LIMERICK’S artistic heritage and the bonds between generations that are often broken by emigration is the inspiration behind a portrait project with a very unusual purpose.
Janesboro born artist, Patrick O’Neill has launched a competition that involves grandchildren to write and nominate one of their grandparents as the subject of an original portrait.
The grandparent will sit while eight Limerick artists convey their own artistic interpretation of their personality. The grandparent will then get to choose the portrait to take home.
“It’s all about connection,” Patrick told the Limerick Post.
“It will be a very special event for a grandchild to write the letter that will result in an original portrait of a grandparent. That portrait will become an heirloom and I would hope that the grandchild will inherit it in years to come”.
All of the artists will paint their own vision of the grandparent and while the grandparent will get to take away the selected portrait as a gift, family members will have the opportunity to buy any of the other portraits with the money going to charity.
“These days, because of emigration, a lot of grandparents never get to see their grandchildren, so this is something quite special.
“Limerick is already closely identified with portraiture and with new emerging artistic talent. I would like to see us expand on that. It’s not about chasing a new ball down the field, it’s about working with what we already have,” he explained.
The first step for children to nominate a grandparent is to have their parents email [email protected].
Patrick will reply with an application form that the child can fill out. The form has to be returned by the deadline of May 18.
” We want to gently persuade parents that they should let the children fill out the form themselves without too much help. It’s important that they fill it out in their own handwriting – there’s a connection between that and the portrait, a continuation,” said Patrick.
Any child between the age of eight and 12 is eligible to apply and must have their parents’ permission.
