Backwater Artists

Backwater Artists Group launches 2026 Members’ Artwork Raffle

Backwater Artists — Tue, 03 Nov 2026 13:37:41 +0000

Ten artworks worth €4,920 are up for grabs in this year’s fundraising raffle, supporting affordable studio spaces and opportunities for artists in Cork.

Backwater Artists Group is delighted to announce its 2026 Members’ Artwork Raffle, featuring ten artworks generously donated by members of the organisation. With a combined value of €4,920, the raffle offers supporters the chance to win an original artwork while helping sustain the work of one of Cork’s established artist-support organisations.

Tickets go on sale at 10am on Tuesday 3 November 2026, with the draw taking place at Backwater Artists Group on Friday 11 December at 2pm.

Supporting artists and artistic practice

For more than 34 years, Backwater Artists Group has supported artists by providing affordable studio spaces, professional development and opportunities to sustain their artistic careers. Fundraising is essential to this work, helping the organisation keep fees affordable and continue providing the resources and support that artists need.

As the cost of living and working continues to put pressure on practising artists, access to affordable workspaces and professional development opportunities remains crucial. The annual Members’ Artwork Raffle gives the wider community a direct way to support this work and contribute to Cork’s cultural life.

A collection of original artworks

This year’s raffle features ten artworks donated by nine members: Liudmila Kalinka, Ciara Gormley, Ailbhe Ní Bhriain, Shane O’Driscoll, Oonagh Hurley, Hilda Goold, Brian Barry, Seán Hanrahan and Kate O’Kelly.

Spanning a variety of media and approaches, the collection reflects the breadth of artistic practice within the Backwater community. Individual artwork values range from €200 to €1,100, with the total value of the prizes amounting to €4,920.

How to take part

Tickets will be available digitally through the Backwater Artists Group website from Tuesday 3 November. Anyone who would like assistance purchasing a ticket can also call into the Backwater office.

All ten artworks will be raffled, with winners choosing their artwork in order: the first prize winner selects first, followed by the second prize winner, and so on.

Winners can collect their artworks from the Backwater Artists Group office between Monday 14 and Friday 18 December 2026. Shipping can also be arranged at the winner’s request.

By taking part in the 2026 Members’ Artwork Raffle, you can support local artists, help sustain affordable creative spaces and bring an original piece of art into your home.

Find out more and purchase your tickets at

Emerging Curator Award 2028 | Open call

Backwater Artists — Mon, 02 Nov 2026 10:47:13 +0000

Emerging Curator Award 2028
Open Call for Submissions
Deadline: Thursday 17 December 2026, 5pm

Backwater Artists Group invites applications from emerging curators and recent graduates for the Emerging Curator Award 2028.

The award offers an opportunity for an emerging curator to develop their curatorial practice and gain practical experience across all aspects of exhibition production. The successful applicant will work with the Backwater Artists Group team to develop and deliver a members’ group exhibition or project for Studio 12, our exhibition and project space, as part of our artistic programme for 2028.

The selected curator will receive a curator’s fee and a production budget to realise the proposed exhibition or project. A four-week exhibition or project slot will be available in 2028.

Who can apply?
The open call is aimed at emerging curators and recent graduates who are interested in developing their curatorial practice and gaining experience in exhibition-making.

How to Apply
Applicants are asked to submit a single PDF document containing the following:

Curatorial CV
Exhibition proposal (maximum 500 words), outlining the concept and curatorial framework. Applicants may propose a shortlist of artists from the Backwater Artists Group website, but identifying artists at this stage is not essential.
Biography (150-200 words)
Curatorial Statement (150-200 words)
High-quality images of previous curatorial projects, demonstrating the applicant’s approach to exhibition-making and use of space.
Personal statement (150–250 words) explaining how the award would benefit the applicant’s curatorial career and practice.

Submission details
Email your application as a single PDF document to: elaine@backwaterartists.ie

Please use Emerging Curator Award as the subject line.

Deadline
Thursday 17th December 2026, 5pm

Notification
The successful applicant will be notified in early January 2027.

The selected curator will be asked to undertake a series of studio visits with Backwater Artists Group members during February 2027. These can take place in person or online. A final selection of artists will be made by 26 February 2027.

The Slow Moon Climbs Exhibition Texts

Backwater Artists — Wed, 21 Oct 2026 09:45:39 +0000

The Slow Moon Climbs Exhibition texts by Kim Crowley and Cristín Leach are now available to read online. Links below.

Small Works Exhibition 2026 | Open Call

Backwater Artists — Mon, 19 Oct 2026 10:39:03 +0000

Small Works Exhibition 2026 | Open Call

19 November – 18 December
The Long Space, Backwater Artists Group | Mon – Sat | 10 am – 6 pm
Small Works | Members’ Exhibition

Our upcoming Small Works members’ exhibition will bring together new work by emerging and established artists from across the Backwater Artists Group membership.

