Westside Arts Festival

01/09/2025

Festival Fellows

Congratulations to our colleagues over at The Galway Climate Inspirations Festival which takes place from 10 to 14 September 2025.

This creative climate festival has a fine range of events and activities. See https://galwayclimatefestival.ie for the full programme.

Tiarnan McCusker - Community Climate Action Officer with Galway City Council - will speak at The Open Door in Westside Resource Centre tomorrow, Tuesday 2nd September at 10:30am. Come along for a cuppa' and hear about the work of the Climate Action Team.

27/08/2025

A look back at some of the wonderful activities that took place during Westside Arts Festival this July.

With thanks to John O'Halloran and Friends for the lovely music.

22/08/2025

A very nice piece on The Irish Times website celebrating the work of the artists and participants in "The Air We Share" project.

'The Air We Share' is a free exhibition that runs until Sunday 21st September at Galway Arts Centre 47 Dominick Street Lower, H91 X0AP.

The Air We Share exhibition has launched in Galway Arts Centre

20/08/2025

'The Air We Share' Exhibition Now Open

The Air We Share exhibition opened in Galway Arts Centre last Saturday. Congratulations to the team of artists and special thanks to the community participants.

The exhibition runs until Sunday 21st September and we encourage everyone to go along to experience the installations.

Photo credits: Mark Stedman
Sources: CreativeIrl and Galway Arts Centre

14/08/2025

Exhibition Opening at Galway Arts Centre

The Opening Reception of The Air We Share Exhibition takes place at the Galway Arts Centre this Saturday 16th August from 2:00pm to 5:00pm.

For more information, please see the press release:https://www.westsideresourcecentre.ie/docs/TAWS_exhibition_press_release.pdf

or the Galway Arts Centre's website:
https://www.galwayartscentre.ie/whats-on/the-air-we-share

The exhibition will run until Sunday 21st September.

06/08/2025

subtitle: We are a group of international charities joining forces to save and rebuild lives more quickly in humanitarian disasters.

21/07/2025

Thank you again to Susan Millar DuMars of Over The Edge Literary Events for organising this year's Open Mic.

Remarkable contributions to reality

“…A good poem is a contribution to reality. The world is never the same once a good poem has been added to it. A good poem helps to change the shape of the universe, helps to extend everyone's knowledge of himself and the world around him.”
― Dylan Thomas

Words, verses, poems, stories and more filled the room and echoed softly in the evening light. The Open Mic was on at Westside Resource Centre… and you could hear a pin drop. We listened to a very wide range of voices – reflections on love and loss, violence and war, aging and growing, magical powers… and, quite naturally, a marvellously mischievous alarm clock! We very much appreciate Susan Millar DuMars' work in organising this event and thanks also to all of those who read from their work.

It was really great to see so many familiar faces – regular readers at Westside Arts Festival – and newcomers, too, reading their own words for the first time in front of an audience. Thank you all for your remarkable ‘contributions to reality’.

17/07/2025

...thank you for the music

The organising committee of Westside Arts Festival were greatly saddened to hear the news that local musician Bernard McNamara had passed away. We would like to extend our sincere condolences to all of Bernard’s family, friends and neighbours. May his soul rest in peace.

So long Bernard …and thank you for the music.

17/07/2025

Many people took part in the a variety of activities organised by The Air We Share project since it was launched at Westside Arts Festival last year. If you get the chance - and have not already done so - please visit the website and complete the questionnaire. The information you provide will help to shape how creative approaches to climate action in communities is supported in the coming years.

The Air We Share

Thank you to all of those people who have taken part in events and workshops associated with the Air We Share project. The project featured strongly in this year’s Westside Arts Festival and we hope that all of those who participated will also get a chance to visit The Air We Share exhibition at Galway Arts Centre in August 2025.

During the festival you may have met Michelle Burke, who is researching the role of arts and creativity for community and citizen engagement in climate action. The research is led by University College Cork and is funded by CreativeIrl, who have funded 42 Creative Climate Action projects around Ireland, including The Air We Share. This research informs policy for funding future community arts-based climate projects, so any feedback that you have is deeply valued. Michelle would like to say thank you to anyone who has given feedback so far with surveys or interviews.

If you haven't already and would like to fill out a participant survey for The Air We Share, please follow this link: https://ucc.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6XvXYpbkt4s9gRo . If you would like to complete a short anonymous interview with Michelle to give your insight on your participant experience please contact her at [email protected].

14/07/2025

A Great Endorsement

The organising committee of Westside Arts Festival would like to thank all of the people who attended this year’s festival. The weather was kind, the craic was good and the smiling faces told the story… far better than words ever could! We had five fun-filled days with over forty different activities. Hundreds of people came along to support the festival and to participate in the various workshops, concerts, exhibitions etc… a great endorsement of our community arts festival. Thank you all.

Special thanks to the Mayor of the City of Galway, Cllr. Mike Cubbard and Deputy Mayor Cllr. Alan Cheevers for officiating and thanks also to Catherine Connolly TD for joining us to mark the occasion.

11/07/2025

An exciting workshop in which you can use your smartphone's camera to visualise the air around us. Only a few places remain, so make sure to book at Westside Resource Centre: 091 528325

Bring your smartphone and explore the air quality around us with Leon Butler at the 'Seeing Machine' workshop at 3:00pm today (Friday 11th).

Using an app, Leon will demonstrate how to make the invisible visible. What will you discover?

This workshop is suitable for teens and adults.
Booking required: 091 528325.
Children under 18 must be accompanied by an adult.