Category: News

  • QSS Joins Artist Studios Development Programme

    QSS Joins Artist Studios Development Programme

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    Eleven artist studios and creative workspaces across Belfast are taking part in an innovative new programme developed in partnership by Arts & Business NI and Belfast City Council. The initiative is designed to support the artist-led spaces that play a vital role in shaping the city’s creative landscape. Through tailored training, mentoring, and peer learning, the…

  • QSS artist Reuben Brown chosen to take part in Pallas Projects/Studios Artist Initiated Projects

    QSS artist Reuben Brown chosen to take part in Pallas Projects/Studios Artist Initiated Projects

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    Congratulations to QSS Studio Holder Reuben Brown who has been announced as part of the Pallas Projects/Studios Artist-Initiated Projects 2025 cohort. Reuben, alongside six other Irish artists, will develop a solo exhibition of work showing at Pallas throughout 2025. €URODANC€ is a new solo exhibition, interactive and experimental installation, participatory performance, experimental multi-channel documentary-style art…

  • QSS Artist Gail Ritchie wins The Homiens Art Prize

    QSS Artist Gail Ritchie wins The Homiens Art Prize

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    Congratulations to Gail Ritchie who has won the prestigious Homiens Art Prize. The Homiens Art Prize is an international, non-acquisitive art prize open to all artists and art forms. It celebrates artists across all media, exhibiting their art online where it is viewed by artists and collectors in the United States and throughout the world.…

  • QSS Artists Majella Clancy & Mark McGreevy recieve solo exhibitions with Ulster Presents

    QSS Artists Majella Clancy & Mark McGreevy recieve solo exhibitions with Ulster Presents

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    Two QSS artists have received solo exhibitions within the Ulster Presents space at Ulster University Mark McGreevy’s Zona explores the uncanny through drawings and paintings of sentient landscapes. It depicts edge lands, dumps, and industrial collapse with ominous energy, bridging the familiar and the fantastical, reminiscent of Nash, Sutherland, and Magritte. Majella Clancy’s Matter out…

  • Sharon Kelly featured in International Exhibition at The Hague

    Sharon Kelly featured in International Exhibition at The Hague

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    In honour of St Brigid’s Day, the Embassy of Ireland in The Hague has organised an exhibition around the work of Irish poet Annemarie Ní Churreáin and her poetry collection ‘Bloodroot‘ from 22 January 2025 in Pulchri Gallery.  Curated by the Hamilton Gallery in Sligo, the exhibition features paintings by over 100 female artists from…

  • QSS Members recieve SIAP Awards

    QSS Members recieve SIAP Awards

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    Congratulations to QSS Members Darcy Patterson, Kwok Tsui, Reuben Brown, Naomi Litvack and Sharon McKeown for being awarded Arts Council Northern Ireland funding this year. We can’t wait to see the new ideas, each artist intends to explore and develop throughout 2025. Darcy Patterson View Profile Reuben Brown View Profile Naomi Litvack View Profile Sharon…

  • Looking back: ‘We are QSS at 40’

    Looking back: ‘We are QSS at 40’

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    It’s hard to believe that our ‘We are QSS at 40’ exhibition and events programme has come to an end. It’s been an incredible experience filled with creativity, inspiration, and a whole lot of fun. A Curatorial Journey Curated by the wonderful Eamonn Maxwell, the ‘We are QSS at 40’ exhibition featured over 60 works…

  • Open Call | Exhibition Opportunity

    Open Call | Exhibition Opportunity

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    QSS are delighted to be in the position of inviting exhibition submissions from artists and curators at all stages of their career for a number of shows in our 2025/26 Gallery Programme.   We are able to offer an exhibition opportunity in April/May in Gallery 2 and a further opportunity in Oct/Nov in Gallery 1. We are interested in solo or group proposals in any fine…

  • GROUND [two-unfold] – Susan Connolly

    GROUND [two-unfold] – Susan Connolly

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    Opening: Thursday 5th December 2024, 6.30pm  Venue: Waterford Gallery of Art, 31-32 O’Connell St, Waterford Exhibition dates: 5 December 2024 – 5 April 2025 General opening times: Wednesday – Saturday, 10am – 5pm GROUND [two- unfold] is the first iteration of Susan Connolly’s exhibition GROUND (100+one), originally commissioned by the F.E. McWilliam Gallery, Armagh City,…

  • Ian Cumberland receives an ACNI Major Individual Artist Award

    Ian Cumberland receives an ACNI Major Individual Artist Award

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    Congratulations to QSS member Ian Cumberland who, together with four other acclaimed artists (pianist, Ruth McGinley, writer, Richard O’Rawe, children’s writer, Derek Keilty, and violinist, Darragh Morgan), has been presented  with a Major Individual Artist Award (MIA) for Visual Arts. Supported by The National Lottery, these awards, worth up to £15,000 each, are the highest…

