A series of commissions including two permanent artworks commissions, two temporary commissions, a residency project and two bursary programmes for emerging artists were developed  as part of the project. Briefs were prepared and advertised in 2010, with a well attended site visit taking place. An independent judging panel made up of practicing artists and arts commissioners and managers, alongside community representation and local council expertise, assessed the applications and selected the artists and proposals for the programme.  All commissions culminated in a series of events and artwork launches from 20–22 April 2012.  

A professional development training programme for local artists, CONNECT, was also developed to complement the commissions.  This was devised and developed by artist Aideen Barry in collaboration with Gaynor Seville.  The first event in this series was a Fake Public Art Judging Panel. There was an overwhelming response to this initiative.  See details and information on other the project’s networking events, seminar, workshops and the launch of an iphone App, artconnect, a useful networking and information source for artists. 

Ian Wilson – Residency
Composer Ian Wilson’s residency involved him working with and meeting large numbers of the local community in order to document how people are dealing with the current economic climate, particularly how people are being positive and pro-active. Wilson then created a large-scale piece of music which clearly reflects this notion.

Aideen Barry - CONNECT

Co-commissioner.

http://www.aideenbarry.com

Cleary Connolly – On Sight
On Sight is a video/sculptural installation for Lough Lannagh in County Mayo exploring binocular vision, designed in consultation with the Laboratoire Psychologie de la Perception in Paris.  Each of these four binocular viewing posts is installed in situ on the lakeside, juxtaposing a HD film of the lake for the left and the right eye which, though filmed from an identical view-point, integrate some contradictory information, which the brain will nevertheless try to converge into as tereo picture. 

Elaine Griffin - Landmarks
A collection of small bronze works places around Lough Lannagh.

The Performance Corporation – Across The Lough
The Performance Corporation created an intimate theatrical experience that took place out on the Lough itself. In Across the Lough, an audience of just three people were ferried across the lake in a wooden rowing boat by a boatman / performer. During the performance he engaged with the audience, offering stories, songs and revelations about the challenges and opportunities of life - from youth, to old age, to our final encounter with "the other side". The work is written by award-winning playwright Tom Swift and directed by critically acclaimed director Louise Lowe.  There were several performances each day. A wider audience  engaged with the performance by downloading a specially created ‘audio companion’ to Across the Lough and listening to it at home or on the shore. 

http://www.theperformancecorporation.com

Jennifer Brady – The Known World (Bursary)
The Known World is an experimental nature documentary with voiceover tracing the relationship of the Swan to notions of uncertainty and doubt. Concerned with the fragility of knowledge, the video presents a natural history of transition and change. Using images of Lough Lannagh and the family of Mute Swans that live on it, the work operates in the space between documentary and fiction. Its protagonist reveals a world where reality is a constantly evolving set of ideas. 

http://jennifer-brady.com

Fionnuala Hannahoe – Bridging Sounds
Bridging Sounds was a temporary installation of sound making devices that were activated by passers-by as they crossed the new bridge at Lough Lannagh.  These devices allowed an ephemeral and immersive expression by participants at the site.  The work explores the expressive marks we may leave on the landscape, both permanent and temporary, and how these may alter our perception of place.

Rob and Matt Vale - Lough Lannagh Ripples
‘Lough Lannagh Ripples’ was an interactive performance involving light by the side of the lake. The artists worked with students from St Gerald’s School, Davitt College and members of the Mayo Concert Orchestra in Castlebar, to choreograph this special once off performance. It was filmed and also featured in the programme as an outdoor projection.

Professional development for local artists and a desire to actively involve local people throughout the process was also of high importance in the planning of the programme.  Gaynor Seville, Co Mayo's Public Art Co-ordinator, who devised and managed the programme, was keen that the funds available would not be disbursed to disjointed individual commissions for unrelated sites and communities. Consequently one site was identified to act as the common thread for the commissioned works. This is the area of Lough Lannagh, a naturally beautiful resource close to the heart of the county town of Castlebar, but fairly hidden and underused. The curation of the project was also led by the knowledge that other physical improvements were to take place in the area, such as a new bridge, creating a circular walk around the lake, new paving and walkways.  
 
