National Sculpture Factory

25/09/2025

Thanks to everyone who came through the Factory on Culture Night. We were pleased to have a visit from Cork City's Lord Mayor, Cllr. Fergal Dennehy, who took the time to have a chat with some of the artists about their current work.
Photographed here L-R: Lord Mayor Cllr. Fergal Dennehy, with artists Eithne Ring and LiamLavery.

Lavery Ring Culture Night Cork Arts Cork City Council

24/09/2025

During her time in studio, NSF Maureen Clark developed a new body of work in glass through the support of the Glass Society of Ireland members bursary. Through the pane: ‘Landscapes in glass and Time’, Maureen explores themes of landscape, memory and belonging using reclaimed horticultural glass. The work will investigate how materials, especially glass, once used in growing environments can act as a silent witnesses to cycles of growth, decay and human connection to land and place.

Maureen has been commissioned to design a series of 15 glass pieces of screen printed cast glass pieces to be presented to the awardees of the Tech Alliance Industry Leaders Awards 2025. The award design is inspired by the beautiful lines throughout the landscape of the south west of Ireland.

24/09/2025

One of our founding members Maud Cotter's exhibition, maelstrom, continues until Saturday 1st November 2025 at Highlanes Drogheda

23/09/2025

Art Futures: Navigating Career Pathways in the Fine Art Sector
Saturday 1st November
Presented by Doherty Sculpture Park, hosted at TU Dublin.

NSF Director, Helen Carey, shall be speaking at this half-day symposium designed for emerging artists, recent graduates, and creative professionals beginning their journey. Chaired by Eamonn Maxwell, Curator, the other three speakers are Marine Tanguy, Josephine Kelliher, and Pádraic E. Moore.

Book your place here - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/art-futures-navigating-career-pathways-in-the-fine-art-sector-tickets-1697835665179

19/09/2025

Finishing tonight - Craftivism for Palestine / Gaza Birds Singing

The display in the Glucksman's foyer presents a hand-crocheted quilt as a striking memorial to young people killed in Gaza.
The ever growing quilt is made up of thousands of six inch squares, each symbolising 10 dead children. It has been created by women from all 32 counties of the island of Ireland and from countries including Canada, Venezuela, Afghanistan, Greece, and the UK.

The quilt is presented alongside a short recording by Ahmed Abu Amsha, a Palestinian musician and arts worker who founded the musical group Gaza Birds Singing made up displaced children and talented music teachers who are all currently based in Gaza. Against the constant humming of drones, their voices sing “for love, for freedom, for life”. Ahmed Abu Amsha has kindly given his permission to screen his film in the museum. You can find more about his extraordinary work here - www.songsfromtherubble.com

The Glucksman Cork Arts Culture Night

19/09/2025

17/09/2025

CULTURE NIGHT AT NATIONAL SCULPTURE FACTORY
SEEN/UNSEEN (Before Your Eyes)

Friday 19 September | 6-9pm (last entrants 8.45pm)
Please note while NSF is open to the public from 5PM onward, the performance begins at 6PM.

Cork-born performance and multimedia artist Norah Dineen presents SEEN/UNSEEN (Before Your Eyes), a continuous 6-9pm performance within an installation on the National Sculpture Factory floor, amidst working artist studio spaces. Following her 2023 MERKABAH installation, Dineen creates "a room of her own" - a Yin space of transparency, mystery and communication that contrasts the structural cement walls. Instead of presenting an object for observation as typical in gallery spaces, she brings audiences into her created world where they can wander, hearing her performance before happening upon her, and carry her presence with them as they move through the space.

Culture Night Cork Arts

16/09/2025

A Safe to Create workshop for Artists, Creatives & Arts Workers
Date: 18 Sept, 10am - 1pm | Cork
Where: Clayton Hotel, Cork City
Book through the link - https://www.safetocreate.ie/training/active-bystander-training/

Bystander training is an effective way to empower people to address and prevent harassment and discrimination in a workspace. It equips workers with the right knowledge, tools and motivation to intervene safely and stop inappropriate behaviour before it rises to the level of unlawful harassment.

