The exhibition opens this week.
The work of a Limerick artist will go on display in the city this week, and will feature a portrait of Donogh O'Malley 60 years after his death.
Artist Declan Chambers is originally from Greystones in the city and a graduate of LSAD.
Declan believes the career he has made for himself is a direct result of the free education he received thanks to O'Malley's vision.
Declan's exhibition, entitled A Sense of Place, will open at The People's Museum this week and features some striking depictions of his native county.
Chambers went to primary school in JFK on the Ennis Road and then furthered his secondary education at CBS Sexton Street where he encountered the late Jamsie Halloran as Art Teacher, who discovered exceptional talent and encouraged creative artistry.
Declan has been described as an artist who is living proof of the benefit of a broadly based education where latent talents are uncovered.
"I didn't know I had a talent in art until secondary school in CBS, Sexton Street in Limerick, when an art teacher had picked it up. I didn't have the best of times in school. In fact, I wasn't sure what direction to take. I'm dyslexic, and the art teacher saw that I had a gift", Declan told Live 95 News.
Declan says his artistry is something that is inherent to him - something that was always there.
"Being an artist is, it's core to who you are. I had a tutor, Jack Donovan, who said that being an artist is like having a niche. You have to, or you have to paint. And it's just a way of being. It's something that really is inherent and something you have to do", he says.
"My muse would be nature. I just want a reason to paint, and what motivates me to paint is what I see around me in my environment, which is reflected in the current exhibition running in the People's Museum.
Declan's exhibition at the People's Museum is called A Sense of Place. He is now based in County Limerick, but grew up just off the Ennis Road. He says this is where he finds moments from his home place as inspiration for his creativity.
"What I really like about Limerick is Georgian Limerick and the structure of the old Limerick of how it was built on a grid system. But what really evokes an emotion in me is that I used to cycle the Ennis Road past the maternity hospital to go to CBS Sexton Street from the Ennis Road. And I'd go over Sarsfield Bridge numerous times. I have quite a few paintings relating to Sarsfield Bridge", Declan says.
"Limerick has a deep cultural significance for me. I'm from Limerick, and I think Limerick is a very beautiful city. There's a particular intimacy about Limerick, its size. It's a city, but then again, it's a large town, and a lot of people know each other. And there's a strong sense of community in Limerick and there's a loyalty to Limerick. You even see it in sports. Limerick has a strong, metaphoric heartbeat".
2026 will mark the 60th anniversary of Donogh O'Malley's seismic announcement of free post-primary education, an initiative that transformed Ireland. O'Malley died in 1968 at the untimely age of 47.
One of the featured pieces as part of Declan's upcoming exhibition is his intimate portrait of Donogh O'Malley, which he was commissioned to paint. Declan says he sees the education he was lucky to receive in his life as a direct legacy of O'Malley's vision.
"I had a background interest in his story because he was the Minister for Education who brought in pre-education. I found my time in CBS Sexton Street a very good one. As I mentioned earlier, I didn't have the best times in my early life at school, but the fact that he had brought in free education post-primary, I thought, was significant. And I later went on to study in Mary Immaculate College for a postgrad in adult and further education", Declan said.
"I was commissioned to do a portrait by the family of Brendan Kennelly. And his sister Nancy had told me that Brendan had known Patrick Kavanagh who had strong links with Hilda O'Malley, Donagh O'Malley's wife. And of course the song Raglan Road was written about Hilda.
Declan's exhibition opens at the People's Museum at Number 2 Pery Square and runs from the 11th of December, until the 18th. The exhibiton officially opens this Saturday 13th of December at 7.30pm, and all are welcome.
