OPW Welcomes ‘Artistic Islands’ Exhibition at Dublin Castle, exploring Irish Art and Diaspora

The Office of Public Works (OPW) is delighted to announce the launch of the ‘Artistic Islands’ exhibition at Dublin Castle from 29 September 2025 to 22 March 2026. This exciting exhibition identifies Ireland and its diaspora as places where creative genius was always encouraged. Visitors can experience Irish art and its global impact in new ways.

In Dublin Castle’s Coach House Gallery, parallel stories of artistic genius and diversity are expressed through the work of Maria Simonds-Gooding and Frank Walter of Antigua, each of whom have deep connection to their island landscapes.

Irish artist, Maria Simonds-Gooding, has a particular connection and affinity to the OPW-managed Blasket Islands. In this exhibition, she captures timeless histories of the heritage of Ireland as found in its ancient landscape. For more than sixty years, Maria has engaged with and responded to the Irish landscape in a variety of artistic media, including ink, paint, plaster and aluminum. She was also a formative influence on Micheál O’Gaoithín, the Blasket’s great visual artist and poet.

Artistic Islands expands outward from Ireland to the Caribbean’s Leeward Islands–where a far-flung global diaspora comes into focus. From the 1630’s, Irish people were sent to the Caribbean arriving as indentured servants mixing with enslaved persons of African descent, merging cultures to form a resilient society. Worlds collided in these sun-drenched islands where much of their tradition expressing the breadth and impact of their creative genius remains. This brilliance shines in the artistic achievement of Antiguan polymath Frank Walter, who saw himself, among others, as an Irish peer.

Walter used art to create his own universe–an aesthetically pleasing environment manifest through painting, sculpture, music and the arts. Imbued with a high intellect and deep knowledge of history and culture, Walter fought to protect the heritage of his tiny island nation. He painted abstract paintings, using the intricate patterns of seeds used in Antiguan seedwork – one of the earliest artforms unique to his island nation, dating back to the earliest arrival of enslaved persons from Africa. Funded by the legacy of Frank Walter, seedwork survives to this day thanks to a group of Antiguan women whose work will be portrayed along with Walter’s paintings to express the timelessness of these art forms.

Don’t miss the opportunity to experience the ‘Artistic Islands’ exhibition at Dublin Castle from 29 September 2025 – 22 March 2026. For more information, visit heritageireland.ie.

OPW spokespersons are available for interview upon request. Please contact pressoffice@opw.ie for more information and to arrange an interview.

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NOTES

Listing Information

Exhibition title: Artistic Islands

Location: Coach House, Dublin Castle

Dates 29 September 2025 – 22 March 2026

Opening Times: Opening hours: 10.00 – 17.00

(Closed for lunch 13.15 – 13.45)

Admission: Free

Artistic Islands, The Art of Frank Walter and Maria Simonds-Gooding curated by Barbara Paca Ph.D., O.B.E. at the Coach House Gallery in Dublin Castle, from 29 September 2025 to 22 March 2026.

Artists:

Maria Simonds-Gooding (b. 1939), Micheál Ó Gaoithín (1904-1974), Frank Walter of Antigua (1926-2009)