Ciara O’Malley

Ciara O’Malley is a visual artist creating collaborative and participatory site-specific, public art works with individuals and groups who have fallen through the cracks in society, those who have been labeled, pigeonholed and are viewed negatively in the broader community and have experienced negative stereotyping and feedback loops causing self-limiting inner narratives. This often leads to problems with prison, homelessness, poor mental health and addiction.

Public Art Works

• ‘Streets’ at Connolly Station, Dublin, an interactive public art piece created in collaboration with Sven Anderson, the people of North Dublin and The Luas Line Commission.

• ‘Clink at Donard Gardens, with the prisoners and staff of H.M.P.Maghaberry, Lisburn 2013. 

• ‘Arts in the EastSide Billboard Project’, Creative Exchange, 2013.

• EastSide Arts Festival Projects include:

  • ‘Change/Exchange’, Mobile Space Project, 2015, Pocket Park.

  • ‘Placing Voices/Voicing Spaces’ City as a Gallery, 2016, Connswater Shopping Centre.

  • ‘One Square Meal’, rooftop of the Skainos Centre, 2016.

  • ‘Tales from your Living Room’, 2017, roof top of the Skainos Centre

• ‘Truth or Lies in NI Participatory Arts Practice’, Black Box, Imagine Festival 2022

Over the years, Ciara has initiated, facilitated, developed, co-ordinated, curated, co-curated and managed a range of arts projects, programmes and exhibitions throughout Ireland and more recently for Antrim and Newtownabbey Council, NHSCT and Brain Injury Matters.

Awards: Artist in the Community, Fire Station Artists ‘Studios, Dublin ‘03/’05 and The Northern Ireland Prison Service Ron Halward Award, 2010

Commissions: The Luas Line, Dublin, the Arts Council N.I and Government NI.

Residencies: The Tyrone Guthrie Centre, Annamakerrig, Co. Monaghan; SIM - The Association of Icelandic Visual Artists, Reykjavik, Iceland; Artist in Residence HMP Maghaberry and currently for the Northern Trust based in Holywell Hospital, Antrim.

Exhibitions: Ireland, U.K. and internationally in China, Australia and Iceland and at the Radius of Art Conference, Cultural Potentials for Social Transformations, Berlin, 7th-10th February 2012 and Art Works Event, Paul Hamlyn Foundation Special Initiative, Developing Practice in Participatory Settings, Belfast, 19th November 2013.