A Better City (A.B.C) 2024
A spectacular outdoor gallery featuring six artists launches in Dublin 8 as part of St. Patrick’s Festival. The initiative has been supported by the Guinness Storehouse, The Digital Hub & Dublin City Council.
A Better City (A.B.C), a spectacular outdoor gallery featuring works by six artists will be launched in Dublin 8 as part of St. Patrick’s Festival 2024. This incredible new street art initiative has been created with the Guinness Storehouse in partnership with The Digital Hub and Dublin City Council and will be open to all passersby to enjoy from 15th March 2024 for three months.
The outdoor gallery showcases new large-scale murals and printed works across the architectural nooks and crannies and unused sites of Thomas Street, Crane Street and Market Street – celebrating the values of joy and community that runs through the St. Patrick’s Festival programme. Spectators are encouraged to follow the trail and discover new artworks along the way. A Better City 2024 has been curated by Good Shout Studio, a Dublin 8-based creative studio.
The featured artists are Claire Prouvost, Sophia Vigne Welsh, Mark Conlan, Ruan van Vliet, Bebhinn Eilish & Gavin Connell. All of the works uniquely interpret ‘Spréach’ (Spark), the theme of St. Patrick’s Festival 2024.
Along Thomas Street, Claire Prouvost’s bold dancing characters celebrate the joy and energy of the community; Sophia Vigne’s abstract work signals the forthcoming spring; and Ruan van Vliet’s playful characters explore the modern day cowboys of Dublin 8.
Around the corner Crane Street, Bebhinn Eilis’s panels honour the ancient goddesses of Ireland and Gavin Connell’s tongue in cheek illustrations poke fun at Irish sayings. Turning onto Market Street, Mark Conlan has taken classical Dublin 8 architectural landmarks and breathed a spark of whimsical nature around them.
To celebrate the launch of A Better City 2024 and tie all of the works together, writer and actor Emmet Kirwan has been commissioned to create a new piece of spoken word poetry, inspired by the festival’s theme of ‘Spréach’. Visitors to A Better City can access the poem and accompanying film by scanning a QR code included in the artworks.
A Better City 2024 aims to contribute to the revitalisation of the neighborhood in Dublin 8. It will build on the community’s reputation as a destination for both Irish and international visitors to Dublin by breathing colour and vibrancy to the area surrounding the Guinness Storehouse and The Digital Hub through commissioning established and emerging artists from Ireland and further afield.
Speaking about the initiative, St. Patrick’s Festival CEO Richard Tierney said:
“We’re thrilled to be involved in this initiative with Guinness Storehouse, The Digital Hub and Dublin City Council in one of the most cherished parts of our city. St Patrick’s Festival is about creating moments where we can celebrate that Spréach or spark that makes us unique. This project does exactly that, putting a spotlight on that essential spark and colour of our people, right on the streets of Dublin”.
Catherine Toolan, Managing Director, Diageo Ireland Brand Homes, added:
“Accessibility for the creation and consumption of creative arts in Ireland is something we passionately support at the Guinness Storehouse. We are proud to partner with St. Patrick’s Festival, Dublin City Council, and our neighbours at The Digital Hub, together lending our spaces as canvasses to these 6 extremely talented artists. Their original artworks will be viewed by thousands on one of the busiest tourism weekends of the year and will bring even more colour to the community we are proud to call home.”
Fiach Mac Conghail, The Digital Hub CEO said:
“The Digital Hub Development Agency is delighted to be collaborating with St Patrick’s Festival and the Guinness Storehouse in celebrating and animating the streets of Dublin 8. This part of the city is already recognised for its wonderful creativity, and we expect this fantastic initiative to add yet more vibrancy to the community. The Liberties has benefitted from extensive redevelopment in recent years, and we look forward to continuing to collaborate closely with our stakeholders, including the Land Development Agency, to redevelop the area, foster innovation and provide support to those living and working in this great neighbourhood.”
Siobhán Maher, Dublin City Council spokesperson for the project, said:
“Dublin City Council continues to seek opportunities to deliver unique experiences and animate our city in partnership with City stakeholders. This project does just that. Dublin 8 in an area steeped in heritage but also a hotbed of new art and culture reflecting our modern city. We hope this accessible art project will appeal to all.”
Ciara Sugrue, Head of Festivals, Fáilte Ireland commented:
“Fáilte Ireland is proud to support A Better City 2024 which is a fantastic addition to this year’s St Patrick’s Festival. Ireland is renowned worldwide for our arts, culture and creativity. The exhibition will be a vibrant celebration of community and creativity that will bring the very essence of ‘Spréach’ to life in the heart of Dublin. Infusing our historic streets with even more art and colour will give both locals and visitors the very best experience of our city as we mark our national holiday.”
The outdoor gallery is open to all and will remain on display until the end of May 2024. For more information on A Better City 2024 and to see the commemorative film, see https://stpatricksfestival.ie/events/a-better-city
St. Patrick’s Festival is made possible through the continued support of the Government of Ireland, the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Fáilte Ireland, Dublin City Council and many generous partners and funders.
