The Kilkenny Catwalk 2021 art trail featuring 21 magnificent cat sculptures will follow a route similar to the one indicated above. Visitors will be invited to follow the trail on the official Kilkenny Catwalk Trail App and find sculptures that will be located in Kilkenny’s beautiful public spaces many of which are attached to the heritage buildings around the city. The trail is designed to immerse people in Kilkenny’s rich heritage while at the same time supporting our local Tourism and Hospitality businesses in their re-opening efforts. At the conclusion of the project, all artwork will be auctioned to raise funds for the refurbishment of the St Marys Almshouse in Kilkenny.
This project is a partnership between Kilkenny Civic Trust and Kilkenny County Council and was created by The Art of Tourism who specialise in the delivery of public art trails. The Kilkenny Catwalk Art Trail can be engaged with outdoors, whilst adhering to physical distancing requirements, regardless of restrictions. It provides creative work for mainly local artists and gives local businesses the knock-on benefits of visitors being attracted to Kilkenny to view the new creative and colourful trail.
The Cat model is a 5ft tall fibreglass resin sculpture based on The Secret of Kells character, Pangur Bán, created by four-time Academy Award®, Golden Globe®, BAFTA and Emmy nominated Kilkenny-based animation studio, Cartoon Saloon.
The trail goes live from Kilkenny Day 2021 to Easter 2022 and people from all over Ireland are invited to get outdoors, follow the trail and enjoy a fun, bright and engaging activity.
“The Kilkenny Catwalk brings business, arts and local communities in Kilkenny together to support our local tourism and hospitality sector and creates an amazing public arts trail, while raising much-needed funds for the Kilkenny Civic Trust for their vital conservation work with the St Marys Almshouse refurbishment project.” Cllr. Andrew McGuinness Cathaoirleach
Meet the Artists
All of the artists invited to take part in this project will receive a 5ft blank canvas in the shape of Pangur Bán shown above. They will all be decorated in the artist’s unique style! We cannot wait to see this process unravel.
The complete panel of artists is made up of
Saturio Alonso Steven Aylin Orla de Brí Paul Bokslag
Gerard Casey Helen Comerford Richard Hearns Bernadette Kiely
Mick Minogue Blaise Smith Sile Walsh Ossory Youth Group
Maria Pareja Graham Carew Chris Judge Mary de Blacam
John Behan Eamon Colman Paul Mosse Francis Tansey
Elisabeth Cope
CatWalk Trail Locations
| Castle Park Rose Garden | Butler Gallery |
| Castle Park – Position Cat near the Playground | Talbots Tower |
| Design Council (Castle Yard) | McDonagh Shopping Centre |
| Butler House Gardens | Market Cross Shopping Centre |
| Medieval Mile Museum Grounds | Kilkenny Rivercourt Hotel |
| The Tholsel | Langtons Hotel |
| Rothe House | Kilkenny Ormonde Hotel |
| St Canices Cathedral Grounds | Kilford Arms Hotel |
| Heritage Council |
Contact Information & Media Enquiries
To find out more about this new public art trail, visit kilkennycatwalk.ie or email KilkennyCatwalk@gmail.com
Check it out on Social Media:
- Facebook: #Kilkenny-Cat-Walk
- Twitter: #WalkKilkenny
- Instagram: #KilkennyCatWalk
- Kilkenny Catwalk App: will be free and available both for Android and iOS.
- #kilkennycatwalk
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