Across June, queer art clubs are taking place across Kilkenny and Carlow, a regular occurence since the group started in November 2024. Each month, a group of LGBTQ+ pepole gather to create art together with the help of a queer artist, and now, it’s time for GCN to meet the Queer Art Club founder, Ruth Flanagan.

The Queer Art Club started when Ruth, an LGBTQ+ project worker in Kilkenny, saw the lack of queer spaces in the city.

“As part of my work with Ossory Youth, I had set up an LGBT+ group for 18 to 25-year-olds, and that group had suggested creating a specific LGBT+ art space for adults.”

The events are free; they were originally funded by Kilkenny County Council and are now funded through the Dormant Accounts.

Ruth organises the events, from recruiting a queer artist facilator to setting up and organising the group. The artists are all generally from or living in Kilkenny or the South East and are all LGBTQ+.

“So far, it has been word of mouth. We’ve also had members of the club facilitate,” Ruth explained.

The club’s activities are diverse. So far, they have done collage, painting, lino, sculpture, zines and comic strips.

 

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The Queer Art Club is for all LGBTQ+ individuals with an interest in art and making friends. They particularly encourage 18 to 25-year-olds to attend. Each time they have had around 10 participants, and in total, around 30 people have attended across the events. For Ruth, “It’s lovely to see the same faces again and again.”

When asked about whether they are planning an exhibition of their work, Ruth told us the group would love that. Maybe for AKA, Kilkenny’s alternative arts festival…

For the future, Ruth thinks that “it would be great to see the group manage themselves, with some volunteers taking on the organising. It’s such a lovely community group and everyone has something to share in terms of skills. We’d love to continue in the Butler Gallery and continue working with queer artists. We’re also currently working on a newsletter to be able to circulate with our members.”

For more information about this great initiative, contact Ruth at [email protected].

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