Hidden behind the shops of the thoroughfare of the Grand Parade, accessible by the narrow lane of Tobin St and Cork City’s former Main St, lies the Triskel Arts Centre, a multi-purpose culture and arts space that integrates with the stunning Christchurch, originally built in 1725.
The Triskel is an example of an arts centre with modernity in its pulse, built on the grounds of the historic. Since 2010, the old and new of the Triskel has operated in tandem through a programme of music, visual art, theatre, cinema and shows.
Ensuring that the Triskel does that with relevance to audiences and artists, is the role of Artistic Director Tony Sheehan, who came to the job in 2006 after stints as Arts Adviser to the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism, Director of the Fire Station Artists Studios in Dublin and as part of the Cork 2005: European Capital of Culture team.
Music in the blood
Sheehan has music in his blood. Tony's grandfather was one of the founding members of the Youghal Brass Band, his father was a founding member of the Oriel Danceband in Youghal and his granduncle Thady Shea was a noted box player. So when Sheehan says that the Triskel "should be a kind of sanctuary for music", you should well believe him.
Having first started at the Triskel as a gallery assistant, Sheehan’s posting as Artistic Director was a return to his roots.
“By the time I came back to Triskel, I had over 18 years experience working in various ways in the Arts, but I had to seriously upskill myself to take on the challenge of reshaping Triskel following the crash, especially as Christchurch was now being developed. I had the chance to contribute with others in shaping the legacy of my city, but also putting into practice a new vision for what was Cork’s crucible for the arts.”
The integration of Christchurch, and its crypt, has been crucial to that remit. A restoration, getting it ready for use, costing €4.8 million, was completed in 2011. “Christchurch is itself like a musical instrument,” says Sheehan. “We’ve had to learn it over the past few years.”
Programming
The Triskel's music programme has hosted contemporary, classical, electronic, sound art, folk, trad and experimental: broadly music with a considered and artful approach. Sheehan works with people like Brian Bradley, Ken Killeen in Improvised Music Company, Gary Sheehan at the National Concert Hall, Note Productions and Music Network to programme the Triskel. Festivals including Cork Midsummer Festival, Cork Film Festival, Cork Choral Festival, Cork Jazz Festival and the upcoming Sounds From A Safe Harbour festival use the space.
“My job is to provide the environment for them to be creative and innovative in their programming,” explains Sheehan.
Sheehan has also facilitated the integration of Plugd Records and Gulpd Café, two hubs that place the Triskel central to the city's music and food audiences, as hangout spaces for ideas and events to develop and as commercial businesses that invite regular day visitors. Sheehan says they "bring a totally different energy to the centre".
“Jim Horgan of Plugd is a true music curator and a brilliant music promoter in his own right. Plugd’s programme alongside our own provides a greater breadth and choice for people in the totality of music we offer, and Plugd really have a continuous music presence in the building. Indeed, as time goes on, Plugd and ourselves are working more and more in tandem, whether its co-production of live concerts, input into the festivals, or the standalone concerts they themselves do in the Corcadorca Theatre Development Centre space.”
Funding
Despite the vibrancy of the Triskel, funding such a space is always an issue and the centre's funding has been cut by more than 50 per cent in the past few years.
“We’ve had to work hard to earn the money to replace that lost revenue, which makes our box office returns very critical to our survival. Public funding used to make up 80 per cent of our income.”
In 2014, The Triskel received just less than 40 per cent of its revenue from Arts Council and Cork City Council funding, meaning that the rest of its revenue is self-generated. After operational and programme costs, the centre traded at a loss of €33,663 last year.
Sheehan’s post as a governmental arts advisor gave him experience in how the arts sector works, and in relaying the importance of art to those who are distracted by what they consider to be more pertinent things.
“It taught me how we need to be much more politically adept in our own sector if we want to ensure that society continues to value us, especially in times of hardship.”
Sheehan says that the precarious nature of public funding and the attempt to balance the books, leads to a stifling in the Triskel’s desire to invest in emerging artists. There is no financial room for risk-taking.
“We’ve strived to make ourselves as independent as possible from public subsidy, but we’re a long way off that – and I honestly doubt we could continue as we are if public subsidy were to go.”
The future of the Triskel
Future plans for the Triskel, funding withstanding, may include the opening of a project space, that could be used to explore ideas in detail which Sheehan says will allow the Triskel to be more more "responsive" to the ever-changing dynamic of the Cork arts scene.
“Cork has remained very vigorous artistically despite the crash, and, across all genres there are truly exciting things in the city. The scene has always been dynamic, and so we try to ensure that we occupy a meaningful part of the spectrum.”
More immediate plans involve utilising a recently installed Steinway C piano in Christchurch, which Sheehan says has opened up some interesting programming possibilities.
“In partnership with Music Network and Cork City Council, we’re piloting a jazz residency with Phil Ware over six months beginning in October at the Jazz Festival.
We’ve also got two quartets in residence, the Vanbrugh and the RTÉ ConTempo [String Quartet], who will deliver between them 12 concerts, all of them lunchtime on Saturdays and all of them free.”
The Triskel is about to announce a weekend centred around the Munich-based jazz and experimental record label ECM.
“Over the years, Triskel has hosted many ECM artists, and it has always been my personal ambition to somehow make that more of a formal thing,” says Sheehan.
“So, in the last weekend of November, we’re staging three concerts in an ECM Weekend that will also involve talks, a number of ECM cinema screenings and for ECM vinyl aficionados, a weekend of listening events at Plugd.”
The ECM weekend is indicative of the Triskel’s approach, housing differing strands of artistic practitioners and events, under one broad church.
