Rural identity- Ground Up Artists Collective

Inspired by and managed by artist/curator Fiona Woods, the then visual artists officer for Clare at the helm, 2003-2006, Ground Up was a unique opportunity for  Clare based artists to highlight and acknowledge their rural arts practice allowing site specific work to be sited in the rural and gave a forum for rural aesthetics to be explored and celebrated.

I learned so much about collaborations, their strengths and their weaknesses while working with a group of artists over a 2 year period. An formal network Ground Up Artists Collective is one of the outcomes, of which I was treasurer for a few years and am now a passive member. 
GUAC creates contemporary art in rural contexts. The group supports, promotes and advocates for rural based art projects and events which engage with local communities of place or communities of interest. See www.groundupartists.com for more details.

“Sweet Bellharbour” was my response to Ground Up; a multimedia temporary installation involving
a sound recording of my neighbours naming their deceased family members and 49 stitched white
sheets with the names of the 49 people I had known in a village of 52 homes who had passed away in 
my lifetime to date. This took place over 10 days in a triangular field farmed by my father, in the ruins of
 Corcomroe Abbey, Bellharbour, Co.Clare and was commissioned by Clare County Council as part of
the Ground Up 2 art in rural context process, ‘05.