Art in the Open _ Suggestions for improvement

[Neil O'Keeffe]

Hi Folks 

many thanks to all who participated in this years Festival. I hope you had fun and were happy with your work. Yet again the exhibition was a revelation of the latent talent and energy that is out there.

Many of you offered suggestions to make the festival more attractive and organizational hints to help make it more efficient. Each one was better that the other. Perhaps you would take some time to post them here, i'm afraid i may have forgotten some of the excellent suggestions and we would like to do our best for you all

Thanks, looking forward to hearing from you 

[Karen Scannell]

Hi Niall, Great idea. .I was talking to Liz yesterday during The Hook paint out, and she mentioned that the tea and scones in Enniscorthy, really helped to break the ice...maybe we should have a congregation point for the beginning of each day???
Also I think we could do with a simpler map. ...I just followed where everyone else was going!!

[Neil O'Keeffe]

Thanks Karen, that's the spirit

The list will start with
1- Map to be clearer
2- Tea and scones each morning to let artists 'buddy up' if they want too

Keep them coming folks

[Norah Blount]

Great weekend and difficult to improve on, I loved exploring Wexford and would love to have painted out around the counrtyside, the wildfowl reserve and the beaches around Curracloe and area are stunning and would give another dimension to the painting locations, - Maybe one painting submitted could be an "out of bounds " one but within say a 3 mile limit ? Thanks again to the committee and all for making my couple of days in Wexford so enjoyable.

[Michael McGuire]

Hi Neil,

I'll share my own suggestions with you over a pint when we all recover, but Michael and Rob had a few thoughts which are pretty much on the same lines as some of those already posted. Michael mentioned a competition in Bath, where one of the paintings submitted has to be painted in a designated post code area (assigned randomly to individual entrants). We don't have post codes yet, but we could have 5-6 designated places around Wexford which could be assigned randomly to participants. The obvious downside is a loss of "visibility" in town, but that risk could be minimised by limiting it to just one painting out of the three submitted and having just one prize for an "out of town" category.

[David Diaz]

Would it work Michael if you used the day before, Thursday, to roam about the countryside--artists could get their canvas stamped that morn, or they could skip that part and and just do the weekend--kind of an option day.

[Neil O'Keeffe]

Hi David

Great to hear from you from so soon after your trip home, I expected you to be exhausted from the fantastic effort you put in. Your suggestion is finding many echoes amongst other participants, a foray into the countryside seems to be a very popular concept.

[Karen Scannell]

Taking a "devils advocate" role, ...I wonder do we just need to make more of the "green spaces " within Wexford ? Ferrybank, Kats strand, Redmond Park...and pushing it a little further..Wildlife reserve, The Rocks, The little harbour at the end of batts st... I'm sure there's a few more....
The Festival Paintouts before and after the fest. cater for landscapes, informally. If there is a strong feeling to include more of the countryside, maybe it could be tied in with these...extending the festival by three days before weekend?? I think the paint outs after should be kept as a "wind-down event though..

Also I think there's a need to run people through the boundaries...In the first morning of the Festival...or the day before. If your unfamiliar with Wexford, an area such as the Faythe might seem too far to get to.

[Kevin Freeney]

Usually I explore the less popular spots and am amazed how few artists I see. For example, I think I met one artist passing through St Peter's Square last year, and I spent a good 6 hours there "catching the moment".
This year we did have one lovely painting done in the Faythe by, I think Deirdre Moriarty, and maybe she wouldn't have made her way up there if she wasn't staying there. Some artists have stuck to the usual places year after year and I hope they don't just decide to "phone it in " next year.

[David Diaz]

Karen--you're probably right about using more of Wexford--don't know personally where it all ends--I was fortunate to have a guide or two, thank you again--but do you mean town of, or County--and by the way, I could be all over the scones thing.

[David Diaz]

Neil--off topic--but you weren't on my friends list and I wanted to thank you very much for your time and good conversation and pints at the T

[Elaine Hurst]

Scones? Scones? I'll be right over!

[Karen Scannell]

David, I meant the town of Wexford. There are quiet a few hidden gems around the town, that possibly only locals would be aware of. .I can't help thinking, that if we didn't have transport so easy to hand, that we would be forced to look harder at the "Obvious". look for new perspectives etc. What do you do at home for subject matter? keep looking further and further away, or do you keep going back to the same haunts??
You being "all over the scones thing"...I take it that means we get your vote for tea and scones before " lift off" each day??