Luan Gallery

Luan Gallery Welcome to Luan Gallery's Official page. Peter and St. Paul.

Award-winning Municipal Visual Art Gallery located in Athlone, the heart of Ireland, on the banks of the River Shannon. As the Municipal art gallery and hub of visual arts activity in County Westmeath, Luan Gallery plays a vital role regionally and nationally by presenting a wide range of art exhibitions, outreach programmes and installations. It is the first purpose-built municipal visual art gal

lery located in the midlands, opening in November 2012 and represents a significant development for the arts in Ireland. A total of €3.4 million was invested in the development of the gallery by the Border Midland and Western Regional Assembly, the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and Athlone Town Council. The 575 M2 gallery was designed by Keith Williams Architects who also designed the National Opera House in Wexford and the Chichester Novium Museum. The gallery is located on an impressive site overlooking the River Shannon, adjacent to the town’s historic bridge, Athlone Castle and the Catholic Church of St. The space adapts the town’s historic 1897 Father Mathew Hall into a new gallery, adding a new wing with state-of-the-art audio visual capabilities and a riverfront gallery overlooking the Shannon. The gallery promotes a dynamic contemporary visual art programme of both established and emerging artists from home and abroad and aims to place visual artists at the heart of its activity. It offers visitors a unique cultural tourism experience for the community and visitors to Athlone and beyond. Abbey Road Artists’ Studios - The Studios offer a dedicated space in Athlone town for local and visiting artists. It consists of four individual artists’ studios as well as a large multi-purpose upstairs space that hosts a variety of community cultural events including exhibitions, performances, workshops and seminars.

Westmeath Artists Award 2026 – Open Call Now Live! 📢The Westmeath Artists Award is a collaboration between Luan Gallery ...
04/09/2026

Westmeath Artists Award 2026 – Open Call Now Live! 📢

The Westmeath Artists Award is a collaboration between Luan Gallery and the Westmeath Arts Office to celebrate, showcase, and support the development of Westmeath's professional visual artists’ practices and careers, and strengthen Westmeath’s artistic community. It is funded by the Arts Council.

Luan Gallery invites submissions from professional practicing visual artists who live in, work in or are originally from Westmeath. Submissions of 2D and 3D works (excluding craft/ design based works) will be considered for this Award and inclusion in the Westmeath Artists Award Group Exhibition, which will take place from 28 November 2026 to 1 February 2027. Full-time students and those employed in the public sector or by Athlone Arts & Tourism are not eligible.

The Westmeath Artists Award Exhibition will feature work selected from the applications by Guest Selector/Curator, Eamonn Maxwell, a curator and arts advisor with 20+ years' experience shaping contemporary art. Exhibiting artists will receive a fee of €500, and be considered for the Westmeath Artists Award. The Overall Winner will receive a fee of €1,500 (full award details outlined via the link below).

🗓️ Deadline:
Wednesday 30th September 2026 at 5pm.
Late submissions will not be accepted.

🔗 For More Info & How to Apply:
Visit our website for full details about the Award and access to the online application form: https://luangallery.ie/westmeath-artists-award-2026/

A collaboration with Westmeath Arts Office
Funded by Arts Council

📷 Chris Burke




04/09/2026

Art and history came together at our plein air drawing event for Threads of Place, where local historian Gearoid O'Brien shared the rich history of the Athlone Workhouse and Abbey Graveyard area prior to our artists working hard and creating some truly striking.

Video courtesy of David Martin Film

This project was organised by Athlone Castle Visitor Centre, Luan Gallery, and Abbey Road Artists’ Studios, and is supported by Westmeath Arts Office and Creative Ireland 2026 Community Grant.

Westmeath County Council Westmeath Arts Creative Ireland Luan Gallery

Luan Gallery is delighted to present Allow to Fallow, Allow to Fall Low, a solo exhibition of newly commissioned work by...
02/09/2026

Luan Gallery is delighted to present Allow to Fallow, Allow to Fall Low, a solo exhibition of newly commissioned work by Westmeath visual artist Fiona Kelly.

Centering on the concept of fallowness, the exhibition considers the value of stillness as both a method and a form of resistance, questioning expectations of constant artistic production in an age defined by urgency. It explores how spaces of pause and contemplation might be reintroduced within contemporary practice, foregrounding the potential of strategic dormancy as a generative condition.

