Announcement of the recipients of the Fingal County Council, Tyrone Guthrie Centre and Bealtaine Festival Residency Award 2022

Fingal Arts Office in partnership with the Tyrone Guthrie Centre and Bealtaine Festival has announced Una Sealy and Thomas Brezing as the recipients of the Fingal County Council, Tyrone Guthrie Centre and Bealtaine Festival Residency Award. 

Una Sealy RHA is a painter and Thomas Brezing is a multidisciplinary artist and poet, both are based in North County Dublin.

The artists will commence their month-long residency at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre in the beautiful, tranquil setting of County Monaghan in May.

The residency will provide an ideal environment for the successful recipients to research and develop new work in response to the Bealtaine Festival theme of ‘Interdependence,’ with the potential to present work during Bealtaine 2023.

The Mayor of Fingal, Cllr Seána Ó Rodaigh commented: “I wish to congratulate Una and Thomas on this award and I am sure they are really looking forward to the opportunity to spend time in the beautiful setting of the Tyrone Guthrie Centre to develop their professional arts practice.”

Speaking about the Award, Chief Executive of Fingal County Council AnnMarie Farrelly said “I am pleased to announce the recipients of this new residency opportunity in partnership with the Tyrone Guthrie and Bealtaine Festival.

“The Council is committed to fostering new opportunities for artists and is proud to support this exciting award which supports older artists during Bealtaine when we celebrate art and creativity as we age.

“We wish the selected artists every success with the residency.”

Una Sealy: Daughter of the swan, 2020, Oil on canvas, 30 x 30cm.

When asked about the award Una Sealy said, “I am delighted to receive this bursary, it really is an incredibly rare opportunity to devote a concentrated amount of time to an exciting new project. The Tyrone Guthrie Centre will provide the time, space, and an intensive work environment, to enable new pathways in my work.”

Thomas Brezing: The Numbers Don’t Add Up, 2021, Mixed media installation, from The Loneliness of Being German, Limerick City Gallery

And Thomas Brezing commented, “I am delighted to be awarded the Fingal County Council, Tyrone Guthrie Centre and Bealtaine Festival Residency 2022. The Tyrone Guthrie is one of my favourite places in Ireland, and I’m looking forward to spending a month in this beautiful location, writing and painting.”

This residency award is supported by Fingal Arts Office, the Tyrone Guthrie Centre, Age and Opportunity Bealtaine Festival, the Arts Council and HSE.

About the Artists

Una Sealy is a visual artist whose work is rooted in the figurative tradition but is committed to exploring the parameters of its relevance in the contemporary context, she is conducting extensive research both visually and academically into the human condition.

Although her focus is on a wide spectrum of aspects of life such as the built environment, urban infrastructure, interiors and landscape, it is always the human interaction that interests her.

Sealy’s main concern is to be a painter of our time and place, as seen through her own eyes, through the eyes of others, and at a visceral level through her study of anatomy.

She is compelled to record in paint particular moments in time, and the people that inhabit these spaces.

She has a personal commitment and a sense of responsibility towards telling contemporary stories, while avoiding obvious narratives.

The methods she uses are drawing and oil painting on a large scale. Sealy is a member of the Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA).

She is the recipient of many awards and bursaries for her painting and her work features in many public and private collections.

Thomas Brezing is a multi-disciplinary artist and poet.

He was born in Germany and moved to Ireland in the early 1990’s and is currently based in North Co. Dublin.

He works in various art forms: painting, installation, print, drawing, performance and poetic text.

His themes also vary and include identity, mortality, loss, the legacies of war, ageing, mental health, his ‘German past’ and ‘Irish present’.

Brezing has exhibited widely, he is the recipient of many awards and his work is included in several public and private collections including the National Portrait Collection.