The stamp of approval for famed art
Sinéad O’Reilly, director of Combined Arts at The Arts Council of Ireland, marks the launch of the new stamps with Eileen MacDonagh, the sculptor of Tallaght X
AN ICONIC artwork that’s a landmark to so many commuters and created by a Carlow-based artist is about to feature on a new stamp.
An Post has issued a new stamp booklet celebrating Ireland’s vibrant public art scene and among the stamps is one featuring Perpetual Motion in Naas, affectionately referred to as the Naas Ball by Remco de Fouw and Co Carlow-based artist Rachel Joynt.
Rachel grew up in Dublin, but now lives and works in the Blackstairs Mountains, Co Carlow. Many of her large public artworks are highly visible, such as Mothership on Dún Laoghaire seafront and Noah’s Egg on UCD campus.
In 2016, Rachel was awarded a major public artwork for Áras an Uachtaráin to commemorate the 1916 Rising – Dearcán na nDaoine/The People’s Acorn. A recent commission, Keepsake, was launched in September 2019 in Lansdowne Place, Dublin on a location where the Trinity College Botanical Gardens were located.
She is currently working on a large sculpture, Síol/seed for Glencar House on Merrion Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin and has just completed working on a coastal commission for a school in East Cork entitled Éist/ listen, Scartleigh NS, Saleen, Co Cork.
An Post’s stamp design manager Aileen Mooney thanked the artists featured on the stamp series. “Congratulations to the artists involved. We are delighted to feature their well-loved sculptures on our latest series of art-themed stamps. This issue is sure to be popular with art lovers and in the communities where each of the sculptures are permanently exhibited.”
Other sculptures featured on the stamps are Polestar in Letterkenny, the Riders and Horses in Mallow and Tallaght X in Dublin. Designed by innovative design agency Unthink, the booklet (€5.60) contains four ‘N’ rate national stamps, covering postage all over the island of Ireland.
There are thousands of public artworks in Ireland. Many of these artworks were commissioned through the Per Cent for Arts Scheme, a government initiative established in 1978 by the Office of Public works and extended across all government departments in 1997. This scheme allocates up to 1% of public construction budgets to art commissions. Local authorities often include a requirement in other public realm developments to include a commissioned artwork.
Both the booklet and specially-designed First Day Cover envelope (FDC) are available in selected post offices nationwide and online at www.anpost.com/shop.
