Sample-Studios

We're looking forward to launching 'Róisín', a new solo exhibition in Sample-Studios Gallery: The Lord Mayor's Pavilion by Elinor O'Donovan and curated by Miguel Amado as part of the Sample-Studios Spike Island Residency 2026. Please join us at the Opening Reception on Saturday 10 October from 2-4:30pm. The event commences in Cork Public Museum, Fitzgerald’s Park, where O’Donovan is in conversation with Dr Tom Spalding, an historian and Assistant Lecturer in Visual Culture at Munster Technological University, before continuing with a reception in The Lord Mayor’s Pavilion until 4:30pm.

This exhibition is a collaboration between Sample-Studios, Spike Island and Sirius Arts Centre, with support from the Arts Council of Ireland and Cork City Council. The exhibition continues from 10 October - 7 November.

Join us for a preview of 'Róisín', a new film by Elinor O'Donovan in Triskel Arts Centre on 6 October 2026 from 2-3pm. 'Róisín' is the centre of O'Donovan's upcoming solo exhibition of the same name in Sample-Studios Gallery: The Lord Mayor's Pavilion, opening 10 October - 7 November. This new work arises following the Sample-Studios Spike Island Residency 2026, which culminates a three-year period of research O'Donovan carried out for this project. This screening on 6 October is followed by a Q&A between O’Donovan and Miguel Amado, Director of Sirius Arts Centre and Curator of 'Róisín'.

'Róisín' explores the life of Charlotte Grace O’Brien (1845–1909), O’Donovan’s great-great-great-great aunt. O’Brien was a writer, activist and plant collector who worked on behalf of Irish women emigrating to the United States in the late nineteenth century, campaigning against the conditions they experienced in Queenstown, now Cobh, aboard ships and upon their arrival in New York. 'Róisín' takes the form of a ‘desktop documentary’. The film evolves through a voice-over based on a script written by O’Donovan, illustrated by browser windows showing archival materials and photographs, digital drawings and footage shot in Cobh and New York.

The Sample-Studios Spike Island Residency is delivered in partnership with Spike Island and Sirius Arts Centre. This initiative and the resulting exhibition are supported by the The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon and Cork Arts.

We're delighted to welcome Curator Dobz O'Brien and Artist Peter Power to our monthly Professional Development programme for Sample-Studios members today to lead a workshop on the topic of 'Multidisciplinary Practice: The Practice of Collaboration'.

This is a much-requested topic among our members so we're pleased to welcome two speakers with such expertise and robust track records in collaborative practice. Peter and Dobz have collaborated on a number of large complex multi-disciplinary, often site-specific projects. Today, they discuss the practical realities of working collaboratively across different creative disciplines. Drawing on their own experience, they look at what makes collaboration productive, where it can become challenging, and the practical approaches that can help make ambitious multidisciplinary projects so rewarding.

Read more about our monthly Professional Development programme on our website events page www.sample-studios.com/events

Member Monday, Sample 15 edition ✨
Emma O'Hara is one of fifteen recipients of our Sample 15 Artist Bursary, offered in 2026 in recognition of Sample-Studios' 15th anniversary of launching, supporting and sustaining creative careers.

Emma used the Bursary to purchase an etching press for private use in her studio in Sample-Studios. As her practice shifted increasingly towards print-based processes, Emma was finding it difficult to maintain adequate consistent access to facilities allowing her to work at her own pace and shift fluidly and without interruption between processes. She found that having access to her own etching press would greatly enhance her ability to develop and expand the scope of her work within her studio in Sample-Studios.

'The Sample 15 bursary has enabled me to purchase an Ironbridge printing press, which will be a valuable addition to my practice. Previously, moving between Sample-Studios and Cork Printmakers to develop and produce work was proving challenging, creating disruptions and breaks in my process. Having a press within my studio will allow me to print more independently and responsively, reducing the logistical difficulties involved in accessing printmaking facilities. I hope this will begin to knit together the different aspects of my practice, making the process more fluid and allowing me to maintain momentum when developing and producing work.'

Learn more about our Sample 15 Artist Bursary at www.sample-studios.com/sample-15

We're delighted to announce the upcoming launch of 'Róisín' in The Lord Mayor's Pavilion, a new solo exhibition by Elinor O'Donovan, curated by Miguel Amado and presented by Sample-Studios in partnership with Spike Island Cork and Sirius Arts Centre.

