Minister to launch two Offaly arts projects

Two Offaly arts projects are to be launched by Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Jimmy Deenihan this month. Minister Deenihan will travel to Kilcormac on the afternoon of Monday, June 25, to launch the CD of the Kilcormac Cantata, before travelling to Aras an Chontae in Tullamore to launch a collective of artistic responses to the Grand Canal. The Kilcormac Cantata is a community music project by Vincent Kennedy that took place last year. A CD was recorded during the live performance in the Church of the Nativity on November 27 last, when over 115 people in the community took part in the initiative. The upcoming CD launch will include live music performances from the same project. Artistic responses to the Grand Canal to be launched include three projects: a series of prints by Geraldine O'Reilly based on the history and legacy of the canal, a series of soundscapes entitled 'La Cosa Preziosa' in collaboration with school and community groups and a film documentary about artists Eugene O'Brien, Wayne Brennan and Veronica Nicholson on a barge journey from Shannon Harbour to Edenderry by Mixed Bag Media's Martina McGlynn and Garrett Daly. Speaking this week Offaly Arts Officer Sinead O'Reilly said she's pleased Minister Deenihan can make the trip. "We are delighted the Minister has accepted our invitation and it gives us an opportunity to highlight the unique work that has emerged through these public art projects: from a community celebrating together with music to the Grand Canal in Offaly being re-imagined for its cultural values, these are projects that are distinctive to Offaly and could not have been created anywhere else," she said. Ms O'Reilly added that the projects also have the potential to have a life beyond the commissioning process.