LIMERICK artists have moved to the wild side to produce a hare raising exhibition in aid of a national childrens’ charity.
The Jack and Jill Foundation will benefit from the “Hares on the March” exhibition which will run at more than 50 locations in Dublin over the next two months for people to find, enjoy and possibly purchase via auction.
‘The White Hare of Creggan’ by Clare Hartigan from Castleconnell; ‘Shinare’ by John Shinnors from Roxborough and ‘Harris the Hare’ by Jane Murtagh from Cratloe and the students of Villiers School Limerick are among the 110 artistic hares that make up the exhibition.
The Jack and Jill Foundation is inviting people to visit Dublin, especially over the midterm break, to find and consider buying one of these mystical hares, with a map for the Hare Trail available at any of the locations displaying the work, including Arnotts, Easons, St. Stephen’s Green Centre and The Chester Beatty Library at Dublin Castle.
Since 1997, the Foundation has supported almost 2,000 children – 93 of them from Limerick – from birth to four years old with brain damage, severe intellectual and physical trauma.
Creator of “The White Hare of Creggan”, Clare Hartigan said that as she normally paints on a white background, she started off thinking about a white hare and ‘Alice in Wonderland’ came to my mind immediately. In Ireland, of course, the white rabbit would be a hare. I then started to wonder was there a magical white hare in Ireland and then I came across the “White Hare of Creggan”, a creature that was seen only in flashes and that nobody could ever catch.
The inspiration for Jane Murtagh and the students of Villiers School’s “Harris the Hare” came from Assyrian bas relief sculpture and Islamic art. On his route to those exotic locations, Harris discovered Thomas Harriot’s phonetic alphabet which he used for his signature on his finished portraits.
The Jack and Jill Foundation is hoping that funds raised from “Hares on the March” will make a a major contribution to the €2.7 million it needs in 2016 to provide home nursing care to sick children nationwide, with every €16 raised funding one hour of home nursing care.
Some of the other big name artists involved in “Hares on the March” are Pauline Bewick, Peter Curling, John Doherty, Martin Gale, Graham Knuttel and Donald Teskey, with a full list of artists and their hares and the latest auction bids on www.jackandjill.ie.