📆 10 October - 7 November. Opening Reception 10 October, 2-4:30pm. All welcome.
📍 The Lord Mayor's Pavilion, Fitzgerald's Park, Cork.
⏰ Tuesday - Saturday 11am-5pm. Please note earlier winter closing time of 4pm from 3-7 November.

'Róisín' explores the life of O'Donovan's great-great-great-great aunt, Charlotte Grace O’Brien (1845–1909). O'Brien was a writer, activist and plant collector who campaigned for the welfare of Irish women emigrating to the United States in the late nineteenth century. Drawing on archival research across Ireland and New York, O’Donovan combines film, photography, digital imagery and installation to trace O’Brien’s story and consider the intersections of memory, migration, femininity, botany and Irish identity. Róisín is the culmination of O’Donovan’s Sample-Studios Spike Island Residency 2026 and broader research undertaken across Ireland and New York.

Miguel Amado, Director of Sirius Arts Centre and Curator of 'Róisín', states, 'The Sample-Studios Spike Island Residency is a pioneering partnership between organisations in Cork County and City invested in connecting art and history in innovative ways. Elinor’s response to this opportunity is exemplary, engaging with institutions and people associated with Cobh and wider historical themes of place and diaspora through a personal lens. Sirius Arts Centre have a long and regular relationship with Elinor, having previously shown her work and assisted her overall professional development. We are happy to see Elinor realise such relevant work and to collaborate with Sample-Studios and Spike Island in its presentation at The Lord Mayor’s Pavilion.'

Our exhibition programme at The Lord Mayor's Pavilion is proudly supported by The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon and Cork City Council

Thanks to all who came along to see Sample-Studios member Barbara Diener In Conversation with Dr Sabine Kriebel, Senior Lecturer in History of Art University College Cork (UCC). We heard fascinating discussion and insights about Barbara’s solo exhibition ‘The Rocket’s Red Glare’, as well as shared families histories and themes of memory, suppression, trauma and the role of archives.
‘The Rocket’s Red Glare’ continues in The Lord Mayor’s Pavilion until 3 October.

All are welcome to join TRISKEL SAMPLE Project Space Resident Sarah Long for the opening of her latest exhibition 'I Want To Talk About Ireland', curated by Niamh Brown. The opening takes place on Thursday 24 September from 5:30-7:30pm in Triskel Arts Centre.

Across painting, performance, sound and writing, Long explores female archetypes, nationhood, myth and representation through a feminist lens. At the centre of the work is Mary, Long’s autofictional persona and a contemporary iteration of the Mother Ireland figure, drawing on the aesthetics and fluidity of girlhood as a mode of critical enquiry.

Following the opening, Long will present her debut spoken-word album, created to accompany the exhibition, and will be joined in conversation by musician and producer Laurie Shaw.

📆 24 September
📍 5:30–6:30pm | Opening Reception
TRISKEL SAMPLE Project Space

🎧 6:30–7:30pm | Listening Event
Triskel Christchurch

Free and all welcome.

Sample-Studios in Leinster House 🪉 Our Artistic Director Aoibhie McCarthy was in Leinster House today speaking at the Seanad Public Consultation Committee’s public meeting on Culture and Arts Infrastructure Houses of the Oireachtas Great to be joined by our cultural colleagues in Pallas Projects/Studios Irish Theatre Institute (ITI) Praxis the Artists' Union of Ireland Lime Tree Theatre to name but a few, offering a range of perspectives from across the sector on this important topic

Member Monday 🚀
We're spotlighting Barbara Diener whose latest solo exhibition 'The Rocket's Red Glare' is open in Sample-Studios Gallery: The Lord Mayor's Pavilion until 3 October. The exhibition unfolds across Diener’s photographs accompanied by archival materials which together explore the complex history of N**i engineer-turned-NASA rocket scientist Wernher von Braun and Diener’s own German family heritage.

Join us this Thursday 24 September from 1-2pm in Cork Public Museum for a lunchtime talk 'Barbara Diener In Conversation with Dr Sabine Kriebel, Senior Lecturer in History of Art, UCC'. Diener and Dr Kriebel will reflect on 'The Rocket's Red Glare', discussing key ideas around legacy, authoritarianism and memory through their shared interest in their respective German heritage as well as photography, photomontage, and archives.

Install photos by Roland Paschhoff