The Kilmainham Arts Club is a free monthly Arts night held in the Patriots Inn, Kilmainham. The aim of the night is to provide a space for amateur and professional artists of all disciplines, both local and from further afield, to present or perform their work in an informal and relaxed setting.
The Arts Club has been running on the first Monday of every month since September 2009 and since that time over a hundred artists have taken part and shared their work to appreciative audiences.
On a typical night you can expect to see something from the visual arts – presentations of photography, film, painting and sculpture, to live music performances of all genres, right through to movement and dance, poetry, drama and sketch comedy. We have had virtually everybody from tango dancers, to harpists to clowns perform!
It is this eclectic mix which seems to have struck a chord with art lovers who come from near and far to experience this unique night. There has been a superb response in the local community and a loyal following has built up in Kilmainham and the surrounding areas.
In September 2010, on the 1 year anniversary of the Arts Club – the first Kilmainham Arts Festival was held. The Festival was opened by the Lord Mayor of Dublin Councillor Gerry Breen and was a great success. Run over the course of two days, the event expanded into new venues such as the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA), the Hilton hotel, the Kilmainham Courthouse plaza. A whole host of workshops were provided and were fully subscribed. The Festival also took to the Streets with a live outdoor music stage, a Busking competition, Street theatre and ‘Arts on the Railings’. Great support was given by the local business community, the Garda and all those who volunteered and helped on the day. The Festival is planned to run again in 2011 on an even bigger scale – so watch this space!
We are always looking for new acts to perform at the Arts Club – and we welcome budding artists – maybe you’re a photographer who has interesting images to share, or writer who has a play or poem that you just like to perform. Come on down and have a look, enjoy the night and perhaps it will be you up there performing next time round…
The next Arts Clubs are January 3rd and February 7th @ 8pm.
For more information, or if you or someone you know is interested in getting involved, please get in touch – send us an email. or check out our blog for updates @ http://kilmainhamartsclub.wordpress.com
This article was originally published in:
Fountain News Digital – December 2010 (Issue 2)
We are re-publishing all articles from our past newsletter, Fountain News Digital, and you can view all completed newsletters here. There were nine issues published in total between 2010 and 2012.