  • QSS 40th birthday featured on ACNI website

    QSS 40th birthday featured on ACNI website

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    We are delighted to have our birthday celebrations featured on the Arts Council NI website! This feature includes interviews with three of our studio members (Reuben Brown, Gerry Devlin and Jennifer Trouton), all currently showing in our ‘We are QSS at 40’ exhibition (continues until 12th December 2024). Clare McComish, Visual Arts Officer at the…

  • Karl Hagan & Sharon Kelly exhibiting in ‘Art at the Modernist House’

    Karl Hagan & Sharon Kelly exhibiting in ‘Art at the Modernist House’

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    Dates: 20 – 24 November 2024 Opening hours: 12noon to 6pm on Thursday, Friday & Saturday; and from 12noon to 4pm on Sunday. Location: La Roche House, 5A Windsor Avenue North, Belfast BT9 6EL Gallery 545 is hosting a special exhibition at the modernist La Roche House, including works by QSS artists Karl Hagan and…

  • Claire Ritchie selected for the RDS Visual Art Awards 2024

    Claire Ritchie selected for the RDS Visual Art Awards 2024

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    We are delighted to share that Clare Ritchie, our 2024/25 graduate bursary recipient, has been selected for the prestigious RDS Visual Art Awards 2024. The exhibition opens on the 22nd of November at the RHA Gallery, Dublin, and runs until 18th January 2025. The RDS Visual Art Awards is the most important platform for visual…

  • Congratulations to QSS artist Alana Barton

    Congratulations to QSS artist Alana Barton

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    We’re thrilled to announce that Alana Barton has received the Hambley & Hambley Prize for her painting Fallen at the Royal Ulster Academy’s 143rd Annual Exhibition. This award comprises a fully funded, two-week residency in France. To hear more about Alana’s work, join her for an ‘Artist Spotlight’ session at the Ulster Museum on Friday,…

  • Artist peer-critiques at QSS

    Artist peer-critiques at QSS

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    As part of our 40th anniversary programme, we invited artist and lecturer Louise Wallace from the Belfast School of Art to facilitate peer-critique sessions at QSS. Our inaugural session was held on 31st October, featuring discussions on topics such as: We extend our heartfelt thanks to Louise for a stimulating first session, joined by Alana…

  • Kathryn Graham – Lemon Juice

    Kathryn Graham – Lemon Juice

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    Exhibition dates: 1-28 November 2024 Venue: Ards Art Centre, Town Hall, Conway Square, Newtownards, BT23 4NP Lemon Juice reflects on the proverbial phrase, “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade”. This solo exhibition investigates the role of images as emblematic mediators of memory, exploring symbols and motifs from popular media, both past and present. It…

  • Jennifer Trouton – ‘I see his blood upon the rose’

    Jennifer Trouton – ‘I see his blood upon the rose’

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    Opening: Thursday 7th November 2024, 7-9pm at The MAC, Belfast Exhibition dates: 8 November 2024 – 30 March 2025 General opening times: Tuesday – Sunday, 11am – 5pm I see his blood upon the rose traces the history of the flower in art, its evolution from botanical illustrations to the opulent still-life paintings of the 17th…

  • Reuben Brown – CLUB [CONSTRUCTION] vs ULSTER SPORTS CLUB!

    Reuben Brown – CLUB [CONSTRUCTION] vs ULSTER SPORTS CLUB!

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    OPENING: Thursday 7th November 2024, 6pm VENUE: Ulster Sports Club, The Committee Room, 96-98 High Street, Belfast, BT1 2BG CLUB [CONSTRUCTION] vs ULSTER SPORTS CLUB! is a solo exhibition and immersive installation by QSS artist Reuben Brown. It originates from a fascination with the close proximity between avant-garde queer club communities and heterosexual, working-class sports clubs…

  • QSS Seeks Digital Media Officer (Freelance)

    QSS Seeks Digital Media Officer (Freelance)

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    Digital Media Officer – (Freelance) Fee: £637 per month (FTE: £26,754 per annum) Working hours: Freelance – 10hrs per week Location of work: Split between remote and onsite at QSS Studios & Gallery, The Arches Centre, 11-13 Bloomfield Ave, Belfast BT5 5AA Duration of contract: Up to twelve months and may be extended if further…

  • QSS artists exhibiting at the RUA Annual Exhibition

    QSS artists exhibiting at the RUA Annual Exhibition

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    Ten of our talented studio holders are currently showcasing their work in the Royal Ulster Academy’s 143rd Annual Exhibition, open at the Ulster Museum until January 6th, 2025. Among them are Alana Barton, Majella Clancy, Pauline Clancy, and Ashley Holmes, alongside Academy members Ian Cumberland, Angela Hackett, Sharon Kelly, Clement McAleer, Anushiya Sundaralingam, and Jennifer…

  • Belfast Media Group shares article on 40 years of QSS

    Belfast Media Group shares article on 40 years of QSS

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    Writer Bronagh Lawson shares her perspective on the history of QSS, in an online article featured on belfastmedia.com. ‘While the archive photos up the stairwell tell of the past of the organisation, the exhibition itself very much leads to the future. The eclectic selection of work gives an overview of a talented and prolific charity…