Mayo symposium for artists with disabilities

As part of its professional development programme 2025, Mayo County Council’s Arts Service is delighted to present 'Evolving Access', a mini-symposium with an artists' tour on Wednesday, October 29, from 10.30am to 3.30pm.

The mini-symposium will take place at the Townhall Theatre, Westport from 10.30am to 1.30pm and will focus on how access solutions have developed over the last 25 years and their potential future direction from the perspective of artists with disabilities, venues, festival organisers and arts organisations. The mini-symposium will be curated by Damien O’Connor, Arts and Disability Coordinator, Mayo County Council and presentations will be given by Alan James Byrnes, disabled artist and festival organiser; Orla Moloney, director, Project Arts Centre and Padraig Naughton, executive director, Arts and Disability Ireland. The event will conclude with a question-and-answer session to the presenters.

Lunch will be provided and attendees will have the option to attend a tour of 'The Space Between Real and Shadow', an exhibition by artist Breda Burns, at the Custom House Studios and Gallery, Westport at 2.30pm. Breda presents an immersive installation that invites audiences into the non-typical brain and explores how we navigate the world differently.

Sign Language interpreters and a hearing loop system will be available for this event.

In 2010, Mayo County Council’s arts service, the Arts Council, Arts and Disability Ireland (ADI), the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) and South Tipperary County Council’s arts office launched 'Shift In Perspective', A resource pack that came out of the Arts and Disability Network Project (ADNP) from 2008 to 2010. Over the last 25 years, Mayo County Council’s arts service has actively encouraged artists, groups of people with disabilities from children to older adults, venues and arts organisations to come together and collaborate in the development of quality arts projects. Arts venues throughout the county have established long-term relationships with local artists and groups of people with disabilities who in their turn have participated in projects encompassing a wide range of art forms including painting, print-making, stained glass, sculpture, bronze casting, poetry, book binding, dance, music, drama and film making.

Tickets for the mini-symposium, the exhibition tour along with details of the Sign Language interpreters and hearing loop system are available by emailing mayoarts@mayococo.ie.