This is a follow-on training workshop to the Online Self-Led Bystander Training. Therefore it is recommended that participants have completed the online self-led training, though not essential for this workshop.

Delivered by Safe to Create. Led by Professor Louise Crowley, Professor of Law at UCC and Director of the UCC Bystander Intervention Programme, and Olwen Dawe, leading policy analyst and consultant, who has an established track record in developing and implementing equality, diversity and inclusion projects.

15/09/2025

CULTURE NIGHT AT NATIONAL SCULPTURE FACTORY
Friday 19 September - 6-9pm (last entrants 8.45pm)

NSF is proud to welcome you to the distinctive red brick building where local, national and international artists work. One of those artists is Norah Dineen and it is with great generosity that Norah invites the public into her work space.

SEEN/UNSEEN (Before Your Eyes)

Cork-born performance and multimedia artist Norah Dineen presents SEEN/UNSEEN (Before Your Eyes), a continuous 6-9pm performance within an installation on the National Sculpture Factory floor, amidst working artist studio spaces. Following her 2023 MERKABAH installation, Dineen creates "a room of her own" - a Yin space of transparency, mystery and communication that contrasts the structural cement walls. Instead of presenting an object for observation as typical in gallery spaces, she brings audiences into her created world where they can wander, hearing her performance before happening upon her, and carry her presence with them as they move through the space.

Rather than performing for applause, Dineen responds intuitively to the collective energy in the room, incorporating natural pauses and quiet moments. She consciously veils aspects of herself through protective cloth and masking, questioning society's expectations that artists expose their vulnerabilities while performing songs from her upcoming album NORMAL, which merges Autotune with organic vocals. By witnessing the vulnerability of someone who uses cloth to protect herself, the audience is invited to question their own methods of masking wounds and vulnerabilities—examining how we disconnect from one another without the ability to grieve individually or collectively. This performance serves as a pause from our fast paced, screen-focused lives, encouraging presence and genuine human connection before we check our phones rather than noticing each other.

Notes:
- NSF opens for visits at 5pm: Norah Dineen’s performance begins at 6pm
- Booking not necessary but limited numbers are enforced so short waits may be necessary
- For further information please contact: [email protected]

Please note that NSF is a factory floor and governed by Health & Safety restrictions when visited by the general public.

Cork Arts Culture Night

09/09/2025

Cork County Council's LHQ Gallery is inviting submissions for an annual open-call winter exhibition which will run throughout November and December 2025.

Entry Deadline: 28th September 2025.
LHQ Gallery welcomes applications of interest from artists and makers of all disciplines small or medium in scale. The exhibition will take place from November 3rd to December 19th. Apply by submitting one or two artworks, all mediums accepted, all works must be produced in the last 5 years.
Follow the link to read more and find out how to apply - https://www.corkcoco.ie/en/resident/arts/arts-funding-and-opportunities/winter-exhibition-open-call

03/09/2025

Our friends at Cork Printmakers are hiring a part-time Communications and Marketing Officer - follow the link below to read the full job description and find out how to apply
https://visualartists.ie/advert/job-vacancy-communications-and-marketing-officer-at-cork-printmakers

01/09/2025

Ceramicist Nuala O'Donovan has been creating a new body of work during the past few months with us at the Factory, including some of her largest structures to date.
You will be able to see these at the Lavit Gallery's upcoming group exhibition New Irish Art, opening this Thursday 4th September, alongside artworks by John Behan, Tom Climent, Cecilia Danell, Deirdre Frost, Kaye Maahs, Samir Mahmood, Louise Neiland, Martha Quinn, Jennifer Trouton, Dominic Turner, Amna Walayat, and Conor Walton. Exhibition curated by Brian Mac Domhnaill.

Photo by F22 Photography, courtesy the artist