A RALLY is being organised by Clonakilty Community Arts Centre (CCAC) this Saturday July 19th at Asna Square to highlight the fact that Clonakilty’s dedicated cultural hub needs to find a new home by the end of September.
Having rented the current arts centre building at 2 Asna Square for the past 12 years they received notice on June 10th from their landlady that the building is now to be sold.
CCAC is run by CE staff and volunteers and hosts regular exhibitions by artists, writers, musicians, and runs workshops and regular classes in the centre’s studios and shared teaching space. It is also home to Clonakilty School of Painting, Clonakilty Artists Together, Clonakilty Community Dark Room and Creative Kids.
Speaking to The Southern Star, James Waller, director of CCAC said: ‘It’s ironic as this comes at the end of a big consultation process for the use of empty council-owned buildings on Kent Street. We as a coalition of groups in Clonakilty had proposed to Cork County Council to get a ‘meanwhile use’ of these empty buildings and we’ve set up an online petition for this.
‘We’ve been making the request for the past year but we keep getting the same response that no decision has been made on ‘meanwhile use’. This Saturday we will have music, speeches, fantastic props and costumes and exhibitions to drum up support for the centre and to get the message across too that the Council could step in to address the critical deficit of community infrastructure in the town as well as the growing situation of vacant derelict buildings in the town.’
Sheila Kelleher of CCAC said the idea of the rally is also to drum up interest so that someone or some business may know of a premises that they could rent from in the future.
‘We have also set up that petition calling on Cork County Council to grant ‘meanwhile use’ of the old fire station and No 8 Kent Street to CCAC so that we can continue our services to the community while we find a longterm solution.’
Sheila said the rally will take place inside the centre and outside on Asna Square so people can come and see what the centre offers to the public.’
The rally will run from 2pm to 4.30pm and there will be musical entertainment and fun for all the family.
