June 2010
Alissa was selected for the Roscommon County Council Arts Office art@work Residency Programme 2010. The residency provides funding for 8 artists to undertake a three-week residency in a local business in county Roscommon, Republic of Ireland. The 15 days can be spread out over a total of 3 months.
The residency aims to create a dialogue between the artist and the business they proposed to work with, in some ways revealing the everyday working methods of the artist. The outcome is not specifically a finished piece, rather it is an opportunity for the artist in residence and the business and it’s staff to exchange ideas.
Alissa will spend her time working with the staff and owners of Gleeson’s Townhouse . Situated in the centre of Roscommon town it is a building with a rich historical past which has been renovated to include guest rooms, a cafe and a restaurant.
In her initial proposal Alissa states:
I am interested in the fact that Gleeson’s Townhouse is a mix of the old Presbyterian church built in 1830 and the newer additions that have been built over the years to accommodate the building’s shifting status into a large townhouse with rooms and a restaurant.
When giving her tour Mary Gleeson mentioned that she used to have a garden that has now been converted into guest rooms. As the building hosts both the past and present I would like to look at ways to somehow re-introduce Mary’s garden back into the building.
I am interested in the boundaries between the real and the artificial and possible options for this project could be to create an artificial garden that will never wither or a temporary new garden with plants (either reflecting the plants Mary once grew or possibly plants that would have grown there in the 19th century) that could temporary re-create the past.
I would, however, like to leave this very open ended and use my time in Gleeson’s to research how elements of the history of the building could be re-introduced in a contextual way.
However, the residency is geared towards a collaboration between artist and workplace. The above statement will act as a starting point but will ultimately develop in,as of yet, unpredictable ways.