Mayo County Council Tyrone Guthrie Regional Bursary Scheme 2015 Recipients Announced

Mayo County Council Tyrone Guthrie Regional Bursary Scheme 2015 Recipients Announced

Every year Mayo County Council offers two bursary awards to artists born or living in Mayo, to enable them to spend two weeks at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre at Annaghmakerrig, CountyMonaghan. Each bursary covers the costs for a two-week period, plus the use of a studio if relevant. There are a variety of artist work spaces available including studios, a music room for composers and musicians, a multi-media room and a large rehearsal and performance space.

The Tyrone Guthrie Centre is a residential workplace for artists, dedicated to supporting and facilitating creativity within a welcoming and trusted environment and it is an established and central part of cultural life in Ireland being the largest residency of its type for artists in this country. The centre at Annaghmakerrig is universally well-regarded for successfully providing a creative space outside everyday life, which gives artists time and space to focus on ideas and work.

The Mayo County Council Tyrone Guthrie bursaries are advertised annually and are open to practitioners in all art forms born or domiciled within CountyMayo. Applicants need to show significant achievement in their chosen field, e.g. visual artists should have had one-person shows in reputable galleries and composers or musicians should have had their work commissioned, recorded or performed or whatever might be appropriate to the particular art form. Otherwise the applicant must demonstrate a high degree of promise attested by references or other forms of support from established figures in the arts.

All submissions are assessed by an independent, expert panel who were extremely impressed with the quality and standard this year. This year’s successful applicants are visual artist Maggie Morrission and singer-songwriter Graham Sweeney.

Maggie Morrission was born in Dublin and lives in Achill. She attended the National College of Art in Dublin and the University of Southern Illinois, Carbondale Illinois, where she completed an MFA. She has exhibited regularly since 1989 in venues including solo exhibitions at the Rubicon Gallery Dublin, various venues in the USA, Custom House Studios Westport, The Linenhall Arts Centre Castlebar, Airfield House Dublin, Crawford Gallery Cork, Butler Gallery Kilkenny, and group exhibitions including Boyle Arts Festival Roscommon, RHA Dublin, and Achill Artists Group exhibitions 1994 ~ 2014 among others. “I love paint and the activity of painting and colour. This is the starting point for me”.

Graham Sweeney is an innovative young singer-songwriter from Achill Island, Co. Mayo. He utilises a combination of techniques, blending traditional guitar playing with his own unique style of finger-tapping. The result is a truly distinctive sound that captivates audiences and leaves them wanting more. During his dynamic live sets, he shifts seamlessly between percussive guitar riffs and delicate vocal melodies. Recently Graham has toured with Declan O'Rourke and supported Mick Flannery, playing in venues throughout the country. He also recorded and released his first album, Closing Time. He was nominated for Best Male Solo Act in the Pure M Awards 2015, and played at several festivals. www.breakingtunes.com/grahamsweeney

For further information contact the Arts Office, Mayo County Council. Tel 094 90 24444 exts 7558/ 7471. e-mail: mayoarts@mayococo.ie