The opening reception takes place on Saturday 12th September at 3pm with guest speakers Dr. Declan Long, Head of Doctoral Studies & Co-Director: MA/MFA Art in the Contemporary World at National College of Art & Design, Dublin and Laura McCormack, Communications & Engagement Coordinator Westmeath Arts Office. All are welcome to attend.

Supported by The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon

Allow to Fallow, Allow to Fall Low
📅 Runs until Sunday 15 November, 2026
⏰️ Open: Tues - Sat | 11am – 5pm and Sun 12pm - 5pm
📍Location: Luan Gallery

Free Admission
Westmeath Arts

Our two summer solo exhibitions States, Stations by Samir Mahmood and Field Station: Cornafulla by Amanda Ralph have com...
30/08/2026

Our two summer solo exhibitions States, Stations by Samir Mahmood and Field Station: Cornafulla by Amanda Ralph have come to an end at Luan Gallery.

The gallery is currently closed for the installation of Allow to Fallow, Allow to Fall Low a solo exhibition by Fiona Kelly.

The exhibition will be officially opened on Saturday 12th September at 3pm and will run until Sunday 15th November. The gallery doors will open to the public in advance of the 15th on a date to be confirmed.

Allow to Fallow, Allow to Fall Low
📅 Runs until Sunday 15 November, 2026
⏰ Open: Tues - Sat | 11am – 5pm and Sun 12pm - 5pm
📍 Location: Luan Gallery
Free Admission

Last chance to see our two summer solo exhibitions States, Stations by Samir Mahmood and Field Station: Cornafulla by Am...
27/08/2026

Last chance to see our two summer solo exhibitions States, Stations by Samir Mahmood and Field Station: Cornafulla by Amanda Ralph which end on 30th August.

Field Station: Cornafulla is a solo exhibition by Westmeath-based artist Amanda Ralph. Centred on Cornafulla Bog and the Shannon Callows, the exhibition brings the visible landscape into tension with what it contains: shifting ecological conditions, field records, measurement, and material evidence. Through moving image, sound, and sculpture, Ralph re-encounters the farm landscape without resolving it into a single authoritative image. Field Station: Cornafulla has been developed with support from the Accenture Digital Innovation in Art Bursary, awarded through Business to Arts. Supported by Accenture.

States, Stations is a solo exhibition of newly commissioned work by Pakistan-born, Dublin-based artist Samir Mahmood. Drawing on key Sufi mystical concepts, Mahmood explores q***r experience, identity, and transformation through textiles, sculpture, painting, and mixed media. Combining philosophical, political, and sensory inquiry, States, Stations considers how identity, power, and perception shape the ways we experience ourselves and the world around us, while reflecting on the intersections of spirituality, embodiment, and belonging.

📸
Installation view of Amanda Ralph’s ‘Field Station: Cornafulla’
Samir Mahmood, ‘Foot to Crown’ (2026)
Amanda Ralph, ‘Cornafulla: Field Station’ (2026)
Installation view of Samir Mahmood’s ‘States, Stations’

Field Station: Cornafulla | States, Stations
📅 Runs until Sunday 30th August, 2026
⏰ Open: Tues- Sat | 11am – 5pm and Sun | 12pm – 5pm
📍Location: Luan Gallery

Supported by The Arts Council/ An Chomhairle Ealaíon The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon

Westmeath Arts

𝑯𝒆𝒍𝒅, 2026, Wood, velvet, polyester, fringing, printed paper, acrylic, gouache, pinsSamir Mahmood Suspended just above t...
25/08/2026

𝑯𝒆𝒍𝒅, 2026, Wood, velvet, polyester, fringing, printed paper, acrylic, gouache, pins
Samir Mahmood

Suspended just above the gallery floor, 𝑯𝒆𝒍𝒅, a four-panelled upholstered structure, establishes an intimate architectural space reminiscent of an altarpiece. Its hovering form lends the work a quiet sense of suspension between monument and sanctuary. Its vivid blue velvet exterior presents a monolithic form, revealing little of what lies within and inviting an act of approach. Only by moving around the structure and crossing its threshold does the work begin to unfold. Rich velvet, brightly coloured fringing and layered textiles are interwoven with gouache and acrylic paintings of ambiguous iconography, fragmented limbs and disembodied torso, pinned across the interior as though scattered across a communal noticeboard, a temporary consolidation of fractured objects and imagery. Echoes of shrines and devotional displays remain present throughout the work, yet they resist any singular religious reading or affiliation with a particular spiritual tradition. Instead, 𝑯𝒆𝒍𝒅 creates a space of temporary refuge – a point of pause and quiet contemplation within the visitor’s passage through the installation.

