By now everyone knows that Carlow has one of the best arts festivals in the country in Eigse. What doesn't get as much attention are the spaces in the county where art is centre-stage all year.
Last June farmer Bruce Yates established the St Ledger Gallery with business partner Trevor Gillespie. The gallery occupies 1,000 sq metres of space on the town's Kennedy Avenue.
On Monday the gallery's fourth exhibition will be opened to the public when Dubliner Stanley Seldman returns to the Irish art scene for the first time in over two decades.
Seldman first caused a splash in the 1970s when he designed the interior of the Peter Mark flagship store on Grafton Street, Dublin. During his absence he has been based in Toronto and exhibited across Canada, Jerusalem and the Middle East.
His oils, watercolours and line drawings so impressed Mr Yates that 50 of Seldman's works have been shipped from Toronto for the event.
"My idea was to bring art to the people of Carlow on a 12 months-of-the-year basis . . . The exhibitions have been very well attended," says Mr Yates.
He named the gallery after the St Ledger Castle, the site of which is near his home in Athy.
The opening hours of the St Ledger Gallery are Monday-Saturday, 9 p.m.-6 p.m; and Sunday, 2 p.m.-6 p.m. Inquiries to (0503) 31647