Details on art spend sought

Westmeath County Council’s expenditure on art is to come up for discussion as an agenda item at a future meeting following a representation from Cllr Mick Dollard at the December meeting of the Mullingar Kinnegad Municipal District.

Cllr Dollard asked if the district had any plans under the ‘One Per Cent For Art’ funding arrangement to put in place any further artistic features in the area. The scheme is a public art funding initiative that encourages a portion of the cost of government or public sector construction projects to be allocated for the creation or commissioning of art.

The response provided to Cllr Dollard stated that the district is currently awaiting a new Arts Council Public Art Policy, which will provide updated guidance on the scheme. “Once this is in place, we will be in a position to review plans for commissions in the county through this scheme,” the reply concluded.

Cllr Dollard was disappointed: “I was expecting a bit more now than that now, director,” he said, adding that he viewed the scheme as “very very important”, and it wasn’t fully utilised.