Major arts programme planned for Clonmel over coming months

Pictured L-R: Eamon O’Malley, Musician, Cllr. Michael Murphy, Cathaoirleach Clonmel Borough District, Joe MacGrath, Chief Executive, Tipperary County Council, Cliona Maher, Director, Clonmel Junction Arts Festival, Marie McMahon, Curator, Museum of Hidden History Clonmel, Melanie Scott, Arts Officer and Helena Tobin, Director, South Tipperary Arts Centre. Photo: Tipperary County Council

Clonmel will play host to a number of unique outdoor events, as part of a new initiative to get people back into the arts.

In the Open Faoin Spéir is an Arts Council initiative in response to the pandemic and will incorporate theatre, music, and performances, as well as large scale visual arts events.

It will take place between October of this year and April 2022.

Tipperary County Council Arts Officer, Melanie Scott, spoke to Tipp FM News about the project.

“We’re delighted, together with our local art partners, the South Tipperary Arts Centre, to be one of twelve projects successful under this Arts Council funding programme, called ‘In the Open Faoin Spéir.

“We have proposed a programme of activities over the next 8-10 months in Clonmel – working together to develop projects that will happen outdoors and in the open.

“This programme came about through the Arts Council looking at how we can encourage people to re-engage with the arts safely, as we emerge from the pandemic.”

She added that over the past 12-18 months, we’ve all been inside so much and this is a chance to come outside and ‘come out to play’, which is the theme of the project.

In the Open | Faoin Spéir is an Arts Council funded programme developed in response to the COVID-19 crisis for 2021, which will see a variety of outdoor arts events taking place in public spaces around Ireland. Each area will have a variety of events appealing to a broad range of audiences and interests which will range from performances, film, projections, music, street art, trails, spectacle, installations, visual arts, literature, spoken word and much more.

Cathaoirleach of Clonmel Borough District Cllr. Michael Murphy welcomed this new initiative for Clonmel saying it “will see an exciting range of activity in the town over the coming months and will provide opportunities for safe participation in the arts by audiences and local creatives alike through the planned programme.”

The first of a number of visual arts projects was kickstarted yesterday (Wednesday), with a mural at the top of Nelson Street in Clonmel by Jonathan Lynn.

The first theatre event in this programme is The Hunchback of Notre Dame, a Community Musical which will take place at the Kickham Barracks, Clonmel in October 2021. Registration for auditions for principal roles is now open, please email [email protected] to apply, auditions take place on August 12 and 13.

For more information, visit www.tipperarycoco.ie/arts or follow In the Open Clonmel on Facebook or @intheopenarts on Twitter.