Quote from
Circa Art
Magazine:
In the initial stages, it was billed as the
biggest space for contemporary art in Ireland – quite a coup for
a smallish town like Carlow. It is not clear if that original
claim now stands, but VISUAL still promises to be a major
player, if all goes well (the idea was going round that the
County Council was trying to offload the programming of VISUAL
onto IMMA, but that surely can’t be right…)
Carlow Local Authorities have now finalized the
contractor and architectural firm that will construct VISUAL in
Carlow Town on the grounds of Saint Patrick’s College. VISUAL
will contain the National Centre for Contemporary Art and the
George Bernard Shaw Theatre. Terry Pawson Architects—an
architectural company based in London—and Rohncon Ltd
contractors will oversee the construction of VISUAL, consisting
of four principal gallery spaces as well as a 3,130m˛
performing-arts theatre.
The Centre will house temporary exhibitions of
local, national, and international art, as well as provide a new
space for the festivals that take place in Carlow. The Theatre
will host national and regional touring productions as well as
local productions and will be a home venue for several Carlow
based groups, both amature and professional.
VISUAL is due to open in early 2009. Visualise
Carlow, now in its sixth year, brings in three public temporary
contemporary art projects to Carlow every year and will benefit
from the new gallery space. Joe Crockett, County Manager, writes
that the new Centre will share the same goal as Visualise Carlow
in that “it will be a place of reflection, and yet a place of
exploration. It will be a centre, not just of recreation but of
re-creation. The programme of the centre will encourage us to
reimagine the world we live in and our place within it.”
