Ballina Film Club’s autumn programme
Ballina Film Club’s autumn programme opens on Tuesday October 7, at 8pm, with My Kid Could Paint That, Amir Bar-Lev’s poignant documentary about Marla Olmstead, a sweet little 4-year-old girl in New York, who appeared to have an extraordinary talent for abstract art. Her mother Laura was a dental hygienist and dad Mark was a keen amateur artist who had evidently dabbled in various styles. Little Marla's big, ambitious, swirling canvases were exhibited at a nearby coffee shop, and people were actually buying them. The media picked up on the story and soon Marla's paintings were selling for five-figure sums; she had become the modern art world's sensational child prodigy. When the media started asking questions about who was actually creating the paintings, the truth began to surface. Amir Bar-Lev’s film began as a documentary about an astonishing prodigy, but turned into a painful, even tragic story, of family dysfunction and denial.
Adm: €7 (seasonal membership rates available ).
Puppet-making workshops for children
Ballina Arts Centre children’s workshop programme continues through October with a series of puppet-making workshops for children with Carmel Balfe, on Saturday 11, 18 and 25 October.
This exciting, fun-filled workshops series will allow children to explore their creativity as they make puppets for Halloween. Artist Carmel Balfe will show the children a number of different puppet styles, working from initial ideas, through character development and finally to the finished puppet itself. The children will also learn about puppetry performance. This workshop has a Halloween theme and children can make their own scary characters. Carmel Balfe is an artist and puppeteer based in Kilkelly, Co Mayo. Times: 10.30am to 12.30pm: 7-10 year olds; 1.30 to 3.30pm: 11-13 year olds. Ticket Price €36 for three sessions. Pre-booking for all workshops is essential.
Hilarious theatre for Ballina
The acclaimed Bruiser Theatre company makes a welcome return to Ballina this month with The Case of the Frightened Lady, at Ballina Arts Centre on Thursday October 9 at 8pm.
The play tells the fantastic story of Edgar Wallace. The year is 1932 and Fleet Street editor Wallace gets a desperate call from his publisher. With only a weekend to produce a new novel, The Case of the Frightened Lady is the hilarious account of the antics of the Wallace household while devising plot, storyline and final denouement, each creating characters that flit in and out of reality and fiction. The melodramatic, choreographed farce and the chills and thrills of the 1930’s British thriller genre provide scope for Bruiser to unleash their unique brand of high energy, physical theatre. Presented in association with Yew Tree Theatre. Adm: €12/€10 (concession ). Booking advised.
The Painting Society
Ballina Arts Centre and North Mayo Youth Project are developing an exciting club for young people aged between 10 and 16 years of age. The club will aim to develop creativity, through painting and other forms of visual art. Other activities will include gallery visits, exhibition talks, discussions and other fun ways of exploring art and creativity.
The Painting Society will hold its first meeting on Tuesday October 7, at 5.30pm, in Ballina Arts Centre. For more information or to book a child into the club, contact North Mayo Youth project (096 79616 ) or Ballina Arts Centre (096 73593 ).
