Mindfulness at the Butler Gallery in Ireland

For their fourth Slow Art Day, the Butler Gallery in Kilkenny, Ireland – a gallery dedicated to contemporary Irish and international art – invited visitors to slow down and connect with artwork from their collection as part of a focused tour and mindfulness event.

Mindfulness practitioner Dee Hennessy started the event by leading a guided meditation.

Then Jean Mann, Assistant Learning and Public Engagement Curator, facilitated a slow looking session in one of the smaller collection galleries, a wing dedicated to the self-taught Irish painter, Tony O’Malley (see photos below).

Following the concentrated slow looking, Mann then led participants in a discussion about their responses to O’Malley’s art.

Tony O’Malley, Bahamas Obeah Sign, 1985
Acrylic, grit & needles on canvas
48” x 72”,122 x 183cm    
Tony O’Malley, Bahamas Obeah Sign, 1985
Acrylic, grit & needles on canvas
48” x 72”,122 x 183cm    

We at Slow Art Day HQ love slow looking at O’Malley’s work and look forward to what the Butler Gallery comes up with for 2024.

— Johanna, Ashley, Jessica Jane, Phyl

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Meditative Slow Art Day 2019 at Butler Gallery

For Slow Art Day 2019, Butler Gallery in Kilkenny, Ireland invited visitors to slow down, focus, and connect with artworks in the exhibition: Poulaphouca: New Paintings & Works on Paper by Wicklow-based, Texas born artist Sam Reveles.

The event began with a guided meditation facilitated by Suzanne Martius, Hatha Yoga practitioner. 

Guided meditation facilitated by Suzanne Martius.

This was followed with a Slow Art looking session and guided discussion facilitated by Jean Mann, Interim Learning and Public Engagement Curator at Butler Gallery.

Jean Mann, Interim Learning and Public Engagement Curator at Butler Gallery, facilitating slow observation of artwork “Elemental Span, 2018” by artist Sam Reveles.

We look forward to what Butler Gallery comes up with for Slow Art Day 2020.

– Ashley