-ENDS
Notes to Editor:
Details
Where: Thomas Street, Crane Street & Market Street in Dublin 8
When: March 15th 2024 for three months
A Better City is supported by the Guinness Storehouse, The Digital Hub and Dublin City Council. The 2024 edition has been curated by Good Shout Studio and produced by Archetype.
The Artists
Claire Prouvost
Claire Prouvost is a French visual artist based in Dublin, Ireland. Her colourful, bold and minimal style is inspired by the cubist art movement. She loves to diversify her practice and work on a variety of mediums, from digital illustration, acrylic painting to large-scale murals and street art. She likes to explore the complexity of relationships and human interactions, telling stories through deconstructed figures, intuitive lines and expressive colourful shapes. Her art is celebrating diversity, inspired by feelings and everyday life.
Sophia Vigne Welsh
Sophia Vigne Welsh is a contemporary painter from Co. Wicklow. Through colour and gesture she explores the physical and emotional experience of her environment and translates this onto canvas and walls. Her work has been exhibited internationally and is held in numerous private collections. In 2022 she completed the Turps Bananas Correspondence Course, an internationally renowned painting programme. Sophia has lived in Los Angeles, Lisbon and now resides in London where she is studying for an MA in Painting at the Royal College of Art.
Ruan van Vliet
Ruan van Vliet is an Irish artist whose work is recognisable for its bright blobs of colour, smudgy, expressive lines and absurdist worldview. The Dublin-born illustrator works across print, commercial, editorial, publishing and self-initiated projects, including clothing, painting and animation.
Gav Connell
Gavin Connell is a 28-year-old illustrator/designer based in Dublin, Ireland. His style is made up of his main inspirations such as vintage comics, 1930s animation, and contemporary illustration/character design.
Bebhinn Eilish
Bebhinn Eilis is a 26 year old visual artist based in Wicklow. Her art process serves as a conduit through which universal taboos around the female and the female body can be played with. She draws from heritage, fables, mythology and herstory through which she interrogates the power of women, their internal and external struggles.
Mark Conlan
Mark Conlan is an illustrator hailing from Dublin, with a studio based in Melbourne’s sunny southern suburbs. Mark’s ability to distil a concept down to its visual essence is what sets him apart, affording him the privilege of working with some of the world’s most recognisable brands. His characteristic whimsical style is both unique and playful, accentuated by his bold use of colour in full spectrum and limited palettes. Mark brings colour to every project, whatever the purpose or occasion. Telling rich stories through illustration and animation, his hand drawn techniques and digital illustrations add vibrant life to any campaign or project. Mark seeks to break out of the confines of digital artwork, shifting his creative focus to physical media by often experimenting with non-traditional illustrated works.
Emmet Kirwan
Emmet Kirwan is an actor, playwright and theatre maker from Tallaght in Dublin. He studied at the Samuel Beckett Centre Trinity College Dublin. For over 20 years Emmet has worked in Irish and British Theatre, performing on many stages including Project Arts, The Abbey, The Gate, Donmar warehouse, The National Theatre and The Soho, as well as working with leading Irish theatre companies such as Landmark, Rough Magic, Fishamble, This is Pop Baby, Guna Nua, Pan Pan, Corn Exchange and Barabas.
His most recent work as a writer and performer is ‘Accents’. A spoken word verse play in a musical collaboration with Eoin French (Who performs as Talos) and directed by Claire O’Reilly of Malaprop theatre company. And the video shop set, hit comedy play Straight to Video for Landmark productions.
Emmet’s play ‘Dublin Oldschool’ directed by Phillip McMahon won the Stewart Parker award for playwriting it has toured internationally and transferred to The Dorfman in The National Theatre for a sell out run. It was adapted into a feature film with Element pictures and opened in Irish and British cinemas in 2018 and international festivals including the London BFI.
Emmet also wrote the poetry sections and performed in This is Pop Baby’s RIOT, which has played Vicar Street in Dublin and toured internationally to The Sydney theatre festival and Skirball New York. His poem ‘Heartbreak’ is taken from this show and was adapted in to a short film that won an Irish Film and Television Award for Best Short Film.
He was commissioned by The Gate Theatre Dublin for their Late at The Gate initiative to respond to John Osborne’s ‘Look Back In Anger’. For this he wrote and performed two new spoken word poems ‘I love you woman’ & ‘Mam and Dad are worried’. The piece was directed by Oonagh Murphy.
Other writing includes radio drama ‘Wild West’ (2018) for BBC 4, (Nominated for best radio drama award 2019 from the writers guild of Ireland.) ‘Straight to video’ (2021) and ‘Queen of The Pyramids’ (2019.) for Landmarks Productions.
He was also funded by the Arts Council to develop his play ‘The Last Partholonian’ a play based on the first cycle of Irish Mythology and the youth gang culture. It received a performed reading directed by Oonagh Murphy.
