A striking new willow structure made by a group of Mayo artists was launched on 21 June at the National Museum of Ireland in Turlough Park for OnSight 2017.
Teach Saileach/Willow House was a large bee-hive shaped ‘outdoor room’, woven from living willow and other natural materials using traditional skills. It formed an impressive new woodland structure for museum visitors to explore and was also used as an outdoor classroom for educational programmes.
Members of Mayo Arts Squad, a community arts initiative sponsored by Mayo County Council, partnered with the National Museum of Ireland to create Teach-Saileach/Willow House as part of the OnSight annual arts trail in the award-winning grounds of Turlough Park.
The artists and designers involved were: Mick Smyth (coordinator); Brendan Timlin; Kevin MacNeely; David McInerney; and Saw Tun.
The artists worked on site for six weeks to complete the building project while Sanita Vecbrale, Paul O’Driscoll and Aidan Crotty also created three large willow sculptures dotted across the museum grounds as part of the OnSight arts trail.