Kilkenny County Council, in association with Age & Opportunity and Tyrone Guthrie Centre, is pleased to announce that the recipient for the week-long residency at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre this year is the visual artist Paul Bokslag.
The aim of the residency opportunity is to support a professional artist of 50+ to develop their practice, by creating time and space to think and reflect on their work and to bolster their peer network.
The residency will take place at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre, located in the beautiful, tranquil setting of County Monaghan and will provide an ideal environment to focus on research or the development of new work.
Age & Opportunity’s Arts Programme Manager Dr. Tara Byrne comments on the residency initiative, “Age & Opportunity has long championed and supported artists of 50+ and is proud to be a founding partner of this important residency opportunity”.
Kilkenny County Council Arts Officer Mary Butler commented: “The Age & Opportunity Tyrone Guthrie Bursary is a vital support for mature artists, offering dedicated time and space to deepen their practice”.
Paul Bokslag
Paul is a Dutch visual artist, designer and facilitator based in Callan, Co. Kilkenny. He was one of the co-founders the inclusive KCAT Arts Centre.
Paul works across a range of media, from drawing, painting, printmaking, papercutting, photography and type design to sculpture and murals. He has completed large scale murals, site specific papercut installations, room filling tape drawings and twine sculptures spanning multiple floors for Birr Arts Festival, Kells Typetrail, Luan Gallery; the National Design & Craft Gallery; VISUAL; Grilse Gallery; Longford Lights and Temple Bar Gallery. He recently had a solo exhibition at Kilkenny’s Butler Gallery.
Paul’s practice focuses on our perception of space and how we can shift it using accessible tools and materials: a few buckets of paint, a ball of sisal twine, paper sheets or rolls of tape.
Participation and placemaking are an equally important part of Paul’s practice. He is an associate artist with Helium Arts, the National children’s arts and health charity, a Butler Gallery artist panel member and an associate designer and facilitator with Workhouse Union. He is passionate about participative and inclusive arts practice.
About Age & Opportunity
Age & Opportunity is the national organisation that provides a range of opportunities for older people who want to get more involved in arts and culture, sport and physical activity, civic engagement and personal development.
Specifically, the Arts programme aims to support and provide resources for artists, arts participants/audiences and arts organisations. This is done through the annual Bealtaine Festival, which is Ireland’s month-long (May) national festival celebrating the arts and creativity as we age and the Resource and Development Programme.
About the Tyrone Guthrie Centre
Based in rural County Monaghan, The Tyrone Guthrie Centre is a cross-border organisation that offers time away, space to work, and opportunities for collaboration and networking for artists and ‘other like persons’ that facilitates the development of their practice across all art forms. Annaghmakerrig House, otherwise known as the ‘Big House’, is situated in the quiet countryside of County Monaghan, and together with the self-catering cottages, studios and performance spaces, as well as the lake and forests, gardens, and fields, The Tyrone Guthrie Centre is a place where creativity flourishes amid the many pressures and distractions of contemporary life.
