Celebrating Women in the Irish Arts and more!
IrishFest Atlanta 2024 will feature two premier female led bands:
Cherish the Ladies and The Friel Sisters.
In the lobby of the Roswell Cultural Arts Center we will also offer special exhibitions celebrating Irish diaspora women and women painters.
‘Blazing a Trail: Lives and Legacies of Irish Diaspora Women’, is the first exhibition celebrating Irish diaspora women. It celebrates the lives and legacies of 21 pioneering Irish diaspora women of the 19th and 20th centuries who blazed a trail in a wide range of fields. These women made their mark across the globe, innovating in every field and paving the way for others to follow, navigating a male-dominated society on their own terms.
Eilis Crean
Eilis Crean is a contemporary Irish artist based near Atlanta, GA. Her drawing, painting and printmaking practice connects ideas of loss and celebration. Across diverse subject matter - essential workers, forgotten landscapes, remembered gatherings, her work references the nature of time - purchased and contemplative, cyclical and paused, geological and momentary, lost and seized.
Eilis has exhibited nationally at venues, including Spalding Nix Fine Art; Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia; Sencer J Museum, CDC;Mint Gallery, the Swan Coach House; Irish Consulate, Atlanta; Hambidge Center, in Georgia; Spartanburg Art Museum and Art Fields Lake City, South Carolina; the Herron School of Art, Indiana; University of North Carolina; Red Line Contemporary Art Center, Denver; In Ireland, Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin; The Visual in Carlow. Her work is held in the Irish State Collection; Latvian State Collection; French State Collection; LaGrange Museum, GA; and numerous private collections including King & Spalding, Atlanta. She earned a Diploma in Fine Art from the National College of Art and Design, Ireland; and her MFA from Georgia State University, Atlanta.
She is Professor Emerita of Art at University of West Georgia and is represented by the Spalding Nix Fine Art gallery in Atlanta
Website https://eiliscrean.com/home.html
Stacey McGrath
I spend a lot of time painting in a breathtaking location, on the Dingle Peninsula overlooking the Atlanta Ocean. This is a spot where the Irish speak of “shape shifting”; a phenomenon where things never appear to be as they were a few moments ago. Perhaps due to air moisture changing the magnification of things from afar. Or... more likely, the workings of the faeries. Either way, I am inspired by the constantly “shifting“ scenery of West Ireland. Perhaps the best scenery are the Celtic Cows and Gaelic Sheep of the Irish fields. They are a delight to capture on canvas.
Views of County Ciarraí, is my series of paintings of the profoundly beautiful Irish landscape in and around County Kerry. The Dingle Peninsula has been rightfully described by National Geographic as the "most beautiful place in the world", although I prefer to think of it as the most beautiful place in the world to capture in paint.
I was born an oil painter, and have worked and studied in Japan, California, Chicago, Atlanta, and of course Ireland. I am always happy to discuss work on commission. My website, staceymcgrath.com showcases current work that’s available, as well as my instagram account @mcgrath.stacey
Michael Heffernan
Michael survived a heart attack while cycling in June 2018. The trauma of that event led to his reevaluation of priorities and return to his passion for painting full-time.
Today Michael works from his studio in Marietta, north of Atlanta. He is focused on ongoing abstract conceptual works, which he started during the pandemic, lockdown, and isolation. In June 2020, he began writing poetry to recall childhood memories, his life in Ireland, and indeed, as a coping mechanism in a time of uncertainty. The intensity of this focus has led to a practice inspired by the synthesis of visual and written language as mark-making and combined forms of expression and storytelling. Many of his works include contemporary landscape paintings incorporating themes stemming from his writing.
Michael's ongoing endeavor, 'wayfinding through visual and poetic language,' has been a remarkable success. In 2023, he held two large solo exhibitions of his work, which were well-received by the public and critics alike. His work has been shown in Ireland and England and sold throughout the Eastern US.
Michael's journey is a testament to the human spirit's capacity for reinvention. Born in Dublin in 1954, he graduated from the National College of Art & Design (NCAD) in 1975, and Birmingham Polytechnic, with a postgraduate in Industrial Design Engineering in 1977. His successful career as an award-winning designer led him to the US in 1989, where he spent over 35 years in leadership positions in entrepreneurial companies in healthcare, science, technology, and professional services. His transition from the corporate world to the art world is a fascinating story of passion, resilience, and creativity. To learn more, visit www.michaelheffernanart.com
Follow on Instagram #michaelheffernanart
Margaret Mulligan
Margaret Mulligan creates visual art through watercolor, pastel and oil paint. She works in abstract and representational styles and always has her sketchbook nearby. Her work includes an Irish series inspired by her late father and childhood summers spent in Co. Sligo. Follow her on Instagram (mmulligan.art) for more.