Artist gets Storytelling Start at Gardens International

A Limerick based artist has paid tribute to his adopted city for giving him his educational and career start as he unveiled his first major exhibition.

Galway native James Skerritt has graduated from the world-famous Limerick School of Art and Design, TUS (LSAD) and now his voluminous ‘Degree Show’ exhibition has found a home in one of the city’s most prestigious buildings. A total of 15 paintings, half of a colossal 30-piece graduate collection, are on display. The stunning exhibition, titled ‘A Love Letter to Life, The world, and To You My New Friend’ is Skerritt’s imagining of a range of characters that come together to forge relationships in colourful, inspirational places along the journey of life. It will be open 10am to 5pm on Saturday’s and Sundays throughout February. The nine-month labour of love for his Degree Show caught the attention so much that Limerick Twenty Thirty and LSAD together selected it for an available exhibition space at the multi-award-winning Gardens International building on Henry Street.

Skerritt opened the exhibition at the available space on the ground floor of the building at the corner of Henry Street and Lower Glentworth Street at the weekend and paid tribute to Limerick for giving him his start.

“I created this for the Degree Show but it’s a very large body of work and getting a showcase for it at this stage of my career was going to be a challenge but Limerick Twenty Thirty came up trumps on this and I really love the space. Gardens International is such an inspirational building itself so it feels a perfect setting for the work. Limerick has been really good to me in terms of my education and now, so soon after graduating, in giving me this space. I’m very grateful.” The exhibition, he said, is a story and storytelling is something he’s always been interested in. “Since I was young, I’ve always been interested in stories, in storytelling. And, when I came to college, and started progressing my painting career, I wanted to take painting into a more concrete storytelling, and this is a version of that.”

The storytelling caught the eye of past LSAD graduate Kaitlin Roche, now Head of Administration, HR and Communications at Limerick Twenty Thirty, who together with Dean of Faculty at LSAD Mike Fitzpatrick selected it over many others at the Degree Show.

“We looked at all of the various disciplines that LSAD had on display, and James Skerrit ‘s work really stood out because of its vibrancy and because it had a nice narrative in the background. So, we are delighted to be able to provide space here at Gardens International for an exhibition of this scale and quality.” The LSAD Dean of Faculty, Mike Fitzpatrick, said, “It’s great to be working with Limerick Twenty Thirty again. We’ve already worked with them in terms of the new development at the Opera Square with our graphic design students’ project there. Now this young painter who’s just graduated is showing the works in a really fantastic venue. It’s good for our creative minds to help grow the cultural life of the city as well as the infrastructure and the fabric of the city.”

Limerick Twenty Thirty CEO David Conway said, “Limerick Twenty Thirty is very proud of the collaboration with the College of Art & Design in Limerick. We’ve done this previously on the Opera Square site and today marks another milestone in putting the graduates from the college and their work on display to the public.”