'It's an artist's job to push boundaries'

An eyecatching paint job on the main door of the Townhall Cavan Arts Space, a listed building, has sparked minor controversy. Council officials say “rules have been broken” and demand that the door be returned to its original state - a state that the artistic curator has described as “ugly brown”.

The row has inspired an online campaign under the banner #LoveTownhallDoor. Members of the public have been actively encouraged to take 'selfie' photographs of themselves beside the entryway in a bid to save the artwork.
Designed by local artist Siobhan Harton, and created by Philip Mulligan and Dave Fitzgerald, the zig-zag black and white lines with an orange circle in the centre is intended to be symbolic as an 'Entrance to Pure Creative Energy'.
“It’s thought provoking,” says Townhall artistic curator Joe Keenan. “Obviously this debate has now come of that, which I suppose is what art is meant to do.
“It’s meant to mean positive things, which is what the arts space is all about, and is why this complaint, something so banal, is so frustrating.”
Mr Keenan and his fellow creative team members were contacted last month by the council's planning and heritage departments to inform them 'rules had been broken'. It was cited that the door's new design was 'not in keeping' with the listed-building's historic facade.
'It’s a listed building and we respect that. We have always been careful not to affect the building in anything we've ever done, if anything we're hyper-sensitive to that, but because it’s an arts space we wanted to brighten the entrance to it up,' Mr Keenan told The Anglo-Celt this week.
Responding to a query from this newspaper, a Cavan County Council spokesman stressed that it is a “protected structure” and added that the door will be restored to its previous state.
“The planning authority has been in contact with Townhall Arts Centre in relation to the removal of paint from entrance door and entrance step to the Town Hall. As the building is a protected structure, this work will be carried out under the supervision of a Conservation Architect.
Earlier this year the Townhall Cavan Arts Centre received a capital grant to the tune of €750,000 from the Department of Arts, a sum that will be matched by Cavan County Council who continue to own the premises. The funding is intended to repair the listed building’s roof and transform the 110-year-old former Town Council headquarters into a modern cultural space, something Mr Keenan does not envisage the brown door, as it once was, being a part of.
'I don't think anyone will be jumping to save it. Even if we have broken some rules, it’s only for a few more months, six months or whatever. It’s going to change, the town hall is going to change, there are exciting plans for it, and a big brown ugly door is not one of them,' he laughs.
The dispute over the main door' isn't the first such dispute involving the Townhall since its rebirth as an art space. Artwork painted on a neighbouring wall also had to be painted over.
Mr Keenan insists the Townhall team remain undeterred in their quest to bring exciting art to the fore in Cavan Town.
'We'll get it right one of these days,' he jokes. 'It’s disappointing to get a reaction like this but we won't let it get us down. It’s an artist's job to question and push boundaries, we've done that and we'll continue to do that.”