Concert to help fire-ravaged Outpost Studios
SEVEN months after it was destroyed in a fire, a fundraising campaign has been launched to help the artists of Bray’s Outpost Studios.
As well as a gofundme.ie page, a concert will take place in Mermaid Arts Centre on Saturday, September 8, including Wyvern Lingo, We Cut Corners, Sharon Mannion, members of Kíla, and more.
On the night of Tuesday, February 20, the studios at Southern Cross Business Park were gutted in a fire which also destroyed the offices of HomeLink and Easi- Cab Travel Club.
Outpost was founded in 2014 by artists Joanne Boyle, Raine Hozier Byrne, Rachel Fallon, Emma Finucane, Laura Kelly, Joanna Kidney, Eleanor Phillips and Ann Marie Webb.
Eleanor Phillips told the Bray People at the time that much of what was lost is irreplaceable, including her late partner’s writings, exhibition catalogues, tax papers and more, not to mention invaluable pieces of work, tools, materials and equipment.
The artists’ collective said that the fire completely destroyed their livelihoods. In at least one case, the artist lost 30 years worth of work.
The loss includes works in progress, research, sketchbooks and many things of personal value as well as their place of work and means of production.
The money raised will go towards replacing the tools, materials and equipment for the eight of them and help set up a new studio space.
As well as producing their own work, the collective hosts a monthly salon night, a theory reading group and a film club attended by artists from all over Wicklow and beyond. They have collaborated with Mermaid Arts Centre, Signal Arts Centre and many others.
Tickets to the show are €25 and available at Mermaidartscentre.ie.