Northern Ireland
Browse ArchiveThe Arts make a major contribution to life in Northern Ireland.
They make a strong contribution to the economy, with our excellent arts venues driving the night-time economy, our distinctive arts and cultural attractions drawing visitors and business to the region, and our Creative Industries rapidly becoming one of our main sources of job and wealth creation.
The arts are also firmly engaged at the heart of community life in Northern Ireland – in schools helping to build young people’s confidence and communications skills; in care homes helping older people to cope with isolation and loneliness; in our hospitals introducing a reassuring human dimension to clinical environments; in local neighbourhoods driving the many successful neighbourhood regeneration programmes that are enabling residents to rebuild their communities.
Here are some recent highlights of inspiring work by artists and organisations working in Northern Ireland today, supported by the Arts Council.
Recent Northern Ireland Projects
Artist of the Month April 2019 – Dan Dowling
Monday 1st April 2019 at 9am
Dan Dowling was born and educated in Belfast. He is a self-taught artist, using painting and drawing from an early age as a cathartic form of self-expression and as a way of communicating with the rest of the world. Using his own life and his native North Belfast as an inspiration, he developed a personal, enigmatic an immediately recognisable style.
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Artist of the Month March 2019 – Chris Wilson
Monday 4th March 2019 at 11am
Chris Wilson is originally from Glengormley. He gained a B.A. (Hons) Fine Art from Brighton Polytechnic in 1982 and an M.A. Fine Art from the University of Ulster in 1985. For the last 30 years he has exhibited regularly having over 20 one person shows and participated in numerous group exhibitions in Ireland, the UK, Canada, Croatia, Germany, France, Bulgaria and USA. In 2016 Chris was awarded the RUA Gold Medal and the Paul Henry Landscape Prize at the 134th Royal Ulster Academy Annual Exhibition.
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Artist of the Month February 2019 – Dermot Seymour
Friday 1st February 2019 at 10am
Dermot Seymour studied at the University of Ulster, where he received a BA in Art & Design in 1978 and an Advanced Diploma in Art and Design in 1981. Dermot’s work has been included in many internationally recognised and award winning exhibitions, and he has held solo shows in Belfast, Dublin, New York, Berlin and Paris.
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