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| Artist Manuela Madeira In The Bridge House Arts Space |
On Thursday August 2nd - Storytelling Southeast opened the doors of its brand new Arts Space in 'Bridge House' in Dungarvan in County Waterford.
Bridge House will become the home of the Storytelling Festival, which takes place in the county from September 26 to 30, 2012.
The historic house is also a collection of studios where ten artists have taken residence. It offers them a collection of spaces including a gallery and events room. Events will be curated and managed by the director of Storytelling Southeast, Bo Mandeville.
The ten artists are diverse in their work and include Irish artists Eveleen Power, Rayleen Clancy, Eilis O'Toole, Eileen Singleton, Eamon Gray, Anthony Hayes, Sinéad Violet, Manuela Madeira, Helen-Rose Hayes and Anne-Marie Le Flohic. Commenting at the launch Festival Director Bo Mandeville said, "Storytelling Southeast is eager to establish permanence in the region and this is a logical next step but also very key to the growth of the festival. It allows us to invite artists, organise exchanges, produce events all year around and promote the festival and the destination. We are welcoming other cultural organisations and communities to partner with us or to simply use the infrastructure. In the near future all of this will - hopefully - culminate in a vibrant arts community, a place where artists and audiences can explore creativity and where everybody feels encouraged to participate."
Officially opening the Bridge House Arts Space Mayor of Dungarvan Micheál Cosgrove commented, "I am delighted to officially open this new arts space in Dungarvan, it is wonderful to see this beautiful architecturally designed building coming to life and housing not only 10 art studios but also becoming the home of the fantastic Storytelling Southeast festival which I am very much looking forward to enjoying next month. I would like to wish all of the artists well and the festival the very best of luck for their future growth and progress."
Bridge House will open as the Storytelling Southeast box office from August 24 and before the festival it will host workshops, a teen book club and ongoing performances and installations. During the festival the space will be open for festivalgoers to visit the Art space and enjoy some festival events.
Photo By David Clynch
