Government funding gets creative
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Shane O’Driscoll, Rose-Anne Kidney, Paul Gleeson, Louise Barker, Friz, and Peter Martin of Ardú in front of one of the team’s murals on St Finbarr’s Road. Photo: Jed Niezgoda Jed Niezgoda / www.jedniezgoda.comImage 2 of 2
Peggy Townend from Turkhead with her copy of Haiku Ireland, publication documenting life in lockdown on Sherkin Island. Photo: Tess LeakA substantial funding allocation has been announced for an initiative promoting culture and creativity in Cork.
The funding of €175,161 was announced this week as part of the implementation of Creative Ireland, an initiative which has enabled local authorities to deliver over 5,700 community-led creative projects around the country since its inception in 2017. The funding is part of a €6.6 million investment in local authorities throughout the country.
During 2021 in county Cork, the Creative Ireland Culture and Creativity Team delivered 59 projects.
Cork-based Circus Factory worked with 16 young people in Direct Provision centres across the county as part its ongoing ambition to develop a social circus programme to engage with marginalized communities through art.
In April of last year, Haiku Ireland was launched, a publication documenting life in lockdown on Sherkin Island. Another series of classes was held in 2019/2020 and continued during lockdown on WhatsApp. The book features haiku poetry written by the people of Sherkin as well as their drawings of the fauna and flora of the island.
Another Leeside initiative funded by the programme in 2021 was the mural project Ardú, created by prominent artists living and working in the city. The ongoing Ardú project aims to maintains public access to the arts and to Cork’s heritage while promoting cultural tourism and supporting employment with the arts sector.
The funding for the Creative Ireland programme was announced this week by the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin TD, and the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien TD.
Minister Martin said: “Every Creative Ireland project delivered by our local authority teams harnesses the creative potential of our people and their communities. Their work is the cornerstone of the Creative Ireland Programme and brings together local expertise in arts, heritage, libraries, enterprise and community engagement in a meaningful and inspired way.”
She continued: “As we emerge from the last two years, I know that they will once again deliver creative programmes that can build resilience, foster personal confidence and sustain their communities.”
The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien TD, added: “Local authorities have extensive expertise across heritage, arts, libraries as well as vital local relationships. I firmly believe that culture plays a key role in local government’s work in creating great places to live and work. Creative communities takes this a step further.”