Louise Walsh

Artist Statement

Work based primarily in the arena of public art with a focus on the production of sculptural interventions sited in publicly used space.

Walsh has a particular interest in developing artwork through dialogue, process based, participatory and collaborative as well as educational practices.

Education

1985-1986 MA Fine Art University of Ulster.
1980-1985 Diploma in Fine Art, Crawford Municipal School of Art, Cork.

Public Art Projects + Sited Participatory Artworks

2006-2012

Public Artwork and installation commemorating Derry women shirt factory workers.

2006-2010

Emergency Department James Hospital. Per cent for art participatory project.

2004-2008

Boundry Sculpture at Luas Stop, James Hospital. 40 metre long art work,includes Bronze Sculptures done by Local teenagers on a linked project.

2005-2006

Rosslare; Wexford County Council percent for Art project; Participator project with residents. Devised a mentored residency for NCAD graduate artists.

1998-2001

Integrated Public Artworks at the entrance of the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast. A large scale installation which includes a moveable sculptural element, a series of text works and a designed metal balcony.

2001

Sweets and Snails, A traffic calming sculptural installation. Bronze sculptures and signs, in St Finian’s Housing Estate, Lucan, Co Dublin.

2000

Imagine, A stone sculpture made in consultation with local teenagers at Black Lion Swimming Jetty, Co Cavan.

1996-1997

Sculptural installation at Kilmurray Village, Bronze, concrete and resin. University of Limerick.

Installation in public walkway Pier 4A,Terminal 1. Light, duratrans and colour projection. Heathrow Airport, London.

1993

Monument to the Unknown Woman Worker, Cast bronze figures, two metres high. Great Victoria Street, Belfast.

Solo Exhibitions

1997

Offering. Video and sculptural installation, Belltable Arts Centre, Limerick.

1995

Sounding the Depths Phase Two (with Pauline Cummins),
Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin.

1993

Sounding the Depths (with Pauline Cummins), Kunstlerhaus, Graz, Austria.Tate Gallery, Liverpool.
Street Level Photographic Gallery, Glasgow.

1992

Sounding the Depths. Collaborative installation in three parts(with Paulin Cummins), Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin.

1991

Available Resources. Exhibition from a project with shirt factory workers. Orchard Gallery, Derry.

1990

Louise Walsh. Arts Council Gallery, Belfast.

1988

Solo Window Exhibition. Arts Council Gallery, Belfast.

1987

Otter Gallery, Belfast.

Residencies + Community Projects

2005- 2006

Art Project with Aged out Asylum seekers in conjunction with SPIRASI, CREATE and IMMA, Devised, initiated and ran the project. It is now developing into a broader based, client led, funded program.

2004-2006

Luas, St James Sculpture Workshops. Sculpture sessions with local teenagers. Project design, co-ordination, networking and fund-raising.

1999-2000

Lough McNean Sculpture Trail Bellcoo, Co Fermanagh.

1998-1999

Viking Tribe After Schools Project Buckingham Street, Dublin. Funded by the Arts Council of Ireland.

1998-1999

Worked with local groups and relatives of people who have died due to heroin in Dublin’s inner city, as one of four shortlisted artists proposing an artwork to highlight and comemmorate that loss. Run by the Firestation Artists Studios.

1998

Artist in Residence WERRC Programme, University College Dublin.

1996

Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin Artists Work Programme.

1992

Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin.

1991

Available Resources administered by the Orchard Gallery, Derry.

1988-1990

Belltable Arts Centre, Limerick.

1987

Foyle Arts Centre, Derry, administered by the Orchard Gallery, Derry.

Professional Activity

2002-2008

Board member of the Project Arts Centre, Dublin

2007-2008

Board member of Common Ground, an arts development organization based in the Canal Communities area of Dublin South West.

2007 – 2009: Research Project with ResCen Middlesex University

One of six Irish artists invited to work on an international three-year research project, seeded by CREATE, partnered with Middlesex University ResCen and NCAD. The project will research and gain insight into arts practice across disciplines, and intends to facilitate dialogue and learning about practice and documentation in the contexts of the European Union and international arts policy.

2005-2008

Member of the Arts Advisory Group for SPIRASI. A group formed to lend expert knowledge and advice to progress the development of an arts program for clients of the Spirtitan Initiative for Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Ireland.

2005-2006

Public Art Consultant for South Dublin County Council.

2005-2006

Participating as a Mentor in the Mentoring Development Project. A research study and pilot project funded by the Arts Council of Ireland.

2002-2006

Editorial Board of CONTEXTS. A journal on Arts and Practice in Ireland, published by CREATE.

Publications + Conferences + Symposia

2007

Reflecting on an Evolving Practice, Irish Feminist Review 2007. Published by Women's Studies Centre, National University of Ireland, Galway. 16 page photo and text article on my art practice.

2007

Summer by the Strand: Cois Mara Residents Make their Mark. Publication celebrates the collaborative and mentoring Public Art Per Cent for Art project, funded by Wexford County Council.

2007

Chapter detailing project with young asylum seekers. Published by the National Youth Arts Program.

2006

Authored essay detailed Walsh’s Art project with young Asylum Seekers for ‘Work in Progress’, published by the National Youth Arts Program; Showcasing models of good practice, designed as a resource for Artistsand Youth Workers working with young people on arts programs.

2006

Symposium Presentation/ Symposium Paper at the Educational Studies Association of Ireland National Conference in NCAD

2006

Publication of presentation. Learning Labs 01 Visual Arts in Youthwork. (pub; Irish Youthwork Press 2006).

2006

Presentation at ‘The Big Breakfast’, a forum of Youth Art projects in Dublin hosted by the City Arts Centre on the 12th June.

2005

Dialogues: Women Artists From Ireland. Dedicated chapter. Katy Deepwell. Published by IB Tauris: London: New York.

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