Exciting theatre, visual art, music, and more are on the menu for people in Westmeath this year, according to the Arts Council.
The Arts Council says it will invest €130,000 in three Westmeath-based organisations with a proven track record of delivering great arts experiences for people all over the county and beyond.
The organisations to receive annual funding from the Arts Council for the period to the end of March 2014 are Mullingar Integrated Arts Centre (€40,000 ), Fidget Feet (€70,000 ), and Helium Children’s Arts and Health (€20,000 ).
Fidget Feet Aerial Dance Theatre is one of Ireland’s foremost aerial dance theatre companies. They are based in Rathowen and are currently company in residence at the Backstage Theatre in Longford. They have become renowned internationally as a creative organisation that stretches the boundaries between several arts forms, combining aerial skills with contemporary circus and creating theatre fused with aerial dance, music, and video art, making contemporary circus and aerial dance accessible.
Mullingar-based Helium is an arts and health company for children that is committed to nurturing creativity as a natural resource for a child’s wellbeing. Helium supports a dynamic, child-friendly, family-centred, holistic approach to children’s medical provision, within community, primary, and acute healthcare contexts.
The Arts Council is also supporting the arts programmes of Westmeath County Council and Mullingar Integrated Arts Centre.
The funding comes through the Arts Council’s three main annual grants programmes. In addition, people in Westmeath will enjoy the arts through Arts Council funding for touring, projects, and bursaries for talented artists throughout the year.
Chairman of the Arts Council Pat Moylan said: “We are delighted to be able to continue supporting and developing the arts in Westmeath. For over 60 years the Arts Council has been at the forefront of developing and promoting the arts, and even with reduced funding the Arts Council continues to build a central place for the arts in Irish life.
“We see it as vital to areas such as Westmeath and other areas across the country that support for the arts is maintained. As the year progresses, we will be announcing further funding to individual artists and to groups undertaking projects, festivals, and other events.”
