Wicklow shopping centre revitalises vacant stores with stunning art exhibitions

Entitled ‘Eco-system’, the expansive installation features works from the talented 402 artists and will be in situ for the next few months, bringing a splash of colour, a buzzing atmosphere and a strong sense of community spirit to the empty store.

In addition to the exhibition, artworks from 402’s recent ‘Heritage of Arklow: Art Exhibition’ – part of their local ‘Medieval Arklow Mural Project’ – are being displayed in the window of the unit formerly occupied by Argos, which has already drawn praise from curious shoppers.

“A big thanks to Stephanie Staines at the Bridgewater for giving us the use of the unit and the window space to display the group’s works,” 402 member Cllr Peir Leonard said.

“We put pieces from the Heritage of Arklow exhibition, which had been on show in the library as part of our mural project, into the window of the former Argos unit. The unit is closed, and you can’t go into it, but the art really looks well there and creates a bit of a talking point.

“At the other store, unit 3b, Stephanie has kindly given it to us for the next couple of months. She was particularly keen on the idea of temporarily turning it into a great community space.

“We’re calling the exhibition there ‘Eco-system’, and we will probably freshen it up and rotate the paintings in a few weeks. There are a lot of pieces by the members of the group in there, but we couldn’t put it all up, so some of it will be changed around.

“People seem to be really enjoying it so far, and it’s a fantastic opportunity for members of our group to showcase their work – a real win-win for everyone involved.”

Praising the impact of the new artistic initiative at the centre, Stephanie commented: “Cllr Leonard contacted me about it a while back to see if we’d be interested in using the store windows for art installations, and then we got to talking about having a dedicated store for the collective.

“So, they’ll be in one of our vacant stores for the next four to six weeks. Today was actually the first they had it open, and they have it looking absolutely lovely down there. There are loads of interesting art pieces.

“We’re delighted to host them and support them, to give back to the community, and it’s a real privilege to help showcase these talented local artists.”