Meet our Artists
Conor Gavin
Conor is the Co-Founder & Director of PAC and also writes poetry some which is included in this exhibition. Conor's poetry is cryptic as much as it is raw and honest. His use of rhythm and imagery sheds light on his lived experience of Schizo-Affective disorder. His main focus with PAC is now to propel the organisation into a more collaborative space to grow and flourish.
Conor also works in the mental health field as a Recovery Education Facilitator and a Peer Support Worker. He believes in the power of lived experience and in the need for more recovery oriented voices in the field.
Paul James Kearney
Paul James Kearney completed his BFA in Contemporary Painting under the tuition of Blaise Drummond at Atlantic Technological University in 2014, and an MA in Arts Policy & Practice (MPP) at The University of Galway in 2015. By embracing technology, he creates art through digital media, which is then printed on fine art, museum quality paper as a one-off print. His work is known for its striking and bold use of color. Paul has exhibited worldwide at a number of prestigious galleries. Kearney has works held in many private collections internationally, as well as having works in The Irish State Art Collection (OPW), Dublin, IE, The University of Galway, IE, Villanova University, Philadelphia, US and Flazathores Conseil, Paris, FR.
Maria Ni Mhurchu
I live in lovely Dingle. I'm a poet a scriptwriter and a playwright. I'm working on a screenplay at the moment called 'Haunted By You'. Here's hoping it gets made...❤️❤️💜💜💚💛💚💛
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/marianimhurchu/
Daljit Mann
I am an artist of many different mediums, and photographer who really appreciates the opportunity to have my submissions within the Thrive Together exhibition. I hope others will appreciate my pieces and feel inspired to get creative and do their own projects. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy the exhibition.
Lisa Callaghan
Lisa Callaghan is a visual artist with a focus on printmaking and community arts. Her work focuses on her surroundings and experiences having lived in Italy and now in the North West of Ireland as well as her own recovery from severe mental illness. She has participated in numerous artists in residence programmes nationally and internationally. In 2023, she graduated with a first class honours Postgraduate Certificate in Creative Arts Management from the University of Galway. Lisa is passionate about the connection between arts and health, part-time she is also Grants & Development Coordinator with Helium Arts. In the Summer of 2024 she was awarded a place on the Social Entrepreneurs Ireland Ideas Academy programme for her arts and mental health project ‘Expressive Minds’ in collaboration with the HSE Adult Mental Health Service Sligo Leitrim. 'Based on my own personal experience of recovery from illness I know the power and the benefits that art can have, I want to help share that with as many people as possible through my work'.
Instagram:
Niamh Be
"My Art work deals with the psychological obstacles of emotional problems of distress, social anxiety, psychosis as intrusive thoughts & isolation issues of being an individual with complex problems.
I have three College Degrees, Second Class Honours Fine Art DIT Degree (2007), First Class Honours Retail Management DBS Degree (2015) & a First Class Honours Digital Technology & Design DIT Springboard Degree (2017).
I also proudly worked with Global Young Greens on their Global Steering Committee 2009-1010, representing the Federation of Young European Greens.
I’ve worked on & off for years in various jobs & projects but never really establishing a career for myself due to struggles with my mental illness. Now I’m on full time disability & hope to develop my art again.
My new Art work particularly revolves around the colourful bliss of everyday living with the occasional strangulation of anxiety & distress, which is what the balance of recovery is all about. "
Kate Smith
Derbyshire Artist Kate Smith is an Illustrator, designer, workshop leader and mental health ambassador. She has a mental health condition called acute & transient psychotic disorder and anxiety disorder. Kate has created a series of watercolours and ink paintings, each one depicting different reflections on how her mental health manifests itself. The Paintings represent psychotic clouds, the storm of psychosis, psychosis crosses and intrusive thoughts. The eye symbolizes the paranoid feeling of eyes and cameras watching during Psychosis. Kate said: "I've always enjoyed art and I started to use drawing and painting as a coping tool when I was in hospital. When I was in a dark place, art helped." She hopes the paintings will raise awareness of, and get people talking about, mental health every day.
Instagram:
Erin Brown
Who am I? I am a human being trying to find fulfillment and meaning in this existence we call life. The most natural ability I possess is athleticism. My first dream was to become an Olympic athlete in the sport of softball. I came close, playing shortstop for the AAA team in Kitchener, Ontario Canada. What I wanted to do with myself for the rest of my life did not come natural and I really hadn't thought about it. I attended the Universoty of Toronto for two years. Then, following a hiatus from school, I returned to graduate from Sheridan College's Print Journalism program. I was not ready for a 9 to 5 job at that time though, and my free nature moved me to go out to western Canada and plant trees for awhile. The rest is history. The shape of my life was forming. I have since worked many trade related jobs while playing with artistic dreams in my spare time. I have embraced a quiet, natural, and simpler side of life. Being a content minimalist does not mean that I am without dreams. However, my dreams are more of the heart than of the stature one might aquire.
Book for Sale:
https://www.amazon.com/UnMasked-Memoir-Psychosis-Erin-Brown/dp/B0BTRQ69V4
K. Quilligan
K.Quilligan is a young writer, poet and playwright from Ireland. She was educated in her home town and in Lucan. Her works span a wide range of topics from the depths of mental health to light love. She is currently writing her second novel the first one of which is undergoing editing.
Lester Shipley
I've been making electronic music for a few years now but its only in about the last 18 months i've started doing my own lyrics and vocals. At the moment I produce my music purely digitally using Reason software. The reason I use Reason is because an employment advisor I had more than a decade ago kindly burnt me off a copy. I have since purchased a legitimate updated version.
Souncloud: