Lucan Portrait

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Artist Name(s)	Katharine Lamb
Artwork title	Lucan Portrait
Context/Background	The second phase of In Context, 1999-2003, continued the accomplishments of the In Context 1 public art programme. Through In Context 2, South Dublin County Council, advised by consultants Artworking, delivered a diverse series of projects in a range of art forms. This provided both emerging and established artists with an opportunity to engage with the community and to incorporate art into the public domain in new and interesting ways.
Description	A 12 foot by 5 foot highly detailed stained glass light-box, installed in the entrance foyer to Lucan Library, took over nine months of intensive research and production and is a contemporary portrait of the people and the suburban and rural landscapes of one of Ireland's fastest growing satellite towns. The launch of the work was accompanied by an installation of mounted snapshots of the 175 people who appear in the work, and covers a wide spectrum of the population, ranging from local politicians to supermarket attendants, from young families to elderly residents. The exhibition of photos was open for two months, at the conclusion of which all the people represented in the light box were presented with the mounted photographic portrait.
Mediation	In Context 2 catalogue essay by Declan Long. Article, The Sunday Business Post 1 July 2001.
Biographies	Katharine Lamb was born and lives in Dublin. She graduated in 1990 from NCAD, from the Faculty of Glass Design. Following this, over a period of fifteen years, she carried out many public and private stained glass commissions, most notably Grogans Portraits, Grogans Public House, Sth. William St, Dublin 2 (1993 & ’95), Lucan Portrait, Lucan Library, Co. Dublin (2001), Synchronised Parking Indicators, Boyne St, Dublin 2 (2004), a collaborative light sculpture. Lamb returned to college and graduated in 2007 MA Fine Art, NCAD. Although she since works in the medium of drawing and video, Lamb continues to explore the subject of portraiture. She is particularly interested in the complexity of relationships and personality and the idiosyncrasies of thought and behaviour. Using actors, Lamb constructs narratives and sequences, which are ‘filmic’ reconstructions of fragments of specific encounters. She has exhibited in Projector, Gallery Four, Dublin (2009), Play, Draíocht, Dublin (2008), Tulca, Galway (2007), Group show, Galleri Barbara, Norway (2007), and The Square Root of Drawing, Temple Bar Gallery & Studios (2006).
Commission Type	Local Authority
Commissioner Name	Aisling Prior & Jenny Haughton, of Artworking for South Dublin County Council
Commissioning process	Open competition: two stage selection process
Project commission dates	February 1, 2000 - June 26, 2001
Public Presentation dates	June 26, 2001 - January 1, 1970
Artform	Visual Arts
Funded By	South Dublin County Council
Percent for art	Yes
Budget Range	35000 - 70000 euro
Project commission start date	01/02/2000
Project commission end date	26/06/2001
Location	Lucan Library, Co Dublin
County	Dublin
Town	Lucan
Street Address	Newcastle Rd. Lucan
Content contributor(s)	Katharine Lamb
Relationship to project	Artist
Public engagement	Stained glass workshops with groups from Youth Reach Lucan and Lucan Community College. Discussions and conversations with local community.
Associated professionals / Specialists involved	Aisling Prior, curator & Emily Jane Kirwan SDCC arts officer. Irish Air Corps assisted with aerial photographs.