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Cill Rialaig is a contemporary arts project, comprising the Cill Rialaig Artist Retreat and the Cill Rialaig Arts Centre with exhibition and retail facilities. The operations are located a few kilometres apart, within the townland of Dun Geagan (Dún Geágaín), Ballinskelligs, on Bolus Head, County Kerry, Ireland. Since opening in 1991, the artist retreat has supported nearly 5,000 free residencies for painters, writers, photographers, composers and other artists, from a wide range of countries. The project has been supported by local and Dublin-based committees, and by representative art galleries in Dublin.

History

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Beginnings

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The first stage of what became a multi-phase project was the Cill Rialaig Artist Retreat, founded by Noelle Campbell-Sharp, a former magazine publisher also active on Dublin's social scene. Campbell-Sharp, who had a holiday home in the area,[1] was aware of a ruined 18th century village on Bolus Head on the Iveragh Peninsula in western County Kerry, which was threatened by a potential road-widening scheme, and proposed its reconstruction and dedication as a retreat for creative workers, including painters, photographers, composers and writers, from Ireland or elsewhere, to spend some quiet time in which to continue, or refresh, their work.[1] The village had lost its last occupant in the 1950s,[2] and the buildings were a mix of wholly disassembled and semi-collapsed.[1]

Campbell-Sharp established a voluntary board, supported by a local golf committee, and social, wine appreciation and art auction committees in Dublin.[3] She purchased the site for 30,000 pounds, with support from friends and 6,000 pounds from the Irish National Lottery, and explained that she wanted to leave an enduring resource for the local people.[2] She then applied for and secured planning permission for eight buildings.[3]

During the early part of the development, she moved to the area to supervise, selling her home in Killiney, Dublin.[4]

The project was planned and overseen by architect Alfred Cochrane.[1] The foundation stone was laid by the Taoiseach, Charles Haughey, honorary patron of the project, on Saturday 21 September 1991.[5]

First phase

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Work began with the construction of modern buildings on the sites of long-gone cabins, first two, at a cost of 50,000 Irish pounds each,[6] then two more, then another, and two more later again. While made externally to conform to the pattern of the original houses, and reusing stone from the site, the new buildings were built with damp-proofing and insulation, small bathrooms, modern cooking facilities and storage heating, loft sleeping spaces, and concealed central skylights over the main studio work space.[2][7][1] There were some questions about the project[8][1] but much support from both artistic and local interests. The first two houses were ready in 1995.[2] By 1998, still with two studio-cabins available, 180 artists had completed residencies,[6] and by 2001, 600.[9]

The conversation house and library was dedicated by President of Ireland Mary McAleese in 2008, to the memory of historic local storyteller (seannachai) Sean O'Connaill.[10]

By 2011, 2500 artists had visited,[1] and by 2019, there had been at least 4900 residencies.[10]

Second phase

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The arts centre and shop[1], originally branded as Siopa Chill Rialaig (Cill Rialaig Shop) were opened in 1995,[11] partly to raise funds, and partly to provide a location for the public, local and passing, to view and acquire art, and take some classes.[11]

Third phase plans

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A plan for an international art gallery, part-inspired by Tate St Ives in Cornwall, has been under consideration for the Waterville area since at least 1998.[6][1]

Artist retreat

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The retreat, which deliberately does not have a website but is briefly summarised on the website of the arts centre, is operated by a not-for-profit company, the Cill Rialaig Project, the board of which includes local business and professional figures.[6] Its buildings are located along a narrow road deep into Bolus Head, near a cliff overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, and remote from other habitation. There are seven self-catering studio cottages with natural roof lighting, along with a meeting house and library (Tig an Comhra, literally "house of conversation") and a utility building. It is the policy of the project to offer its accommodation free of charge, except for a contribution to utility costs. Guests are under no obligations, although gatherings in studios or the Tig an Comhra are common, and at the Tig an Comhra local people, storytellers and musicians, also visit. The stated ethos of the retreat is of isolation and "eremitic-like" living.[10]

As of 2019, more than 4,900 residencies have been hosted, with artists coming from Ireland, the UK, Russia and other European countries, Japan, Korea, China, the US, Canada and Mexico, India, Australia and New Zealand.[10]

