Five Arts Projects to share €250,000 ESB Brighter Future Arts Funding

250,000 ESB Brighter Future Arts Fund, delivered in partnership with Business to Arts, to support arts and arts organisations aiming to engage communities around sustainability and the energy transition
Five projects, in Carlow, Waterford, Limerick, Derry and Dublin selected from over 85 submissions across the island of Ireland.

Tuesday, 1st February 2022: ESB, in partnership with Business to Arts, has announced five projects spanning theatre, poetry, music, dance, sculpture, gardening, visual arts and soundscapes, that have been selected to receive funding from the ESB Brighter Future Arts Fund. The €250,000 fund was established in 2021 to support artists and arts organisations to deliver creative projects that will promote awareness of climate change and inspire positive action around sustainability and the energy transition.

The five selected projects are:

Future Limerick – a multidisciplinary climate arts festival which is a collaboration between Sunday’s Child Theatre Company and the Lime Tree Theatre | Bell Table in Limerick. This project will see performances, workshops, projections, and more take place in Limerick in May 2022.
Theatre Royal Biodiversity Garden, Waterford – a partnership between Theatre Royal and Waterford City & County Council, this project will see a pollinator-friendly willow sculpture by artist Elaine McDonagh installed in a new biodiversity garden adjacent to the Theatre Royal.
Future Light from Distant Stars, Carlow – a partnership between artist David Beattie and the Visual Centre of Contemporary Art in Carlow to create a colourful greenhouse installation powered by solar panels, emitting light, and acting as a growing space, workshop venue and meeting place.
Almanac for a Walled City, Derry – a partnership between sound artist Christopher Steenson and the Nerve Centre, Derry to explore solutions to the climate crisis by looking at Ireland’s unique relationship with the weather.
Moving Futures – Dublin Dance Festival –a partnership between Dublin Dance Festival and specialist Irish lighting / technology company Lightscape (www.lightscape.ie) to create a site-specific performance at ESB’s newly redeveloped Head Office in Fitzwilliam Street, Dublin 2, exploring the themes of sustainability and human connection.

Speaking at the announcement, Paddy Hayes, Chief Executive of ESB, said: “As a long-standing supporter of the arts in Ireland, ESB recognises the important role that artists play in helping communities not only to understand and interpret past and current events, but to imagine our future. Through this fund, we want to support artists and organisations committed to engaging and supporting communities to achieve a net zero future. The selected projects reflect the diverse and creative approach that was evident across all submissions, and we look forward to seeing these projects come to fruition over the next two years.”

Davina Saint, Chairperson of Business to Arts, said: “The five incredible projects across the island of Ireland that are being funded by the ESB Brighter Future Arts Fund demonstrate how artists and arts organisations uniquely interpret and communicate critical issues in creative ways. ESB is a long-term supporter of Business to Arts and the arts. We champion companies that are committed to supporting the arts and we are proud to partner with ESB on this innovative fund.”

For more information on the fund or selected projects visit:

www.esb.ie/arts

ENDS

For media queries contact:

Graham King, Press Officer & Digital Content Creator, ESB

085-1515886/graham.king@esb.ie

For further information contact:

Emily Carson, Head of Communications & Partnerships, Business to Arts

01-6629238/089-6091990/emily@businesstoarts.ie

High-resolution photography is available FOC from Conor McCabe (085-7057255).

Photo caption: Fitzwilliam 27, Dublin, Tuesday, 1st February 2022: ESB, in partnership with Business to Arts, has announced details of five projects spanning multiple artforms selected to receive funding from the ESB Brighter Future Arts Fund. The €250,000 fund supports artists and arts organisations that are delivering creative projects to promote awareness of climate change and inspire positive action in their communities. Pictured at today’s announcement at Fitzwilliam 27, ESB’s new headquarters, are Davina Saint, Chairperson Business to Arts, Paddy Hayes, Chief Executive, ESB and dancers Robyn Byrne and Vitor Bassi, representing Dublin Dance Festival, one of the fund recipients.

Please use with credit to Conor McCabe.

ESB Brighter Future Arts Fund Projects:

Future Limerick is a multidisciplinary arts collaboration between Sunday’s Child Theatre Company and the Lime Tree Theatre |Bell Table in Limerick. This project will see the creation of an arts and climate festival in Limerick which will engage the public in discussions around climate change and examine what a more sustainable future looks like through the medium of a range of art forms including poetry, music, and theatre. Taking place in May 2022, the organisers aim to specifically involve marginalised and disadvantaged communities in Limerick through workshops and other outreach initiatives.
Theatre Royal Biodiversity Garden Waterford is a partnership between Theatre Royal and Waterford County Council, which will see a pollinator friendly willow structure by artist Elaine McDonagh installed in a biodiversity garden adjacent to the Theatre Royal. The sculpture and garden will be the first step in Theatre Royal’s transformational ‘green journey’ under the Green Arts Initiative in Ireland and aligns with Waterford Council’s Climate Change Adaption Strategy and ambitions to become Ireland’s first decarbonised city by 2040. Work on the project will commence in March 2022 with the goal of being completed by October 2022 when the Theatre Royal will begin sustained outreach programmes within the community, engaging school children, theatre goers and artists in workshops and through educational tours around biodiversity and protecting the environment.
Future Light from Distant Stars, Carlow– a partnership between Artist David Beattie and the Visual Centre of Contemporary Art in Carlow and involves the installation of a colourful greenhouse with solar panels, which emits light when it is dark. The objective is to create a public focal point to engage people around climate change, environmental care, and sustainable practices. It will engage with a range of local stakeholders including IT Carlow, Carlow Collect, Carlow County Council and Carlow Environmental Network and build on Carlow’s history as one of the first towns in Ireland to have electricity and as the birthplace of John Tyndall.
Almanac for a Walled City, Derry – a partnership between sound artist Christopher Steenson and the Nerve Centre, Derry to explore solutions to the climate crisis by looking at Ireland’s unique relationship with the weather. The Nerve Centre will work on an intergenerational engagement project to collect the thoughts, predictions and innovative climate solutions of Derry Citizens and imagine what the city will look like in 400 years and how this will be shaped by weather. This will be turned into an immersive site-specific sound artwork designed for Derry’s historic city walls. Work on the project will commence in summer 2022 with the artwork due to be launched as part of the Foyle Maritime Festival in 2023.

Moving Futures – Dublin Dance Festival: a partnership between Dublin Dance Festival and specialist Irish lighting / technology company Lightscape (www.lightscape.ie) which will explore the themes of sustainability and the human connection. It is a multidisciplinary, interactive and performance art project that brings together light, technology, and dance by three different choreographers for live performances in or adjacent to ESB’s new Head Office at 27 Fitzwilliam Street in Dublin as part of the 2023 Dublin Dance Festival. In creating the performance, the artists will invite the public to reflect on the themes of sustainability and human connection. Moving Futures is part of DDF’s ‘Pulse in the City’ initiative which will see DDF bringing dance outside of theatres into the public realm between 2022 and 2024.

Judging Panel, Open Call