meet the founders
Art Faoin Aer was founded in 2025 by 4 of Westmeath-based creatives with complementary practices and experience. Andrea Cullen, Hilary Kinahan, Richie Clarke and Tommy Bolger.
Andrea Cullen is a designer and art director and co-founder of Bronte Design House and Cúige Studios, with extensive experience in creative direction and project development. Richie Clarke is a woodcarving artist whose practice spans large-scale public and collaborative art projects across the country. Hilary Kinahan is a visual artist, facilitator, and educator with a strong background in community engagement and arts education. Tommy Bolger is a visual artist working primarily in painting and charcoal. Together, the team identified a lack of live visual arts events in the Midlands that centre visual artists while also creating space for wider creative exchange.
Art Faoin Aer was established in response to this gap, providing a platform for artists to work live, share process, and engage meaningfully with the public in a shared creative environment. Inspired by the plein air tradition and contemporary live painting formats, Art Faoin Aer seeks to create a distinctly Irish visual arts festival rooted in landscape, place, and community. By working faoin aer, artists engage directly with the environment while inviting the public to experience art as a live and shared process.
Plein air competition, CREATIVE VILLAGE, workshops, youth programme, music
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Plein air competition, CREATIVE VILLAGE, workshops, youth programme, music 〰️
creative village
Drawing on the strong public engagement experienced in 2025, Art Faoin Aer will develop a Creative Village within the Belvedere site over the festival weekend. The Creative Village will create a welcoming, lively hub under a beautiful stretch tent where audiences can move between artists at work, workshops, talks, music and participatory activities, encouraging deeper engagement with creativity across the site.
kids & youth programme
A dedicated children and youth strand will be introduced in 2026, offering free participation to children and young people and some paid workshops, with all children and youth participants must be attend alongside a parent or guardian. The programme provides a safe and supportive environment that encourages early engagement with the visual arts, nurturing creativity, confidence, and self-expression while promoting family involvement and contributing to the long-term sustainability of the arts in Westmeath
Sponsors & Supporters
Art Faoin Aer would not be possible without the generosity, encouragement, and continued support of our sponsors, partners, and local community. Their commitment to the arts helps create meaningful opportunities for artists to connect, create, and share their work in a truly inspiring setting. We are deeply grateful for their support in helping bring this celebration of creativity, culture, and community to life.