New arts collective holds first meeting in Athlone

A new arts collective, Creative Link Midlands, held its first-ever meeting in St. Kieran’s Community Centre in Tormey Villas on Wednesday night.

Community Arts Inclusion worker Aoife Doolan was one of the driving forces behind the meeting.

Aoife spoke to the meeting about her experience in the previous Arts Collective in Athlone, Making Space, and how that inspired a whole ecosystem of music, open mic nights, poetry and drama groups in the town.

She also shared the work that is required to run such a group.

"We were constantly fundraising, it was challenging," Aoife said.

"We made sure our fundraisers were adding to the cultural scene in Athlone. We put on bands, we ran drama nights, we hosted art shows, we really wanted to show that art isn’t something confined to galleries, but is an essential part of our community."

Community activist Mickey Moran was also involved in organising the meeting, and noted that there was “a great appetite" for such an outlet in Athlone.

"A number of us participated in a Westmeath County Council Arts plan consultation in the Dean Crowe theatre at the end of August. Two things became extremely clear: There needed to be a local infrastructure where people involved in arts and culture could network, share events and collaborate, and there was a severe lack of space in the town for the production of arts," he said.

Mickey added that was about finding the "missing piece" in Athlone rich arts culture.

“There are lots of fantastic spaces in Athlone for displaying and performing, and we are so lucky to have so many businesses willing to host events, however there is clearly a missing piece and that is the need for a space to produce and rehearse.”

There was a great appetite at the meeting to get an arts collective up and running, and a second meeting was planned for a few weeks time.

To get get involved in the collective, email creativelinkmidlands@gmail.com