Arts centre

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The arts centre is located at one end of the village of Dun Geagan (Dungegan, Dún Geágaín), one of the main population centres of Ballinskelligs. It has exhibition space, a small shop and a seasonal café.[11]

Funding

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The project is funded by philanthropic donations and grants, and fundraising events, with some contributions from Ireland's Arts Council and the government department responsible for the arts. Many of the artists who have visited the retreat have donated work to the project, allowing its selling on to raise funds. One painter, Aurelio Caminati (in Italian) stayed for a whole summer and left his entire seasonal output for sale.[6] Work from the retreat have been sold at Noelle Campbell-Sharp's galleries in Dublin. The first of these, on St. Stephen's Green, was dedicated to work from Cill Rialaig, and was opened by the Tánaiste Dick Spring, with the Ambassador of the US, Jean Kennedy Smith in attendance.[12] The Origin Gallery on Fitzwilliam Street acted for Cill Rialaig over years, and while moving in 2019 has already announced that it will continue to do so. For a period the Urban Retreat Art Gallery on Hanover Quay, by Grand Canal Dock, opened 2006, also assisted, with more experimental collections.[13] Branded specifically with the link to Cill Rialaig, Urban Retreat hosted many exhibitions, with one opening, for Gemma Billington, attended by Niall Quinn and Kate Middleton.[14]

Other fundraising events have included a corporate golf weekend with breakfast at the K-Club, a reception at Aras an Uachtarain and dinners at Dublin Castle and Club Med in Waterville,[3] an art auction at the Irish Club in London at which a Jack Yeats sketch was auctioned along with a signed lithograph by, and donated by, Prince Charles,[15] and a series of annual golf events for ambassadors to Ireland.[16]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i McDonald, Frank (12 September 2011). "Cill Rialaig artists' retreat proves to be an unexpected success story". The Irish Times.
  2. ^ a b c d "Cill Rialaig: The Irish St Ives?". 28 August 1997. p. 9. ...my investment in my neighbourhood" ... "I did it for the love of the decent, principled people here. I wanted them to have a resource they could be proud of and have access to. A resource that will last.
  3. ^ a b c McDonald, Frank (5 October 1991). "Making a feast of a famine". The Irish Times. p. 3.
  4. ^ Balls, Richard (10 May 1997). "From a precocious child to a provocative adult". The Irish Times.
  5. ^ McDonald, Frank (23 September 1991). "Taoiseach defies elements for village project". The Irish Times. p. 2.
  6. ^ a b c d e Murdoch, Alan (20 March 1998). "On the shores of inspiration". The Independent (of London). Retrieved 8 July 2019.
  7. ^ Campbell-Sharp, Noell (13 September 1996). "Letters Page - Saving Cill Rialaig". The Irish Times.
  8. ^ O'Reilly, Barry (9 September 1996). "Letters - Co. Kerry cottages". The Irish Times.
  9. ^ Walsh, Deirdre (16 August 2001). "Consotrium rescues Cill Rialaig Artists Retreat project". Irish Independent. Retrieved 8 July 2019. business consortium ... pledging a donation of £120,000 towards the next phase of the project, ... specially designed composers' homes
  10. ^ a b c d "Cill Rialaig - Residencies". Cill Rialaig Arts Centre. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
  11. ^ a b c "About". Cill Rialaig Arts Centre. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
  12. ^ "An urban retreat for artist Mick Mulcahy". Irish Indepdendent. 10 December 2006. Mick Mulcahy is coming to Dublin ... brilliant, controversial artist and his girlfriend Suzy O'Mullane ... the star attendees at the opening bash for Cill Rialaig's new gallery Urban Retreat
  13. ^ "The paintings, not the prince". Sunday Independent. 15 April 2007.
  14. ^ "Yeats sketch in charity auction". The Irish Times. 15 June 1996. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
  15. ^ Keenan, Shay (23 May 2006). "The Short Game - Ambassadors classic". The Irish Times. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
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Category:1991 establishments in Ireland Category:Arts in Ireland Category:Arts centres in Ireland Category:County Kerry

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