Public Arts 2024-2027

Funded through the Percent for Art scheme and devised and managed by Kilkenny County Council Arts Office the Public Arts Programme is designed to deeply engage with local communities and to ensure that people who live in and visit Kilkenny can experience captivating, thought-provoking and innovative public art. Projects span multiple disciplines—film, dance, theatre, visual arts, and literature—ensuring a stimulating and diverse programme of public art experiences.

Currently five public arts projects have been commissioned following a highly competitive process in 2025 with proposals coming from the US, Europe, Mexico and beyond. These five exceptional projects will play a key role in enriching and evolving the county’s artistic landscape over the next three years. These visionary commissions bring together artists across all disciplines while ensuring that community engagement is at the heart of each project. This programme is the first of its kind for Kilkenny setting the standard for how public art is imagined, produced, and experienced locally and into the future.

The successful commissions:

• Brown Mountain Diamond– Five artists with month-long residencies in North Kilkenny, working alongside local community groups to create and showcase art in an immersive public exhibition.
• Asylum Productions – The Alice Project- An ambitious, multi-part theatrical work exploring the legend of Alice Kytler and Petronella. This interdisciplinary production invites everyone in the community to take part, no experience required!
• Fearghus Ó Conchúir – All To Play For – A dance film celebrating Kilkenny’s deep-rooted hurling and camogie traditions. Athletes and performers from across the county unite to create a powerful, movement-driven tribute to the games.
• Straymaker – CÓRA – A mesmerizing multi-disciplinary project blending choral music, documentary, poetry, design, and animation to craft an evocative film about the heritage of Irish healing practices.
• Pauline O’Connell – From Hide to Heel – A cinematic journey into Kilkenny’s industrial and agricultural past, focusing on Padmore & Barnes and the old Cattle Mart, unearthing the stories that shaped the county’s identity.