Focusing on small-scale works priced under €500, the exhibition offers an opportunity for visitors, buyers and collectors to discover and purchase work by Backwater artists at an accessible price point. Works will be available to purchase both in person at Backwater Artists Group and online through our website.

Members are invited to submit up to three works for selection.

Submitted works:

Can be 2D or 3D, framed or unframed
Must be no larger than 25 × 25 × 25 cm
Must have been made in 2025 or later
Must not have been previously exhibited at Backwater
Must be priced at €500 or under
Are subject to 35% commission on sales

Applications will be accepted via the link below. Please include images of the work with your application.

Deadline for submissions Tuesday 27th October 2026

Room Innate – Installation Images

Backwater Artists — Mon, 05 Oct 2026 09:41:35 +0000

Photos by Jed Niezgoda

Members’ Artwork Raffle 2026

Backwater Artists — Wed, 23 Sep 2026 14:24:39 +0000

As part of our 2026 fundraising efforts, we will once again hold a raffle featuring artworks generously donated by Backwater members.

Fundraising initiatives like this provide vital support for the organisation, helping us to keep membership fees affordable while continuing to provide artists with developmental opportunities, resources and support throughout the year.

The raffle will launch online on Tuesday 3 November, with the draw taking place on Friday 11 December.

We are asking members to support the raffle in any of the following ways:

- Donate an artwork to the raffle
- Buy and sell raffle tickets
- Share and promote the raffle through your own networks and social media

Every contribution will help support Backwater and the programmes and facilities we provide for our artist community.

If you would like to donate an artwork, please express your interest by Friday 2 October.

New Episode of Studio 12 Podcast with Danny Foley

Backwater Artists — Tue, 22 Sep 2026 14:50:45 +0000

The latest episode of the Studio 12 Podcast is now live!

In this episode, artist Danny Foley speaks with host Sarah Long about his current exhibition, Room Innate, running at Studio 12 until 25 September.

Their conversation offers an opportunity to hear more about the ideas and processes behind the exhibition, Danny’s practice, and the development of Room Innate.

The episode opens with a reading by curator Katie O’Grady of her newly commissioned text responding to the exhibition, offering another perspective on the work and the ideas it explores.

Listen to the latest episode of the Studio 12 Podcast wherever you get your podcasts or via the link below

https://open.spotify.com/show/033ELkfJmVOcdPkn20l3Pv.

The Slow Moon Climbs | Éadaoin Glynn

Backwater Artists — Wed, 02 Sep 2026 15:20:56 +0000

The Slow Moon Climbs

Éadaoin Glynn

The Slow Moon Climbs is a solo exhibition by Éadaoin Glynn exploring the midlife female body. Bringing together a series of new paintings, the exhibition considers this time of transformation as a threshold where new possibilities can emerge.

The exhibition takes its title from a book by Susan P. Mattern, which challenges the cultural assumptions that have diminished our understanding of post-menopausal women. Menopause directly affects around half the population, yet it remains culturally under-discussed, reflecting a broader history of the invisibility of ageing women. In art history, the female nude has often been framed through youth and beauty, leaving the midlife female body comparatively absent from visual culture. Glynn’s work responds to this through painting, bringing greater visibility to the lived experiences of women at this stage of life.

As part of her research, Glynn developed an anonymous online survey inviting women to describe their experiences of perimenopause and menopause through images or phrases. Responses included water-based language alongside images of transformation.

Glynn’s practice is reflective and process-led. Working with acrylic, she begins with the canvas laid flat on the floor, using her own body as a reference. She pours paint onto the surface, allowing it to bleed, pool and form marks as it dries. Forms emerge through a negotiation between control and instability, mirroring the changing body in transition. Painting becomes a space to express what language alone cannot articulate.

The Slow Moon Climbs reframes female midlife not as an ending, but as a period of transformation and possibility, while acknowledging the complexities of this profound change.

The exhibition is accompanied by a publication featuring contributions by Éadaoin Glynn and curator Kim Crowley, alongside a responsive text by Irish writer and critic Cristín Leach.

Exhibition Texts

A Woman Approaches the Canvas 

by Cristín Leach

Read Here

An Accumulation

by Kim Crowley

ReadHere

Moult | 20 November – 18 December

Backwater Artists — Tue, 13 Oct 2026 11:03:20 +0000

Moult

Nicola Sheehan | Curated by Chloe Maguire

Moult is a solo exhibition by Nicola Sheehan exploring health, the body and seasons of change. The exhibtion was developed with curator Chloe Maguire.

The experiences of health and the body rarely remain fixed. Bodies change, symptoms return, routines are altered, and ordinary objects can become unexpectedly connected to particular moments of illness, recovery or care. These experiences formed the starting point for Call for Reflection, through which eighteen women anonymously reflected on their health, bodily change and the objects that had become part of those experiences. Their responses brought together memories, sensations and everyday materials: plants, pillows, keys, cotton gloves, hot water bottles, stones and knots. Words including cyclical and changing appeared within the reflections, describing experiences that could be recurring, unpredictable and continually shifting.

