Mermaid Arts Centre will commission a visual art project, which will be a site-specific, temporary artwork taking place in rural Co. Wicklow in summer 2026. The project, titled ‘Gorse – Fuel, Fodder, Thatch, Tools, Toys’, is a multiform work conceived by Shane Finan. It encompasses new art works, object making, research, audience engagement and workshops housed in a specially constructed ‘pavilion’ made of gorse boughs in the Wicklow Uplands, with activities to take place over a weekend in late June 2026. 

About Mermaid Arts Centre

Our Purpose: Creating Connection

Mermaid Arts Centre is County Wicklow’s creative engine-room. With a theatre, gallery, cinema, café and a lively programme of events to enjoy and participate in, we're a home for artists and artistic communities to create, connect and make memories.

Our purpose is driven by a fundamental belief in the power of shared experience and connection in combatting loneliness and isolation among people, and in the right to freedom of artistic expression and creation for all.

Our Work

We implement our purpose by:

• Gathering artists and audiences together to create, participate in and enjoy unforgettable artistic experiences either in our home venue in Bray or elsewhere in County Wicklow.
• Providing an artist-led creative hub and artistic resource for artists and companies in County Wicklow, working in both professional and amateur contexts.
• Sustaining the work of artists through employment opportunities, advocacy and practical supports for their creative development.
• Enriching the lives of all communities in County Wicklow through the creation, co-creation and presentation of a diverse programme of excellent contemporary arts experiences.
• Living our values in all that we do: Imagination, Inclusion, Collaboration, Excellence, and Integrity.

Our Vision

In the period 2021-2025, our vision is to deepen Mermaid’s roots in the community as an arts centre that champions access to art and creativity for all; to make Mermaid more sustainable by becoming increasingly relevant to more people – whether the artistic community or the community at large; to enable as many citizens of Wicklow as possible to feel a sense of ownership over or belonging to Mermaid.

Find out more here.