THERE’S a lot going on behind the Red Door. But then there’s a lot of artistic stuff going on everywhere in Newcastle West.
And Vicki Nash is involved in that as well as the Tidy Towns committee because she believes “there’s way more to Tidy Towns than picking up litter”.
When the Limerick Post visited the Red Door Gallery, Vicky was setting up for the launch of a long overdue book from talented local photographer, Michael Rowsome, who has recorded thousands of images of life in the town and has gathered the best of them together.
The book is called “Beautiful People, Beautiful Place,” and it surely reflects the beauty of the location of its launch.
The Red Door gallery is a space provided for the community by David and Claire Geary who bought the old ACC Bank and instead of using it for some kind of profit, have made it available to the community for arts and culture.
Like many dedicated volunteers in the county town, Vicki wears a number of hats and she finds the cooperation between arts and Tidy Towns is an excellent fit.
Having been competing in Tidy Towns for as long as the competition is going – an impressive sixty years – Newcastle West has won six bronze medals and when the Limerick Post visited, was on the way to Dublin to collect an as yet undisclosed award.
“We work with projects as much as keeping the town tidy. For instance, we had an up-cycling event where we collected 50 old bicycles and sent then to St Mary’s in the city to have them restored for students or people needing a bike. Some more went to the Chernobyl project,” said Vicky.
Another joint project undertaken was the ‘Back In Five Minutes’ campaign in which empty wheelchairs were parked in disabled spaces to drive home the message that the spaces are for people who can’t simply nip out and be back in five minutes and who need access to convenient spaces on get on with business.
The artistic community and Tidy Towns have also collaborated on initiatives such as the paint windows on empty buildings but one striking project which has pulled art, heritage and Tidy Towns together very recently is the Mass Path initiative.
“The trades and craftspeople of the town historically lived in Maiden Street and the first public housing that the council built was in Assumpta Park. People used the steps to get to Mass, which gave the steps on the Mass Path its name”.
While being practical, the alley and the steps were fairly grey and uninviting so the Tidy Towns asked local artist, Marian Sugrue Brouder to give then a makeover.
The result is a beautiful and colourful set of steps, with verses pulled from the wrtings of esteemed local poet, Michael Hartnett.
“I’m not an artist. I’m an organiser and for all of us who are trying to improve life in the community, we just keep doing what we’re doing to make things better,” said Vicki.
