Arts centre gets new home but loses a director

If politicking is an art, nowhere is it more so than in the west's creative capital. Take the Galway Arts Centre, which is due to offer a sneak preview of its refurbished 19thcentury premises in time for the city's annual arts festival.

Unfortunately, the centre has just lost its executive director - the second in a row. Mr Ger Ward, who took a six-month career break at the height of the development work, tendered his resignation several weeks ago.

He had been appointed 18 months ago to succeed Mr Philip Gray, who took a successful unfair dismissals case against the board. Ms Trish Fitzpatrick, chairwoman and now acting executive director, says the resignation is a "personal matter". The position will be advertised in the autumn.

The project, in 47 Dominick Street, bears the hand of the former arts minister, Mr Michael D. Higgins, for it is backed by that Department to the tune of £250,000. However, the building's owner, Galway Corporation, is also a major supporter in pursuing matching funding.

The work involves transforming the former Persse family home, where Lady Gregory once stayed, to provide extended gallery and workshop space. The main gallery will be used during the festival to house new work by the French-Argentinian artist, Leopoldo Novoa, and the British photographer, Martin Parr. The finished premises will be opened officially on September 11th.

Founded in 1982 in a Presbyterian church on Nun's Island, the centre took over the Dominick Street house in 1988. "We've run both since, but Nun's Island was primarily a performance arts venue which is also used by the Galway Youth Theatre," says Paul Fahy, the centre's education and visual art development officer.

Cuirt, the international literary festival, is now one of the centre's best-known initiatives. Formerly dedicated to poetry, much of the event's success is due to the fact that it knows its own limits: the audience for live readings by contemporary authors in intimate venues like the Taidhbhearc theatre never goes beyond 200.

The new home "combines the two art forms that we are best known for," he points out - the literary, and the visual. Mr Fahy has been in and out, ducking under ladders and scaffolding, since last January, when the work began. "The workshop space will have a very strong educational element," he says. "There will be a full programme of classes, projects, and we'll have a darkroom available for use."

The gallery space is already being booked up, with exhibitions by Charles Lamb, Georges Braque, and Sidney Nolan scheduled for the autumn. The more immediate task is continuous fundraising. Artist Padraig Reaney and poet Gerald Dawe have collaborated on a print with words, Earthsign, which will be sold in a limited edition of 75 for the centre's coffers, at £250.

The appointment of a new director will coincide with a review of the centre's activities, which may involve recruitment of more staff, according to Ms Fitzpatrick.

As Galway braces itself for its 21st arts festival, opening with the Big Day Out in Castlegar Sports Ground next Saturday, the film fleadh opens tomorrow with more than 60 features over six days. This year it is hosting a special tribute to one of Ireland's leading actors, Donal McCann.

On Wednesday night the Galway Film Centre celebrates its 10th birthday with a celebratory party involving over 300 guests.

On Friday Garry Hynes of Druid is guest speaker at the opening of an exhibition of new paintings by Ted Turton in the Kenny Gallery, Middle Street. Mr Turton, a founder member of the Galway Arts Festival, is its current artistic director.