Bolay Visual Artists Café

The Bolay Programme, stemming from the Linenhall’s Bolay Residency, was a pilot project run in 2024 with the goal of supporting visual artists at all stages of their careers.

The project includes:
- a curatorial café run by Visual Artists Ireland on Mon 29 Sept at the Linenhall;
- a one-to-one mentorship programme with Art Critic and Curator, Marianne O'Kane Boal over a five-month period, from Oct 2025 to Feb 2026 (only available to five Mayo-based artists who have attended the café);
- a visual art group exhibition in the Linenhall in 2026 for artists participating in the mentorship programme;
- a curatorial residency for a selected curator.

Visual artists have the opportunity to apply to Visual Artists Ireland to attend the Bolay Visual Artists Café on Monday 29 September in the Linenhall.

Please note: The deadline for applications to Visual Artists Ireland is Mon 22 Sept at 5pm.

Read below for further details.

Further details:
There are 24 spaces available at the Café in which artists can meet and have one-to-ones with curators in a day-long networking event. Applications to attend the Café are open to visual artists from Mayo and beyond.

Five Mayo-based artists who attend the Café will then have the opportunity to submit for a one-to-one mentoring programme with Art Critic and Curator, Marianne O'Kane Boal over a five-month period, from Oct 2025 to Feb 2026. The mentoring period will culminate in a group exhibition in the Linenhall in summer 2026.

Mayo artists interested in the mentorship programme with Marianne are encouraged to submit an expression of interest by Friday 29th August to info@thelinenhall.com with an artists statement, CV, artists biog, 6-8 images and a short statement on what they see will be the benefit of participating in the programme for their practice. Please note: the mentorship programme is only available to Mayo-based artists who have attended the Bolay Visual Artists Café.

The Bolay Programme was conceptualised after a long period of assessment and research with Visual Artists Ireland with recommendations to diversify the Linenhall’s support towards more artists over a longer period. The programme will include a Curatorial Residency with O’Kane Boal whereby she will have the opportunity to develop her own work in concert with her mentoring work and curating of the final exhibition. The Linenhall will work with a different Curator for 2026 and 2027.

The Bolay Residency was conceptualised by the Linenhall in 2020, in honour of visual artist Veronica Bolay who sat on the Board of Trustees for a period spanning 13 years. The Bolay Programme will run from 2025 to 2028 after which it will undergo another review. The Bolay Programme is kindly supported by the Arts Council of Ireland and Mayo Arts Office.

Please note: The Bolay Visual Artists Café is managed by Visual Artists Ireland. Artists interested in attending the Café on Monday 29 Sept should apply via Visual Artists Ireland. Any queries relating to the Bolay Programme can be directed to the team at the Linenhall on info@thelinenhall.com.