VETERAN FOOTBALL manager Mick O’Dwyer will prove his abilities extend to an altogether different field this week at the opening of an innovative art exhibition in Waterville, Co Kerry.
O’Dwyer, who announced the end of his tenure as Wicklow boss last month, swapped a football for a paintbrush creating a piece of art for a “pop-up” gallery exhibition for the Cill Rialaig artists’ retreat centre in Ballinskelligs, Co Kerry.
His work will go on show alongside 150 other artworks at the exhibition, which opens this evening.
Never having taken a paintbrush in his hand that was not for for the purpose of painting a door or a window frame, the Kerryman decided to take on the likes of former Cork hurling star Seán Óg Ó hAilpín who recently joined the ranks of guest artists for another ART250 exhibition.
For the project, he enjoyed the experience of a guiding hand in the form one of Cill Rialaig’s past resident artists and in this case it was Susan Morley, who has settled in Kerry.
Though the picture is being sold unsigned, art lovers interested in a piece of sporting and art memorabilia should look out for a seaside theme. “The subject of his painting relates to his mother’s birthplace on Scariff Island.
“He remembers being told that his grandmother was about to give birth to his mother and all the boats had gone to the mainland,” said Noelle Campbell-Sharp, founder of the Cill Rialaig Project.
“His grandfather swam across the 3½ miles of sweeping bay to seek medical aid,” added Ms Campbell-Sharp. “The painting shows the three houses he still remembers on Scariff and the one house on Deenish Island.”
The show opens today at 6pm and will continue until the end of August in association with the Charlie Chaplin Comedy Film Festival.
It also kick-starts a dozen other pop-up exhibitions by professional local artists.