Dublin City Council launched a new arts initiative called "Sculpture Dublin" this week.
Sculpture Dublin is an ambitious project designed to put sculpture at the heart of communities around Dublin City. DCC plan to commission six new artworks over the next 18 months and to develop a city-wide public engagement programme.
DCC see this as an exciting opportunity both for artists, and for the wider public.They want to encourage people to rediscover Dublin through sculpture, imagine new possibilities for art in the public realm, and engage in shared processes of learning and making.
Following initial consultation and a survey of potential sites, locations for the new commissions have been identified in each of the five Dublin City Council Local Administrative Areas;
the new Ballyfermot People’s Park (beside Ballyfermot Community Civic Centre);
Bushy Park, Terenure;
Kildonan Park, Finglas;
Smithfield Square Lower. and
St Anne’s Park, Raheny.
A temporary sculpture will also be commissioned for the O’Connell Plinth, an empty plinth outside City Hall on Dame Street, which once supported John Hogan’s statue of Daniel O’Connell, now on display in the Rotunda of City Hall.
With this in mind, Dublin City Council are reaching out to local communities in the areas where the commissions are happening, to make contact and start the conversation.
You can find out more about the programme and commissions at the website www.sculpturedublin.ie and you can follow them on social media:
#SculptureDublin
Instagram @sculpturedublin
Facebook @sculpturedublin
Twitter @SculptureDublin
There is an online survey at https://www.sculpturedublin.ie/bushy-park/ designed to get people thinking about sculpture and sculpture in the area.
If you are interested in knowing more or getting involved, please let Karen Downey,
Programme Director at DCC
know (via the website above), or sign up for the e-newsletter on the home page of the website.