A close look at revitalising church buildings as part of Architecture at the Edge 2023; an exhibition of drawings & series of felting workshops.

This exhibition presents a study of St. John’s ‘Church on the Hill‘ in Ballinasloe, Co. Galway, through survey work, mapping, and archival material, alongside exploratory drawings of church repurposing projects in Flanders, Belgium.

Additionally, as a form of church revitalisation, a series of wool-felting workshops will take place, where up to 20 participants will be guided through the process of wet-felting a large-scale textile artwork together to be displayed within the church as part of the exhibition.

No previous experience is needed – the workshops are intended to be inclusive and convivial, bringing people together for conversation, storytelling, and exploring a shared vision for the future of St. John’s.

The project is led by Feltmakers Ireland member Beibhinn Delaney, in collaboration with Marie-Caroline Kawa and Lara Clifford, and is based on previous research supported by the Arts Council Agility Award 2022 and assisted Prof. Sven Sterken and Charlotte Ardui of KU Leuven, whose expertise is in adaptive reuse of Flemish churches.

Support kindly comes from the Arts Council of Ireland, Galway County Council, and Donegal Yarns, who have provided beautiful Irish wool, locally sourced from Galway sheep.

The exhibition runs from the 29th of September through the 8th of October. Open 12:00 – 17:00 PM.

There are three felting workshops on the following dates: Friday, the 29th of September, Tuesday, the 3rd of October, and Friday, the 7th of October. Each runs from 14:30 – 16:30 PM and needs to be booked.

For more information and to book the free workshops, visit the Architecture at the Edge (AATE) website – https://www.architectureattheedge.com/events-2023/faith-in-the-future

To learn more about church repurposing, read this interesting article by Beibhinn Delaney on Type, a website focussing on the design of the built environment. – https://www.type.ie/blog/this-is-my-church