New Arts Association wants to open cultural hub at railway station

 

Sinn Féin’s Cllr Sorca Clarke announced the move at the May monthly meeting of the Mullingar Municipal District Committee (MMMDC), where she called on colleagues to support the newly-established Midlands Arts and Cultural Association.
Cllr Clarke’s motion also called on the CIE Group Property Management and on Iarnród Eireann's heritage office to work with the group to transform the currently unused unit at Mullingar Train Station into an Arts and Cultural hub.
This was, she said, to meet the need of new and established artists.
“Recently, a group of local artists and cultural enthusiasts and historians have come together to form a group called Midlands Arts and Cultural Association,” Cllr Clarke told the meeting.
“They are a large group by all measures and they have skills from multiple areas and they’ve been looking for a home more suitable for them to be able to facilitate exhibitions, across all art sectors and to train, mentor, and have a workspace for up and coming artists,” she said.
Cllr Clarke said the group is even looking at the possibility of hosting a summer school if they find the right venue.
“At a meeting with this group, we came up with the idea of the train station,” she said.
Cllr Clarke said the MMDC should nurture and be proud of groups such as this.
“These are groups that have a vision of an arts and cultural hub in Mullingar and we should be doing whatever is in our power to encourage and facilitate them,” she said.
Director of Services, Martin Murray, suggested that Cllr Clarke speak with arts officer, Miriam Mulrennan and he indicated that, if appropriate, talks could be arranged with CIE property management. He said it would be best to have a coordinated approach to arts development within the county.