It was through this process that Nicola Sheehan began to consider Hygieia, the ancient Greek personification of health, traditionally represented with a serpent and vessel. The serpent’s capacity to shed its skin offered a visual language for the changes described within the reflections, while Hygieia provided a historical representation of health through which Sheehan could consider the body, objects and transformation. Rather than illustrating individual experiences, she translates these ideas through her expanded printmaking practice. Cyanotype becomes an important part of this translation. Through light, exposure and contact, bodies and objects are transformed into images, while the process itself requires experimentation, repetition and renewal. An unsuccessful exposure can mean beginning again, adjusting the process and allowing a new image to emerge. Moult brings these different forms of change together. The shedding of a skin, the changing body, the recurring experiences described by the women and the repeated processes of making become connected through a body of work concerned with transformation.

Nicola Sheehan is a visual artist based in Cork City. Her practice involves expanded printmaking techniques, using a combination of digital and analogue processes to create pieces. Her work centres around female experiences, with an interest in mythology. In 2021 she graduated from the MTU Crawford College of Art and Design with a BA Hons in Fine Art. Nicola is a member of Backwater Artists Network and Visual Artists Ireland. Her work is held in the collections of Cork City Council, the Office of Public Works and MTU.

Chloe Maguire is an independent curator and arts worker. Her research-led practice focuses on exhibition making, lived experience and community engagement, particularly through Mothering Spaces, her curatorial platform exploring motherhood and female health through artistic practice, research and dialogue. She has collaborated with Muine Bheag Arts, Cavan Arts Festival and the Birth Rites Collection UK, bringing artists and communities together to develop thoughtful, research-led projects.

Exhibition Text

Coming Soon

Click Here

Room Innate | 21 August – 25 September

Backwater Artists — Mon, 20 Jul 2026 14:37:49 +0000

Room Innate

Danny Foley

Room Innate presents a new body of work by artist Danny Foley, developed through the Backwater Artists Group Moving Image Bursary, awarded to Foley in 2025.

This installation explores artistic play as a creative strategy for negotiating the self as shapeshifting, multifaceted, and inherently vulnerable. The show consists of black-and-white paintings on canvas, a stop-motion video, re-edited archival footage from his childhood, and small-scale clay sculptures. Through making, experimentation, and repetition, Foley uses these processes as a way to engage with uncertainty, doubt, and ambiguity rather than seeking to resolve them.

These works emerged from a response to contemporary life, where exposure to competing demands, digital platforms, perfectionism, and social conduct can create a sense of internal conflict and paralysis. Adapting to these can often result in suppressing aspects of ourselves that may be perceived as negative or socially unacceptable. Drawing on Carl Jung’s concept of the “shadow self”, Room Innate examines the elements of identity that are often denied, repressed, or concealed.

Making reference to the Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur in the Labyrinth, where the Minotaur traditionally represents the unconscious or perceived flaws of the self, Foley looks behind the framework of this narrative. The figures depicted in this exhibition appear unfinished, faint, and already wounded. Rather than presenting a monster to be destroyed, these forms suggest that these parts of ourselves may require a different kind of encounter.

While presenting a fractured and psychological representation of human experience, Foley’s work also considers self-discovery from an open approach to making art. The exhibition challenges the notion of eliminating imperfections, but acknowledges them. By questioning ideals of self-correction in the contemporary world, Room Innate embraces contradiction and incompleteness as essential to being in the world.

About the Artist

Danny Foley is Cork based artist and studio-holder at Backwater Artists Group. He holds a BA First-Class Honours Degree in Fine Art from MTU Crawford College of Art and Design (2025). His art practice spans drawing, painting, moving-image, and installation. Informed by archival footage from his childhood, he explores identity through “the shapeshifter” as both an artistic approach and conceptual framework across mythological, ecological, and personal perspectives. Recent solo shows include Room Innate (Studio 12, Cork) and Beyond Eye Sea (Lavit Gallery, Cork). Recent group shows include Shapeshifting (GOMA, Waterford), Cross-Pollinate (Clancy Quay Studios, Dublin), and Earth (James Barry Exhibition Centre, Cork). His work has been featured in the Irish Examiner and Irish Arts Review. Awards include Student of the Year, Best Thesis Prize, Cork City Council, Cork County Council, Eli Lilly, and MTU Arts Office Purchase Prizes, which acquired his works for their art collections.

The Moving Image Bursary Award is awarded to a graduating moving image artist from MTU Crawford College of Art & Design, who demonstrates talent and ambition in their work practice. The Bursary provides a professional level of support to the graduate including a solo exhibition opportunity in our Studio 12 exhibition/project space, mentorship, curatorial and technical support, artists fee and PR support. It assists the graduate in the transition from student to professionally practicing artist.

Exhibition Text

Room Innate by Katie O’Grady

Read Here