About us
Nestled on the western banks of Lough Derg, the Mountshannon Arts Festival (formerly the Iniscealtra Festival of Arts) takes place every year in the village of Mountshannon in East Clare.
Each year brings a new collection of exhibitions, performances and workshops to inspire and to entertain locals and visitors alike.
Rooted in the visual arts, the ethos of the Festival is to create access to works and exhibitions that would not be easy to find in a rural area, while at the same time stimulating the creation of works and performances from within the local community.
The Festival has been running since 1995 with a progressively wider audience and developing partnership with a number of national arts organisations (IMMA, ICO, World Music Centre, Irish Writers Association, Dance Daghdha, Limerick Printmakers, Limerick School of Art, Burren School of Art, Glór, Midnight Court Film Society, Access Cinema, Clare Arts Office, Music Network and others).
Each year brings a new collection of exhibitions, performances and workshops to inspire and to entertain locals and visitors alike.
Rooted in the visual arts, the ethos of the Festival is to create access to works and exhibitions that would not be easy to find in a rural area, while at the same time stimulating the creation of works and performances from within the local community.
The Festival has been running since 1995 with a progressively wider audience and developing partnership with a number of national arts organisations (IMMA, ICO, World Music Centre, Irish Writers Association, Dance Daghdha, Limerick Printmakers, Limerick School of Art, Burren School of Art, Glór, Midnight Court Film Society, Access Cinema, Clare Arts Office, Music Network and others).
The organisers
The festival is run as a non-profit community venture by a changing group of local volunteers.
Without the dedicated help and skills from numerous individuals, who are too many to list here, the events throughout the last 20 years could not have happened.
If you feel you would personally like to get involved in whatever way, big or small, we'll be happy to hear from you.
Please drop us a line via the contact page.
Without the dedicated help and skills from numerous individuals, who are too many to list here, the events throughout the last 20 years could not have happened.
If you feel you would personally like to get involved in whatever way, big or small, we'll be happy to hear from you.
Please drop us a line via the contact page.
ARTISTIC OBJECTIVES
- To enable people of all ages and abilities access to a variety of artistic disciplines they would not otherwise encounter, introducing them to a wide range of professional artists, groups and organisations.
- Provide an Education programme aimed at increasing audience participation and the audience's level of engagement with the Arts. Effective delivery is achieved through working with established groups within the community (e.g. Schools, Hospital, Youth groups etc) and a requirement of the artists to explain their work to their audience.
- Built on our original core principles, which was to work in the area of Contemporary Visual and Performance Art, our aim is to enable professional artists to work together in a variety of disciplines on community related projects. It has been important to establish the Festival as the principal showcase for the Visual Arts, providing access to the people of East Clare because there is no formal arts venue in the area.
- Provide diversity in the programme, offering new opportunities for innovation both for professional artists and participants, as well as providing support in traditions in the arts so that we can appeal to as wide an audience as possible. Engagement with, participation in and enjoyment of the arts are all key elements in a good programme.
- Provide a sustained arts experience for our audience/ participants, aiming to build on projects in the community year by year. To encourage and support new and upcoming artists/arts students in all disciplines.
- To develop further collaboration with artistic organisations, e.g.: The Burren College of Art, LSAD, Music Network, UL, IMMA, Limerick City Gallery etc. and establish new contacts e.g. The World Music Centre. Evaluate the experience of the audience and the impact the Festival is having on the local community.