A series of commissions including two permanent artworks, two temporary works, a residency project and two bursary programmes for emerging artists were developed and briefs prepared and advertised in 2010, with a well attended site visit taking place. An independent judging panel made up practicing artists and arts commissioners and managers, alongside community representation and local council expertise, assessed the applications and selected the artists and proposals for the programme.

All commissions culminated in a series of events and artworks launched in April 2012.  
 
Landmark Public Art website http://www.landmarkpublicart.com

Download the Project Brochure 

Read Sarah Searson's accompanying essay and interviews with the artists

Ian Wilson (b. Belfast 1964) obtained his DPhil in composition from University of Ulster. His music has been performed and broadcast at New York's Carnegie Hall, London's Royal Albert and Wigmore Halls, Amsterdam's Muziekgebouw and Concertgebouw, and Vienna's Musikverein and at festivals such as the BBC Proms, the Venice Biennale, the ISCM World Music Days, the Bath Festival and the Ultima Festival in Oslo. He has written approximately 130 pieces including two chamber operas, concertos for organ, cello, alto saxophone (two), violin (three), piano (three) and marimba, orchestral pieces, 13 string quartets and many other chamber, vocal and multi-media works. www.ianwilson.org.uk

Anne Cleary and Denis Connolly, who live and work in Paris, have exhibited worldwide. Much of their work is collaborative, with a strong socio-political aspect, both through its subject matter and in its engagement with people. Exhibitions include: Farmleigh Gallery, Dublin (2012); Dublin Contemporary 2011, The Barbican, London (2010); The Pompidou Centre, Paris (2009); Sesc Pompéia, Sao Paulo (2009); Yokohama Triennial, Japan (2005). 

http://www.connolly-cleary.com

Fionnuala Hanahoe. In addition to her public art practice, Fionnuala has designed and implemented numerous workshops such as for Dublin City Council in The Tack Room at the Red Stables Artists’ Studios, the Kilmainham Arts Festival at IMMA, and the Rose Festival.  She has also conducted workshops in various community centres in Dublin, working with organisations such as CREATE and Bradog. www.fionnualahanahoe.com

The Performance Corporation - CEO Jo Mangan and Artistic Director Tom Swift set up The Performance Corporaton in 2002 with a mission to create daring theatrical adventures in surprising places. It has a portfolio that includes the BIG House festival, award-winning theatrical work and a commercial arm that animates spaces and places from museums to stately homes.
www.theperformancecorporation.com

Jennifer Brady (b. Dublin 1983) received an MA in Visual Arts Practices, DIADT, (2010) and her B.A from NCAD (2005). She has exhibited widely in Ireland and internationally, including recent solo shows in the 2011 Unbuilding programme, Mermaid Arts Centre, Dublin (July 2011) and 126 gallery, Galway (2010), as part of Tulca 2010 programme, curated by Michelle Browne. Selected group shows include Public Gesture, The Lab, Dublin (2010), Snakes and Ladders, curated by Daniel Figgis (Dublin, Wexford and New York – 2009), Flicks: The Cinematic in Art curated by Cliodhna Shaffrey, the Highlanes gallery, Drogheda (2009) and Sounds Like Art, Draíocht, Dublin (2009).  www.jennifer-brady.com/

Elaine Griffin is a visual artist based in Westport, Co Mayo. She  works in various media, including glass, concrete, bronze and digitally rendered media. elainegriffin.net/

http://www.aideenbarry.com/

Aideen Barry (b. Cork 1979) is a visual artist working in the mediums of performance, film, musical composition, drawings and animation. Barry has received awards including: New Work Award from the Arts Council of Ireland, Tyrone Guthrie Award for 2007, the Travel and Mobility Award from the Arts Council of Ireland and she received the Experimental Film Award at the Silent Light Super 8 film Festival in Cork in October 2006. Her work has since been shown in Paris, the UK, Thailand, Canada and China. www.aideenbarry.com

Rob and Matt Vale 
Matt and Rob’s artworks begin with the people it is for. Wherever possible they seek to work with the participants to generate an artwork, but try to avoid a tokenistic approach, and instead look for ways in which their actions or involvement can become the piece. They enjoy collecting the smallest actions and elevating then to a dramatic and fantastic scale.
www.robvale.co.uk  www.illuminos.co.uk

A series of workshops and networking events open to the public took place during  the project; the public were also invited to engage with the live performances and guided tours