Arts Week with Judy Murphy

A visit to the Lime Tree Theatre in Limerick recently to see Wreckquiem, the new play from local playwright Mike Finn, gave lots of food for thought. Not so much the play, which was ok, but rather the space.

Located on the campus of Mary Immaculate College – with lots of parking for patrons – it’s a fantastic venue. The 501-seat theatre has properly raked seating, so unless there’s a giant in front of you, the stage is fully visible, no matter where you are located.

In the foyer, there’s another raked space, designed to cater for more informal events, with a section where books can be borrowed or deposited by readers. A gem.

A few minutes in the road, is the 220-seater Belltable Arts Centre, focusing on smaller shows. It also houses the Belltable Hub, a space where local artists can develop shows.

Up the road from there is the Limerick City Art Gallery, a flexible space where new exhibitions can be accommodated alongside the permanent collection of Irish art. Imagine a provincial city that has a permanent collection of Irish art. It’s possible, apparently.

Just out the road, at the University of Limerick in Castletroy, is the University Concert Hall. Another fine space with decent seating.

Let’s come back to Galway. Our city’s Arts Centre on 47 Dominck Street, which once hosted top Irish and international visual artists, is now in such a state of disrepair that the top floors are out of bounds to staff, because they are damp and dangerous. The staff who were housed there, had to move to a floor below.

The walls of this historic Georgian building are so damp that any painting hung on them risks being damaged. As a result, the venue mostly hosts installations and film art.

The Arts Centre is owned by Galway City Council. Our councillors who voted so casually to spend millions on moving the council HQ from College Road to Crown Square in Mervue, while this beautiful, historically significant building is falling into ruin, should hang their heads in shame.

Galway City Council pays lip service to the arts and based on the arts infrastructure in the city, that’s pretty much the height of it.

As the Arts Festival rolls around once again it’s like back to the 1980s. The organisation is still scrabbling for venues in which to hang exhibitions, still trying to work with outdated spaces. Paying dear to hire temporary galleries, paying dear to make them suitable for shows. Then dismantling everything after the festival ends. It’s disgraceful that as GIAF celebrates its 48th anniversary that’s what’s still happening. Thousands of euro being spent that way every year that could be put to far better creative use.

Four years ago, Minister Hildegarde Naughton made a surprise announcement that a section of the city’s GPO would be made available to arts organisations. There was mention of a gallery, of a space where people could develop projects.

Pictured: David Mach’s installation, Burning Down the House, will be at the Festival Gallery on William Street, one of several spaces that the Arts Festival rents and repurposes every year. Galway’s lack of arts spaces is stark, compared to other Irish cities.