€1.49m available for public art projects in Westmeath over next five years

Almost €1.5m is expected to be available for public art projects across Westmeath over the next three to five years through the Percent for Art scheme, the bulk of it from housing capital projects.

Westmeath County Council’s arts officer, Nicola Gilcreest, told the October meeting of the council that an audit had identified €1.49m available through housing capital funding, while a further €32,000 was currently available through Active Travel projects.

Additional funding may become available through other projects, including regeneration schemes, although some sources remain unconfirmed.

Ms Gilcreest said the €1.49m related to projects at different stages, including some already completed, some in progress and others in the pipeline.

The from the Percent for Art scheme, under which public art funding is linked to capital projects is, Ms Gilcreest explained, generally tied to the particular project and location from which it arises.

A revised public art policy, adopted by councillors at the meeting, sets out how the money will be managed and how artists and communities can be involved in future projects.

Ms Gilcreest said the updated policy had a broader remit than its predecessor, and an emphasis on community wellbeing, placemaking, cultural participation and strengthening local identity.

It also aims to provide paid opportunities for professional artists and to ensure greater transparency in the commissioning process.

The types of work covered are broad and can include sculptures, murals, street art, performance-based work and temporary or permanent installations.

An advisory committee is to be re-established to oversee the budget and implementation of the policy, help develop a pipeline of projects and assess which capital schemes are eligible for public art funding.

The committee is to include two elected members, with council staff from different departments, and nominated by councillors at the meeting to serve on the committee were Cllrs Mick Dollard and Paul Hogan. The selection of artists will be undertaken through separate commissioning panels.

Chief executive Barry Kehoe said the council had a responsibility to engage with project promoters at an early stage to ensure the public art requirement was included in project budgets.

He said the council were committed to making the necessary resources available and working with the arts officer and committee to ensure the scheme was delivered.

Community projects

Councillors welcomed the revised policy but raised questions about how communities could influence the choice of projects and whether smaller towns and villages would benefit from the scheme.

Cllr Vinnie McCormack said much of the funding was likely to arise from projects in Mullingar and Athlone, but urged the council not to restrict the benefits to the two larger towns.

He suggested that heritage groups and Tidy Towns committees in smaller communities could put forward ideas to celebrate local history and identity.

He cited a wooden sculpture in Ballymore commemorating the old fair day as an example of a project that had attracted visitors and highlighted local heritage.

Ms Gilcreest said there was no list of proposed public art projects at present beyond the capital schemes, but community groups could suggest projects and the arts office could help facilitate them, including through other sources of funding.

She explained that Percent for Art funding was generally tied to the capital project that generated it, meaning the location of the art would normally be linked to the location of the development.

She said community engagement would be required across all projects, and there were different ways of involving local people in the creation of artworks.

Cllr John Dolan asked whether there was a central fund and how communities could get their ideas considered, while Cllr Denis Leonard sought clarity on consultation and whether money could be ring-fenced for particular communities.

Ms Gilcreest said some funding could be pooled, allowing resources to be combined and used to repair existing artworks where appropriate. Other funding would remain attached to individual projects.

Murals and local artists

The policy also recognises street art and murals as forms of public art, an approach welcomed by several councillors.

Cllr David Jones said murals could help promote local heritage and tourism, and referred to plans being considered by Delvin Tidy Towns to establish murals reflecting the area’s castles and history.

Cllr Frankie Keena asked whether community groups could apply for funding for murals and what approval process applied to such works.

Ms Gilcreest said she intended to work with the planning department to develop a clearer system for dealing with mural proposals. She understood that existing murals had not generally been licensed or formally approved through planning, although she said there might be exceptions.

She said the advisory committee could have a role in developing a process to assess proposals.

Cllr Keena also suggested providing more opportunities for local artists to display and sell their work, but Ms Gilcreest said such initiatives might fall outside the public art policy and could be more suited to fairs, events or cultural programmes.

Cllr Aengus O’Rourke questioned whether the council had fully availed of the funding available through the scheme in recent years, pointing to the scale of public investment in Athlone.

Ms Gilcreest said it was difficult to establish whether all available funding had been accessed, but acknowledged that a significant amount of money had been waiting to be used. She said public art projects could be time-consuming and bespoke, and that the policy allowed for additional expertise to be brought in to help deliver them.

The revised policy is intended to strengthen the council’s approach to public art and ensure that future capital investment brings wider cultural and community benefits.

Supported by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme