The dole office, the public library, the local convent and a Christian Brothers' school: these are not the sort of locations one would associate with visual art. As for the credit union, and the medical centre?
But if Ennistymon, Co Clare, isn't already on your cultural map, then it should be when it hosts an unusual exhibition later this month. The town, which is synonymous with that annual gathering of cognoscenti, the Merriman Summer School, is staging a "celebration" in partnership with the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA).
Prime movers are the members of the Courthouse Studios in Parliament Street, who visited IMMA in Dublin last year to borrow 60 pieces of work by leading contemporary artists.
The pieces chosen are diverse, ranging from Kathy Prendergast's Body Map series, which deals with issues of gender and identity, to the Large Head sculpture by Stephan Balkenhol. Other artists included are Paula Rego, John Bellany, Mary Farl Powers, Dorothy Cross, Gwen O'Dowd, James McKenna, Gerard Dillon and Eithne Jordan. Three young artists who completed their work during the museum's education programme, John O'Neill, Michelle Quinn and Anne Marie McEvoy, will also be represented.
The Courthouse artists will participate by opening their studios to the public from February 27th to March 7th. Mixed media, painting, photography and drawing will be on show, with participants including Jackie Askew, Fiona Concannon, Veronica Nicholson, Deirdre O'Mahony, Joan O'Hanrahan, Fiona Woods and visiting US artist, Jo Warrington. Apart from the aforementioned venues, the Falls Hotel and various shop windows have also been secured to hang IMMA works.
To take full advantage of the opportunity, Clare Education Centre has agreed to facilitate an education programme, with workshops, discussions and seminars for primary teachers.
The programme will be based around the exhibition and will be conducted by IMMA staff to encourage teachers to bring school classes to view the art. Ennistymon '99, as the event is titled, will be opened on February 26th by the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, Ms de Valera, at the Courthouse Studios at 8 p.m. and will run until April 9th.
It is the sort of stimulus the town is seeking, as it strives to carve out a future for itself.
Last year, a study commissioned by the Ennistymon and District Development Association, with Leader II fund assistance, concluded that certain obstacles were hindering the progress of a community which perceives itself to be in the shadow of Lahinch.
The study by Hendrik W. van der Kamp, town planner, and Philip Geoghegan, architect and urban designer, was based on a socio-economic and environmental appraisal during the summer of 1997.
As part of the socio-economic dimension, a questionnaire was conducted. The results of both were then presented at several community meetings. A dominant theme is traffic and how it can best be managed. As the authors point out, even smaller towns have been forced to introduce parking restrictions, one-way systems and even relief road construction.
Already, the volume of cars is posing an environmental threat to the area. The river, with its famous falls, cannot be enjoyed in comfort from the best vantage point, the bridge. The main street, which still retains a 19th century atmosphere, is clogged with parked cars and is also the major thoroughfare. The authors propose redesigning the main street to include paving, providing a visitors' car-park on the fair green, and widening footpaths on the bridge.
The cemetery should also be upgraded, the study recommends. It offers one of the finest views across the landscape, and should be considered as an asset. The gradients and differences in levels that characterise Ennistymon should be developed as a strength, the authors say, noting that many Italian towns have made the most of this feature.
The study suggests an integrated tourist location, combining Lahinch and Ennistymon. A major concern among replies to the questionnaire was that tourists bound for Lahinch fail to stop in Ennistymon. Mr Robert Crosbie, a committee member of the association, acknowledges that Ennistymon has a very separate identity and is still very unspoilt. Unlike Lahinch, Ennistymon was not designated for urban renewal, and doesn't qualify under seaside resort schemes.
The difficulty is in achieving consensus; there are property interests in the town favouring designation. "We know it has many disadvantages," Mr Crosbie says. "But there is a negative factor; when you are situated so close to a town that does qualify, the tendency is for property owners to leave buildings derelict, waiting for the Department of Finance to extend the scheme."
The study has been submitted to the local authority but the association is conscious of the fact that it does not represent the entire community. Far more consultation is required, Mr Crosbie says.
In the meantime, Clare County Council is preparing a local area development plan for Ennistymon/Lahinch. "The point we are trying to make is that it is better to come up with ideas, rather than to be complaining afterwards about what has been presented to us."
As part of this effort to encourage more community involvement, Mr Crosbie is also involved in another initiative. Project Ennistymon has been set up to employ a full-time person to look after the town's interests. The project has 40 members and assets of over £22,000. It intends to adopt a new name shortly and to make the appointment in the autumn. To do this, it has set a target of £4,000 a month by way of standing orders and contributions from members.
The job has been described as a town manager in the project's brochure but it is not envisaged as a statutory position within an urban district council structure. Project Ennistymon is seeking a manager who "would not be employed to tell the population what was good for it but would take his or her direction from the town". In other words, a community co-ordinator.
It is indicative of how much faith people have in their local authorities, just four months before the local elections. Little, or none at all.
