Daughters of Gold & Dust brings together oil and collage portraits that reflect resilience,

memory, and the stories that shape us.

Through layers of paint and collage, the works show both strength and fragility, capturing how life’s experiences leave their mark.

The women in these portraits appear quiet yet powerful. Their presence encourages pause and reflection, offering a glimpse into the connections, struggles, and beauty that endure across time.

The exhibition will be open to the public at

 Birr Theatre & Arts Centre from September to November 2025 (Weekdays from 1pm to 5pm).

Admission is free, and all are welcome.

A Profound Journey into the Spherical

This compelling collection of paintings is dedicated entirely to Barone’s enduring fascination with the sphere, a shape that

has captivated her throughout her artistic life.

Barone’s work, through its meticulous articulation of colour, light and space, offers a profound meditation on the delicate, liminal boundaries between our tangible reality and the elusive realm of spiritual transcendence.

The exhibition will be open to the public at Birr Theatre & Arts Centre from August to September 2025 (Weekdays from 1pm to 5pm).

Admission is free, and all are welcome.

A musical exploration by photographer

“Standing by the stage in the Marquee Club, Wardour St, London on Friday 3rd of May 1974 with a Kodak instamatic camera in hand I was confronted by Irish blues guitarist Rory Gallagher. 

Having been blown away by the performance, I headed home with zero expectations that any image I took as I listened through the lens would be worthwhile. On getting the prints back I experienced that “wow” moment. I had captured the magic I felt… 

I was smitten and ever since, music is omnipresent in my work.

The musical style matters little be it Traditional Irish from West Clare or Outlaw country from Texas, it’s the magic of the moment that counts.

These artists can lift us up and transport us to somewhere special “beyond the surface”.

The images in this exhibition are drawn from the constellation of musicians I have photographed.”

The exhibition will be open to the public at Birr Theatre & Arts Centre from May to July 2025. Weekdays from 1pm to 5pm.

Admission is free, and all are welcome.

Explore the delicate balance between nature and humanity in Biophilia, a captivating exhibition of Trish Taylor Thompson’s latest work. Using glass inks, oils, and acrylics, Trish creates luminous, layered works that evoke the beauty and vulnerability of the natural world.

Inspired by the urgency of climate change, her art reflects on the interconnectedness of ecosystems, the resilience of life, and the pressing need for environmental stewardship. Through vibrant colours, organic textures, and fluid compositions, Biophilia invites viewers to engage with nature in a new light - one that is both awe-inspiring and thought-provoking.

The exhibition will be open to the public at Birr Theatre & Arts Centre from March to May 2025. Weekdays from 1pm to 5pm.

Admission is free, and all are welcome.

Step into a world where the delicate beauty of nature meets the whimsical charm of nostalgia.
In her captivating exhibition, From Blooms to Beetles, Dana Sorokina invites us to experience the vibrant interplay of colour, texture, and emotions. Through her expressive oil paintings, Dana breathes life into two deeply personal themes: the intricate elegance of the flowers that accompany her daily, and the iconic allure of vintage VW Beetles that accompanied her past.

With her mastery of the palette knife, Dana captures the fragile vibrancy of floral motifs, evoking both their fleeting grace and enduring resonance. She applies the same technique in her playful portrayals of VW Beetles and offers a fresh perspective on a beloved classic, bringing up her memory and sharing her joy.

Rooted in her Baltic heritage and inspired by her Irish surroundings, this exhibition presents a harmonious dialogue between the organic and mechanical, inviting us to explore the world as seen through Dana’s vivid colours.

The exhibition will be open to the public at  Birr Theatre & Arts Centre from January to March 2025. Weekdays from 1pm to 5pm.

Admission is free, and all are welcome.

This exhibition allows artists the opportunity to interpret the theme in their own unique way, resulting in a creative frenzy that takes the visitor on a journey as diverse as our artists.

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And what's even better is that all the artwork is up for sale (Just in time for some superb Christmas presents!)

The exhibition will be open to the public at Birr Theatre & Arts Centre throughout December 24/January 25.

Admission is free, and all are welcome.

“What do you see? 

I am firstly an observer, and this is always the beginning of my process. The taking up of space, the shift in movement, the transformation through light, these elements invite me to engage with them. 

As I work, I consider the human story and its relationship to my subject matter. For me, there is always a relationship, and it is that, that I seek out.

What do I want to say with my art? Look for the connection, feel it, be part of it. Witness our shared stories, our humanity”. 

“You Gave Your Breath to the Wind” is a deeply personal body of work created in response to the grief of losing her father. Through a series of oil and acrylic paintings, as well as wood-mounted prints, Nathalie El Baba explores the raw emotions tied to loss, memory, and the inevitable return to the elements. 

The work touches on universal themes of life and death, offering viewers an opportunity to reflect on their own experiences with bereavement and the cyclical nature of existence.

This exhibition is a simple collection of visual explorations of imagination and the sub-conscious.

My creative work as an individual artist has always had an element of imaginative exploration.
I use a process of creating drawings and paintings that challenge the need to follow specific rules, patterns, conditioning, or subjects.

The absence of structured rules allows the expression that emerges to be authentic, original, and playful. The initial drawings and paintings provide the basis for designs which are then re-interpreted in mosaic.

The exhibition will be open to the public at Birr Theatre & Arts Centre throughout July/ August 2024.

Admission is free, and all are welcome.

Monuments are ubiquitous on the landscape. Common and omnipresent, they blend into the background and go unnoticed until someone points them out. In recent years, monuments have become flashpoints of cultural controversy. It wasn’t that these monuments weren’t being seen, it’s that some people in the community weren’t hearing what others in the community were saying about them.

Empty Columns Are a Place to Dream features the collages of fourteen artists from Austria, Belgium, Canada, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Poland, South Africa, the United States, and the United Kingdom made a series of collages that reimagined the empty column in the centre of Birr, County Offaly, Ireland, which, from 1747 to 1915, commemorated the Duke of Cumberland’s 1745 victory over the Scots at Culloden, as 21st century beacons of hope and reconciliation.

In “…At Some Point” Geraldine Wheeler invites us to explore not only the visual beauty of her Pointillism technique but also the profound sense of harmony and tranquillity that resonates within the symmetrical patterns—a reflection of the universe's grand design.

What sets Wheeler's work apart is the infusion of Buddhist and Indian culture into the Pointillism technique.
Much like Buddhist monks who meticulously construct mandalas, Wheeler builds her paintings with a similar sense of purpose and devotion.

The dots on her canvas serve as individual elements that, when combined, create complex and harmonious compositions, mirroring the spiritual and cultural significance found in mandalas.

This series ‘Wild Frontiers’ was created to present and celebrate the natural habitat and beauty of our wildlife and landscape. The images were taken in Tanzania in the Serengeti National Park and in the Ngorongoro Crater.

The Serengeti National Park is a world Heritage site, one of the last few natural wonders on earth. This is a place I longed to visit and hope to return soon.

David Attenborough documentaries always leave me in awe and draw me to that fantastical natural world that we have. My love of the outdoors, nature, wildlife, and the landscape have furthered my journey with photography.

Our planet is so precious and fragile. The challenges presented by climate change are having such a devastating impact on the lives of existence of so many species that we share our natural world with.

I hope this series of photographs from ‘Wild frontiers’ showcases what we have now, and it is my hope to honour and embrace it.