A junior student, who attends my art classes on the top floor of the Clonakilty Community Arts Centre (CCAC), recently posed the following question: “If art and culture are so important, as we’re taught in school, why are there so few places to view and make art?” We were discussing the uncertain future of the Clonakilty Community Arts Centre and its exhibiting space, Gallery Asna, in light of the news that the building in which it is housed is now up for sale.
The question my 13-year-old student posed is both prescient and poignant, and shines a light on an inherent contradiction between society’s values and the market forces, which increasingly shape its spaces. It also underscores a deficit of services in the region (some of my students come from afar afield as Schull and Cork City) and the extreme vulnerability of the arts sector in West Cork as a whole.
I have often thought of the CCAC building as an old, creaking ship. It is old, but well-loved; its flaking, gradually crumbling shell propped up by easels, printing presses, paintings, sculptures, conversation, coffee, energy, music, laughter and life. It is more than its walls and the money that holds it together: it is community. Over fifty artists every year, from every demographic, benefit from Gallery Asna: students and amateurs, refugees and established locals, emerging artists and seasoned professionals; all fly the pennants of their dreams from the good ship CCAC’s mast.
In addition to exhibiting artists, approximately eighty students come up and down the gangway weekly: to try out the rigging, learn the ropes, splash some paint upon the hull. Glass painting, oil painting, printmaking, ceramics, sculpture, photography, guitar: all are unleashed on every deck of the ship. After school classes, evening classes, day classes and weekend workshops are run by artists on the upper decks, decks which they sublet from the centre. They are artists who would otherwise be at sea in leaky boats. “God bless the good ship CCAC,” they say; its existence allows them to simultaneously create work, teach others, and provide a safe, creative space for those who need it.
But the good ship CCAC, folks, may be going down. And it is not the only one.
The Blue House Gallery in Schull has been in this same position for the last two years, hanging on year to year, pending the, perhaps inevitable, sale of the building in which it is housed. The Blue House has long established itself as the principal stage for national-level, professional artists in West Cork. With the loss of the Catherine Hammond Gallery and the Doswell Gallery in recent years there are no dedicated art dealers left in the entire county, making the remaining artist-run galleries, such as the Blue House, all the more vital to the continuance of a visible and viable arts sector in the region. But that is, in a very real sense, under threat.
To put things in perspective: including Uillinn there are six dedicated art galleries in West Cork, three of which may be classed as arts centres (comprising studios, gallery, workshop and performance space). These are Uillinn (government funded), Working Artist Studios (artist run), Cnoc Buí (philanthropic/artist run), Blue House Gallery (artist run), Clonakilty Community Arts Centre | Gallery Asna (artist run), and the Loft Gallery and Frames (commercially run). Of these, both the Blue House Gallery and Clonakilty Community Arts Centre are on notice, pending the sale of the buildings that house them; that’s one third of West Cork’s art sector infrastructure; yes, one third.
This is a message to Cork County Council and the philanthropists and property owners of the region: West Cork is renowned for its arts, but its artists and galleries are rapidly being priced out of the spaces that enable them to exist. Existing artist-run organisations urgently need appropriate and secure property and support. If you feel strongly about this issue, writing to our local councillors – Isobel Towse (Isobel.Towse@cllr.corkcoco.ie), Noel O’Donovan (Noel.ODonovan@cllr.corkcoco.ie) and Daniel Sexton (Daniel.Sexton@cllr.corkcoco.ie) – is a great way to send the message home. It also gives them the words and impetus they need to bring the needs of the arts sector to the table. If you wish to support CCAC | Gallery Asna financially, you can become a Friend of the Gallery: galleryasna.ie/friends-of-the-gallery/
To contact CCAC: ccac2013@gmail.com
