The Air We Share artist-in-residence programme

Galway Arts Centre, in conjunction with Galway City Council, are delighted to announce the awarding of three residencies  under an innovative new artist-in-residence programme “The Air We Share” The programme supports artists to engage with the communities of Galway City’s Westside and to creatively respond to scientific research on air quality and climate conducted by local citizens and climate scientists from the University of Galway.

The artist-in-residence programme lies at the creative heart of ‘The Air We Share’, a collaborative climate action initiative launched in July 2024. The initiative examines and highlights the causes, impacts, and potential solutions to air pollution. Through artistic interventions, citizen science, and community action in Galway’s Westside, it aims to deepen public understanding of air and its critical role in our shared environment. Aligned with these objectives, the selected artists have been commissioned to develop innovative and collaborative arts projects that interpret and respond to scientific concepts and data on air quality, the atmosphere, and climate.

NO REPRO FEE 25/11/2024 Artists announced for new residency programme focusing on air quality and pollution. Pictured today at the ‘Sliding Rock’ in Shantalla, Galway City’s Westside, at the announcement of three art commissions under the new ‘The Air We Share’ artists-in-residence programme are, from left, Christopher Steenson, Paula McCloskey, Sam Vardy and Leon Butler. The residency programme supports artists to engage with the communities of Westside and to creatively respond to research on air quality and climate conducted by local citizens and University of Galway scientists. Part of ‘The Air We Share’, a collaborative climate action initiative launched in July 2024, the programme aims to highlight the causes, impacts, and solutions to air pollution through artistic interventions, citizen science, and community action. The selected artists will develop innovative projects exploring air quality, climate, and the atmosphere, with public presentations planned for July 2025. For more information, visit theairweshare.ie.
PHOTO: Mark Stedman

The selected artists are:
● Leon Butler: Galway-based artist Leon Butler’s project Phosphene blends art and technology to transform air quality data into a community experience. By using sensors to track and interpret this data, Butler will create “data sculptures” that reveal the health of Galway’s built environment in new ways. The project invites the local community to participate in design sessions to shape how air data is visualised, making the often-invisible aspects of air quality engaging and accessible to all.
● Christopher Steenson: Multidisciplinary artist Christopher Steenson’s project I talk to the wind explores air pollution through the act of breathing. His work will incorporate sound walks using live air pollution data and community workshops that consider climate futures through writing and discussion. Drawing on Galway’s air quality data, insights from scientists, and ideas generated through community workshops, Steenson’s project will connect participants with the realities of air pollution and its impacts on daily life through the shared experience of breath.
● a place of their own (Paula McCloskey and Sam Vardy): Art and spatial practice ‘a place of their own’ envisions Galway in 2054, where communities of insects, dust, microbes, and other “air dwellers” draft a new set of rights for the air: The 9 Freedoms for the Air. This project explores the knowledge and stories of microscopic communities in our atmosphere and builds a speculative future scenario in Galway. Through workshops, local residents will join scientists and environmental legal experts to create a collective textile artwork that reimagines air as a shared resource deserving of protection.

‘The Air We Share’ brings together a consortium of local partners, which is led by Galway City Council and includes Galway Arts Centre, the University of Galway’s Centre for Creative Technologies, the Centre for Climate and Air Pollution Studies and the Insight SFI Centre for Data Analytics, Westside Resource Centre, and Galway Culture Company. During their residencies, artists will have access to the facilities, support and resources of Galway Arts Centre, University of Galway, and Westside Resource Centre.

‘The Air We Share’ is a recipient of the Creative Climate Action Fund, an initiative of the Creative Ireland Programme, funded by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media in collaboration with the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications. The fund supports creative, cultural and artistic projects that build awareness around climate change and empower citizens to make meaningful behavioural transformations.