States, Stations
📅 Runs until Sunday 30th August, 2026
⏰ Open: Tues- Sat | 11am – 5pm and Sun | 12pm – 5pm
📍Location: Luan Gallery
Free Admission

This exhibition is supported by The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon

Westmeath Arts Visit Westmeath Westmeath County Council athlone.ie

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the In Conversation event with Samir Mahmood.We thoroughly enjoyed everyone’s pa...
23/08/2026

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the In Conversation event with Samir Mahmood.

We thoroughly enjoyed everyone’s participation during this insightful afternoon of conversation between exhibiting artist Samir Mahmood and Luan Gallery Curator Aoife Banks.

States, Stations
📅 Runs until Sunday 30th August 2026
⏰ Open: Tues- Sat | 11am – 5pm and Sun | 12pm – 5pm
📍Location: Luan Gallery

This event was supported by The Arts Council/ An Chomhairle Ealaíon The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon

Westmeath Arts Visit Westmeath Westmeath County Council athlone.ie

𝑮𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑪𝒐𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒂, 2026, Printed paper and laser-cut acrylicAmanda Ralph 𝑮𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑪𝒐𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒂 examines Corn...
21/08/2026

𝑮𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑪𝒐𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒂, 2026, Printed paper and laser-cut acrylic
Amanda Ralph

𝑮𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑪𝒐𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒂 examines Cornafulla Bog, the Shannon Callows and their surrounding landscape through layered Geographic Information Systems. Existing cartographic data is overlaid with the artist’s own field research, including peat-depth surveys and the measured proximity of proposed wind turbine infrastructure and associated butter zones as established in legislation to neighbouring homes. Across the cartographic surfaces, black acrylic otters appear as silhouettes, presenting as fleeting traces that resist the descriptive certainty of the surrounding data. Their presene interrupts the apparent authority of the map, recalling forms of life that remain mobile, elusive and only partially knowable, while suggesting that even the most comprehensive systems of measurement cannot fully account for the ecological complexity of the landscape.

Field Station: Cornafulla
📅 Runs until Sunday 30th August, 2026
⏰ Open: Tues- Sat | 11am – 5pm and Sun | 12pm – 5pm
📍Location: Luan Gallery
Free Admission

This exhibition is supported by The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon
Field Station: Cornafulla has been developed with support from the Accenture Digital Innovation in Art Bursary, awarded through Business to Arts.
Supported by Accenture.

Westmeath Arts Visit Westmeath Westmeath County Council athlone.ie

𝑭𝒐𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝑪𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒏, 2026, Acrylic, wasli mounted on cotton, woodSamir Mahmood Suspended in a state of unfurling, 𝑭𝒐𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝑪𝒓𝒐𝒘...
18/08/2026

𝑭𝒐𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝑪𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒏, 2026, Acrylic, wasli mounted on cotton, wood
Samir Mahmood

Suspended in a state of unfurling, 𝑭𝒐𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝑪𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒏 takes the form of a monumental acrylic-painted wasli and cotton scroll, its imagery shifting between anatomical reference and abstraction. Rather than presenting the body as a fixed form, the work traces sensory experience as something in continual flux, drawing particular attention to interoception - the body’s awareness of its own internal conditions. Perception is understood as something lived from within rather than simply observed. Without a fixed orientation or prescribed point of entry, the scroll invites multiple readings, reflecting the exhibition’s wider consideration of consciousness as embodied, relational, and continually unfolding.

States, Stations
📅 Runs until Sunday 30th August, 2026
⏰ Open: Tues- Sat | 11am – 5pm and Sun | 12pm – 5pm
📍Location: Luan Gallery
Free Admission

This exhibition is supported by The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon

Westmeath Arts Visit Westmeath Westmeath County Council athlone.ie

Address

Athlone

Opening Hours

Tuesday 11am - 5pm
Wednesday 11am - 5pm
Thursday 11am - 5pm
Friday 11am - 5pm
Saturday 11am - 5pm
Sunday 12pm - 5pm

Telephone

+353906442154

Website

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