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Creative Spirit inhabits Limerick landmark
The recession may have closed some doors, but it has opened others. The Spirit Store, closed for the past five years, is to become the hub over the next couple of months for an initiative fuelled by a spirit of volunteerism and adventure in the Limerick arts community
THERE IS something brewing on the corner of Bank Place and Rutland Street. Inside Sarsfield Bar, also known as the Spirit Store, curtains are being drawn, cobwebs removed, paint reapplied and floors relaid - while that all important kettle is being switched on for the first time in nearly five years.
The landmark pub, adjacent to the Hunt Museum, is to be reopened as a short term arts venue, a meeting place and cafe for artists and interested onlookers; the Spirit Store Art Cafe.
The work being done on the pub has attracted the attention of passers-by as a steady stream of people have poked their heads in the door to see what is going on.
According to Marilyn Lennon, who came up with the idea for this innovative concept, the former pub is remembered fondly by Limerick folk.
"I live in Corbally, so I come into the city all the time and this is my gateway to the city," says Marilyn.
"The pub is on the corner coming in and I kept passing it and I was asking people about it because it is a curiosity to me that it is here and it is closed.
"There seems to be a mythology around it, apparently it was notoriously difficult to get a pint here. Everyone had an affectionate story, so I realised that this place is dear to the hearts of Limerick people," laughs Marilyn.
With a background in community art, Marilyn, a lecturer in Digital Media in the Limerick School of Art and Design who has lived in Limerick for the last ten years, was attracted to the idea of finding a space that could become a sort of social meeting place for anyone interested in the arts.
The idea began to form back in February, as she passed by the pub regularly.
"I had this curiosity about the bar in the first place and I thought I could try and get it as a temporary space and use it as a sort of social place for artists or anybody interested in the arts," she explains.
"What I set out to do then was to find out who owned the bar and ask them if I could have it for free for two months," she laughs.
Local butcher Frank Glynn owns the bar, and Marilyn literally turned up at his door with a proposal for the space.
"Frank's interest was immediately sparked, he could see the potential and he has really been interested and supportive, which is fantastic.
"There are a whole set of circumstances that are coming together with this; obviously with the recession, spaces are coming up. Going to someone maybe two years ago and asking for something for free wouldn't have been viable, but going to somebody today is more likely."
With the owner on board and insurance sorted, other pieces started to fall into place, ironically also as a result of the economic climate.
"There is a whole community of LSAD graduates that, again because of the recession, are not leaving to go abroad and kick start their careers, they are choosing to stay in Limerick, so there has been a cohort of people willing and able and passionate and energetic and wanting to help out," says Marilyn.
"They are not getting paid for this; there isn't a single aspect of this project where anyone is getting paid.
"The next thing was to find out if we opened the cafe, would anyone be interested in coming and doing a series of talks, performances or workshops - and again, Limerick is incredible, it has such a diverse community of people involved in the arts and they were all keen to be involved."
With an army of volunteers including students and graduates from the various Limerick colleges, particularly the LSAD, Marilyn and co have pulled together an impressive programme of talks and diverse cultural activities.
The idea, in a nutshell, is that people will drop in and sit informally and listen to artists and practitioners discuss their work, while drinking a free cup of tea and coffee. It is an "inclusive experiment" as such, and very informal as a result.
"Yes, and you can interrupt people and ask questions. We want to make it as broad as possible, and the audience as broad as possible - hopefully anyone will feel like they can come in, have a cup of tea and either participate or just listen," says Marilyn.
"Hopefully, it will trigger other activities, the meeting of all of the different types of people here, hopefully, will trigger other projects and initiatives," she adds.
Various activities have been lined up, for example; mathematician Alexis Clancy will discuss his work with Daghdha Dance Company, and how the disciplines work together; Filmmaker Emma Teck will discuss how you get from an idea to shooting a film; musician Tadhg Kelleher will discuss how philosophy has informed his composition; and electro acoustic artist Jon Greenwood and performer Marc Carberry are going to discuss their collaborations.
"We are also going to have Ciarda Tobin and Myles Breen, both of whom have recently written plays that are loosely based on their lives, so the two of them are going to sit down and discuss how those experiences translated into scripts for plays. In the space, we can basically listen in on their conversation," explains Marilyn.
Running for eight weeks, with three sessions a day for six days a week, there is no end to the diverse activities taking place, with huge interest from local artists to get involved.
But the group is keen that other disciplines get involved, from astronomy to writers' clubs to engineering groups - the key is that the Spirit Store aims to be as accessible and as open as possible.
There is also an aim to produce a document that details the project, and may help others to follow suit.
"At the end of it all, the plan is to write up some sort of document that traces the history and the activities that were here. Obviously some things will work and some won't, so we are going to try and record that as much as possible, make a document and put it into the public domain for Limerick, because it is really a project for Limerick," says Marilyn.
"This project would be different if it was anywhere else, but because of people from different art disciplines and interests are very open and co-operative, I think that sort of creates a context that is different to other places and will make the Spirit Store very much a Limerick project."
There is an element of positivity around this project, from the people involved and who want to be involved, to those sticking their noses in the door to see what is going on in their old haunt. This is a key factor in the ethos of the project.
"At a time when there is not a lot of optimism around, this might go some way to address that, and actually that is another reason why we kept the name Spirit Store, because metaphorically this idea of storing up optimism and providing a space for it, seemed very appropriate," concludes Marilyn.
The Spirit Store Arts Cafe opens this Saturday at 5pm for a preview, and officially on Sunday at noon. The cafe will be open from "noon to sunset" Tuesday to Sunday.
Search "SpiritStore Limerick" on Facebook where you will find updates on talks and events and links to a blog with full details.
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