Westside Arts Festival presents- ‘The Air We Share’

Workshops and events from ‘The Air We Share’ residency programme as part of Westside Arts Festival

Projects from ‘The Air We Share’ artist-in-residence programmes will feature at this year’s Westside Arts Festival, which takes place from 8th to 12th July 2025.

Artists – Christopher Steenson, Leon Butler, and A Place of Their Own (Paula McCloskey and Sam Vardy) – have spent the past eight months developing innovative and collaborative works on air quality and climate in close engagement with the Westside community and scientific partners from the University of Galway.

The full Westside Arts Festival programme is available here.  All the artists workshops and events are free to attend. The artists’ final works will also be presented as part of a public exhibition at Galway Arts Centre from 15th August to 21st September, alongside a programme of tours and events.

Works & Workshops @ Westside Arts Festival 

The Seeing Machine – Artist: Leon Butler
Fri 11th July – 3:00-5:00pm
Booking essential via Westside Arts Festival: 091 528325

Galway-based artist Leon Butler’s immersive installation Phosphene uses data from community air quality sensors to illuminate the invisible atmosphere and invites participants to explore Westside in a new light. During the festival, he will lead a hands-on experimental digital art workshop that seeks to see the built environment in a new light. Participants will use smart phones to capture real-time point cloud visualisations and explore how we can link this to environmental data like air quality and map into interactive artefacts.

Air Walk: Sensing With Sound – Artist: Christopher Steenson
Sat 12th July – 11:00am-12:30pm
Booking essential via Westside Arts Festival: 091 528325

Multidisciplinary artist Christopher Steenson invites participants to experience air quality in a radically new way through a guided ‘airwalk’ during Westside Arts Festival. Wearing wireless headphones, participants will hear a live soundscape generated from real-time air pollution data via a portable ‘ambient sensing system’, developed with guidance from scientists at the Centre for Climate and Air Pollution Studies at University of Galway. This system is inspired by meditation practices that encourage an open awareness, using the natural rhythms of breathing as a focus. In addition, a collaborative clay artwork developed with ceramicist Alena Postnikova and local participants will be on display throughout the festival.

The walk will last approximately 40 minutes, with conversations and reflections afterwards at Westside Resource Centre.

The 9 Freedoms for the Air – Artists: A Place of Their Own (Paula McCloskey and Sam Vardy)
Sat 12th July – 2:00-4:00pm

No booking required

The artist duo have been working with a community group in Westside to explore the rights and responsibilities of humans and ‘air dwellers’ – microbes, dust, insects, gases, birds, and even fairies. Drawing on insights from scientists, folklorists, and legal specialists, the group has created a large collective textile artwork.

During the festival, you’re invited to try your hand at embroidery on a hoop or to visit the ‘sacred space’ and see local artists stitching on a large textile artwork. Learn about the varied communities of the air through the lens of folklore, science and the law. Celebrate the many ‘air dwellers’ as they are stitched into view.

The artist-in-residence programme lies at the creative heart of ‘The Air We Share’, a collaborative climate action initiative launched in July 2024. The initiative explores the causes, impacts, and potential solutions to air pollution through artistic interventions, citizen science, and community action in Galway’s Westside.

Commenting on the commissioned works, Megs Morley, Director and Curator of Galway Arts Centre, said: “The artist-in-residence programme has been an incredibly rich and collaborative process, bringing together artists, local communities, scientists, and cultural organisations in Galway. Through their work, each artist has created a unique and imaginative lens through which we can reflect on air pollution, climate, and our shared environment. Art is uniquely positioned to make these complex issues tangible, relatable, and accessible to the public.”

Leonard Cleary, Chief Executive of Galway City Council, added: “Galway City Council is proud to support ‘The Air We Share’, a transformative climate action initiative that highlights air pollution as a critical environmental health risk and supports Galway’s wider climate ambitions. The residency programme demonstrates how creativity can raise awareness of air quality, foster deeper community engagement around climate action, and inspire cultural and behavioural shifts. As the project’s lead partner, we are delighted to have supported the artists over the past six months, and we look forward to seeing their innovative works presented at the Westside Arts Festival.”

James Coyne, the Chairperson of Westside Arts Festival, said: “’The Air We Share’ project is an excellent addition to the festival programme and a great opportunity for local people to engage with a range of artists with very different approaches and practices. The coming together of community, art and science provides a fertile space for the sharing of ideas and knowledge and for collaboration on the challenges posed by air pollution and climate change.”

‘The Air We Share’ brings together a consortium of local partners, led by Galway City Council and including Galway Arts Centre, the University of Galway’s Centre for Creative Technologies, the Centre for Climate and Air Pollution Studies and the Insight SFI Centre for Data Analytics, Westside Resource Centre, and Galway Culture Company. During their residencies, the artists worked closely with these partners and had access to their facilities, expertise, and networks.

‘The Air We Share’ is a recipient of the Creative Climate Action Fund, an initiative of the Creative Ireland Programme, funded by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media in collaboration with the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications. The fund supports creative, cultural and artistic projects that build awareness around climate change and empower citizens to make meaningful behavioural transformations.

For further information, visit theairweshare.ie