'We wanted people to leave here inspired and to go home and be creative'

First Cúige arts festival a huge success

By Clodagh McKeon

“We were overwhelmed by the support” said the founders of Cúige, Mullingar’s newest arts festival which drew to a close on Sunday night.

Founders, Andrea Cullen and Rachel Coyne launched the festival at their new studio on Dominick Street last Wednesday evening with an event filled with live performances and creative activities.

The five day festival was packed full of creative activities. It showcased paintings and drawings from talented artists around Mullingar and throughout Westmeath as well as shining a light on poetry, theatre, art and design.

Newly elected Mayor of Mullingar, Hazel Smyth officially opened the show making Cúige her first outing as Mayor of the town.

The Mayor took part in a panel discussion on the first evening of the event and was joined by guests Niall Breslin, Anne McManus, Lisa Dooley and Cecilia Denell.

Andrea Cullen said, “It was really really wonderful. We talked about creativity, asked people what was their earliest memory of being creative and then at the end we had a special performance from Bressie. He did a spoken word piece and everyone really listened. I think everyone really got something from it and went home feeling more creative than they came in, which I think is what we really wanted.

“We wanted people to leave here feeling like they’re inspired and to go home and be creative. It really really worked.”

All the events over the five days sold out much to the surprise and delight of the two women.

Rachel said, “We had artists come up to us and tell us how delighted they are to now have this space available to them in Mullingar. People even came from Dublin and Roscommon to support us and see the new space.”

Sunday night was the closing night of the festival and it saw Mullingar poet, Marty Mulligan perform his poem ‘Our Town’ that he wrote during lockdown with Mark Bennett.

Andrea told a heartwarming story about a woman that took part in a workshop during the week.

“People were crying leaving the workshops. There was one woman who was totally emotional because she couldn't believe that she could draw, come to something that was so open minded and enjoy it.”

Rachel mentioned that people were keen to attend more of their classes and luckily she reassured them that there will be life drawing classes starting within the next couple of weeks so “keep an eye out”.

The pair hosted a sustainability workshop on Friday that explored the idea of creative thinking and optimism.

It welcomed people from a variety of different industries.

“These workshops aren't just for creative people. They’re for people who are in business for example and want to learn more about approaching problems and scenarios differently. I think people really get something from them.

“It's really for people to open their minds and walk away thinking about sustainability. They really enjoyed it.”

Andrea said, “Some people didn't book during the week but came to every workshop. We were just blown away by the support and by the fact that we’ve inspired these people to be more creative.”

Rachel commented on how interesting it was to see the studio space change throughout the week.

Whether it was a theatre performance or yoga class, the studio space was always changing.

“The first night was a gallery space, the second a theatre space, the following night was a funky type party space, then there was a contemporary dance and visual arts display to finally last night being like an intimate music venue inside the studio.

“We were amazed to see it evolve over the five days. It goes to show what we can do with this space and what this space can do for this town and what we can have here going forward,” Rachel.

Andrea said, “I think the most exciting thing for me was when Rachel and I were coming up with the concepts for each day and watching that grow to be even better than any vision as well as watching people create when they were here.”

The girls mentioned that their musician cousin Stephen, who attended Sunday’s event said he was so inspired that he went home and wrote a song.

Andrea and Rachel are proud of Cúige and of what they created for the creative and talented people of Mullingar.

They have made a space where people can go to be creative and take part in activities that make them happy.

The most common piece of feedback from their guests over the five days of Cúige was that they were so happy that the two girls created such a fantastic space for artists.

The exhibition will remain open until July 5 so people can visit and take a look around the gallery space that is filled with stunning paintings and drawings.

The girls are encouraging people to drop in and support the artists by purchasing any piece of art displayed around the studio.

“People should keep an eye on our Instagram page @wearecuige, we will have updates and events posted there. Definitely pop up to the studio for a chat, say hello to us.

“We want this space to be where people can share any of their ideas and if they want to use the venue they can. We are always open to new ideas!”

See next week's Westmeath Examiner for more coverage