Prime properties which could have housed a visual arts space for the city have "come and gone" and despite Galway's vibrant arts scene, "opportunities have been lost", but this cannot continue to be the case.
This is the view of Fine Gael councillor Clodagh Higgins, who, at Monday’s city council meeting, set down a motion urging City Hall to "recognise the need for a visual arts space" for the city. The motion also included the direction that the council would agree to discuss with An Post, and other relevant stakeholders, the possibility of securing funding to develop the An Post site on William Street for cultural purposes. The motion was passed unanimously.
Speaking afterwards, Cllr Higgins said she hoped the motion would have "real results for the arts community". She said the lack of a formal, dedicated, visual arts and cultural space in the city, "has been a real deficit".
She said the An Post site, which was used this summer to house the Galway International Arts Festival's flagship exhibition, In The Flesh, "offers a window of opportunity", in that it could be transformed into a "key piece of arts infrastructure for the region and a legacy during a monumental year ahead for the city, Galway2020."
