Visitors and locals alike in Sligo will be familiar with the long-established Cat and the Moon craft and jewellery shop on Castle Street.

Last summer, owner Martina Hamilton revamped the old gallery space above the shop, gave it a separate entrance, and rebranded it the Hamilton Gallery. The gallery will be officially opened next Thursday, by Ruairí Ó Cuív, the public art manager of Dublin City Council. The opening show will be by John O'Connor (whose landscape is pictured right), and among the other artists exhibiting there this year will be Barrie Cooke, Felim Egan, Gwen O'Dowd, Jane O'Malley, and Geraldine O'Reilly. Are people buying art in a recession? "They have been," says Hamilton. "And I hope they continue to." See hamiltongallery.ie. ROSITA BOLAND