in Belfast – won us over with her use of colour and how her proposed project would connect to Killeagh’s local landscape. We are looking forward welcoming her.

In her own words:

My artistic practice is concerned with both direct and second hand experiences of landscape. Personal photographs and memories meld with found imagery, found objects, impressions gleaned and facts learned from books, the internet and from aural history. I am interested in the passing of stories. I deal with ideas of home and away and use the exotic to make a comment on the familiar. Forms reappear in paintings which reflect my experiences of landscapes both exotic and tropical and of my native Irish homeland.

            My current subject matter explores exotic locations, represented in imagery depicting luscious plant life and hyper-sensual landscapes. My work also has an air of the unreal about it, as I seek to capture dreamlike, strange and fantastical atmospheres within my painting. In my practice I set out to explore the human relationship to landscape in both reality and in cultural representations.

We particularly appreciated Naomi’s proposal for the one-week residency. She will make a full study of the setting of Killeagh by using photography, sketching and writing and will process these impressions for the exhibition of resultant paintings at the opening celebration. She will focus on the natural world and local plant life, Killeagh and its inhabitants and will try to capture the atmosphere of Greywood Arts and the one of the village as well. Besides exhibiting her artwork during the opening, Naomi will engage with visitors to Greywood Arts by giving a talk on the opening night, introducing the paintings and summarising her experiences of the residency and impressions of Killeagh.

You can follow Naomi on facebook or see more of her work online here. 

Help us give her a warm welcome by posting in the comments below!

OPEN CALL:
Residency: Sunday 25^th June – Sunday 2^nd July
Deadline: Friday 26^th May 4pm
Artists will be notified by 31^st May

Greywood Arts invites proposals from visual artists (or small teams of collaborators) for a one-week residency to take place the last week in June, leading up to our Opening Celebration 1^st July, 2017.

Artists will receive free accommodation and workspace. We are interested in process, thus a requirement of this residency is that the selected artist (or group of artists) share some aspect of their process via demonstration, exhibition, discussion, etc. at our opening celebration Saturday 1^st July. Projects that respond to or interact with the site are especially encouraged.

To apply, send the following to: create (at) greywoodarts.org

Name(s), contact information
CV (one page max)
Artist Statement
Up to 5 Work samples
Proposal (one page max):

• Tell us about your project
• Tell us about your process
• How would you engage with the community at our opening celebration?
• What kind of support does your project require?

Selected artist(s) receive:

• Accommodation (self-catering)
• Workspace: the visual arts studio is 5.2m square (17×17 ft) with four south-east facing windows and high ceilings. There are work tables, a drafting table, and a sink. Note the studio is located on the second floor.
• Transportation from Cork City to Killeagh if required.
• Inclusion in all marketing for the Opening Celebration and a feature on our website Greywoodarts.org

Please don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions – we look forward to hearing from you!

We are delighted to have Sam on board with us through the opening celebration on 1 July. Already here just over a week, she has proved herself to be a fabulous intern! She will be helping us with social media, funding research, and an exhibition about the history of our house for the opening.

Sam 

Hello,

My name is Samantha. I’m from Belgium and am 24 years old. I am currently working with Jessica at Greywood Arts to improve my English skills and get more experience in order to find a job in the cultural sector.

I took a Master’s degree in Conservation and Preservation of artworks in ESA Saint-Luc of Liege and I took a 2-year-Master’s degree in Museology in the University of Liege. Obviously, I am into arts and culture – I have been painting and drawing since I am 11 years old.

Nevertheless, that is not my only interest. I have always been into protection of the environment and animals, therefore after my studies I went to the South of France to take part in an eco-volunteering for the protection of turtles.

I love reading as well and, thanks to my studies and my numerous internships, I have learnt the necessity of diversity. Therefore, I have discovered a range of interesting areas, often linking with art, environment or animals. Indeed, I have taken a fancy to history, politics, economics and societal issues and I am reading as much as possible about them.

Because of all of that, I love travelling (or maybe is it the opposite?) and every year I try to travel as much as possible.

Doing an internship in Ireland has offered a great opportunity for me and I am glad (and very lucky) to be part of the Greywood adventure.

Hopefully my life will continue being full of art, culture, travel projects, discoveries and amazing meetings as well.