He is also known for writing and starring in the RTE 2 comedy series Sarah and Steve for Accomplice television.
Partners
About St. Patrick’s Festival:
The national St. Patrick’s Festival is Ireland’s global celebration of Irish Arts, Culture and Heritage. It takesplace annually in Dublin and is made possible by the generous support of Principal Funders: The Government of Ireland, the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Fáilte Ireland, and Dublin City Council, as well as many organisations, civic and commercial partners and funders.
Established in 1996, St. Patrick’s Festival has grown from a single-day to a multi-day event featuring music, performance, spectacle, dance, theatre, literature, visual arts, food, community activations and much more. It is recognized globally as one of the world’s biggest festivals, with a global reach of almost 500 million people in 2023. The Festival is a key driver for the Tourism industry, presenting a world class event that showcases the very best of Irishness and Ireland as a destination, platforming our incredible unique culture, heritage and traditions to a global audience through quality experiences. The most recent economic impact research estimates that St. Patrick’s Festival returns roughly €113 million to the Irish economy, with over 100,000 out-of-state visitors specifically choosing to holiday in Ireland to visit the Festival.
St. Patrick’s Festival also continues to be a key driver of employment and opportunity for the creative sector, providing over 11,000 days of employment in 2023. The 2024 Festival will continue to provide these opportunities, driving employment through direct investment in these vital industries that uplift Ireland across the world. The Festival team is made up of many of Ireland’s most experienced professional artists, arts workers, creatives and live events workers, in support of a small core team who work throughout the year planning the St. Patrick’s Festival and Parade. Year on year, St. Patrick’s Festival employs thousands of Irish artists, arts workers, arts organisations, live event workers, community workers and volunteers. St. Patrick’s Festival is an independent not-for-profit organisation with charity status, governed by a Board of Directors under the patronage of the President of Ireland.
About Guinness Storehouse
The Guinness Storehouse, the World’s Leading Visitor Attraction 2023, gives Guinness lovers the chance to experience the history, heart, and soul of Ireland’s most iconic beer. A visit to the Home of Guinness includes a behind-the-scenes look at the craft of brewing a perfect pint of the Black Stuff, an exhibition and cinema room dedicated to vintage Guinness advertising, and the chance to enjoy a pint in the Gravity Bar while enjoying Dublin’s best view.
From March 14th -18th, the Home of Guinness will open its doors to visitors from all over the world to come and enjoy a taste of world class, modern Irish sociability and culture featuring performances from over 100 artists including The Bonnymen, Kíla, punk-folk band Ispíní na hÉireann and Dublin’s The Len Collective. of Gilroy’s famous characters from the Guinness archives.
About The Digital Hub
Located at the heart of the historic Liberties area of Dublin city centre, The Digital Hub provides high-quality workspace and support to small businesses in the technology and creative sectors, social enterprises, artists and craftspeople.
Almost 60 businesses and organisations are based on The Digital Hub’s campus, collectively employing over 600 people.
The Digital Hub is a supportive partner of the local community, leading a series of initiatives and projects for people of all ages, abilities and interests. These wide-ranging programmes are generally delivered in partnership with other organisations and seek to develop 21st century skills in young and old, demonstrating the potential of digital innovations to transform lives and allowing the public to engage playfully and critically with new technologies while improving their digital literacy.
In addition to overseeing and running the campus and its activities, The Digital Hub is also responsible for the careful management of an extensive property portfolio, which includes many buildings representative of Dublin 8’s industrial history.
Established in 2003, the Digital Hub Development Agency is the Irish state agency, that manages The Digital Hub with a mission to deliver economic and cultural impact to Dublin 8 and beyond.
About Good Shout Studio
Good Shout is an independent creative studio that creates moments in culture founded by Greg Spring & Rosie Gogan-Keogh. Good Shout was born out of their love of bringing people together and making good things happen in art, food, music & culture.
They are curators & storytellers based out of Dublin, Ireland, but their work is global. They’ve spent a decade running their own space at Hen’s Teeth – crafting experiences, hosting emerging Irish talent to folks like Matty Matheson, Honey Dijon and Kelis and creating cultural moments for brands like Guinness, Hendrick’s Gin and Hennessy.
At Good Shout, they work with the great friends they’ve made along the way: artists, designers & creatives to curate exhibitions & art collections, build installations, produce art objects, programme dinners and throw parties.
Their creative work has been shown love in publications like Dezeen, Hypebeast, Wallpaper, It’s Nice That, GQ, The Irish Times, and lots more.
About Archetype
Archetype is Ireland’s leading event & experience creation and production agency.
Arising from live music events, the company has expanded to be a multi-faceted collective of creatives, working on everything from brand activations to art exhibitions, bar builds to music festivals while maintaining concept and culture at their core.
They work with some of Ireland’s most talented makers, builders, designers, artists and musicians to ensure craft, skill and innovation is poured into every aspect of their projects.
They bring their collective experience as club and gig promoters to life across experiential activations, music curation, immersive design and creative talent management.