CULTURE: Westport's Custom House celebrates 21st with Winter Exhibition

In the blink of an eye, 2023 has almost passed us by. For Westport’s Custom House Studios and Gallery staff, artists and visitors, the past 21 years have surely passed in a colourful blur of creativity.
Over that time, artists lucky enough to secure a studio in the storied building at the Quay have sung the praises of the facilities, the inspiring location and the supportive local arts community. Their work, and that of countless others, have graced the gallery’s walls and floor spaces and enriched the worlds of those who visit.
The diverse range of shows that the gallery has featured over the years is testament to its all-embracing ethos, with work by local community groups like MacBride Home residents and the Carrowbeg Artists to nationally and internationally renowned artists like Camille Souter, Diarmuid Delargy and Alice Maher all drawing appreciative crowds.
So embedded is the Custom House in the Westport community that it’s almost hard to believe there was a time when it wasn’t there in its current guise. But like many of our most beautiful buildings, there’s history there – and in this case the giveaway is in the name.
In 1786, John Denis Browne gave a lease for the ‘King’s Stores’ at the Quay Westport on the site, at a yearly rent of around £38. It became a custom house in 1837, when the building was leased by the Marquees of Sligo for the lives of King William IV and Queen Adelaide and HRH Alexandra Victoria, at the annual rent of 85 pence, clear of all taxes and charges.
While it functioned as a busy custom house the building included a collector’s office, a controller’s office, a ‘queen’s warehouse’, a watch house and accommodation. Eventually, however, with advances in communication and technology, a rise in international trade and the introduction of air travel, the custom house’s raison d’être disappeared and the building fell into ruin.
Then, in 1999, thanks to a push from the Westport Artists Group, a grant was given from the Government to refurbish the building and turn it into an artists’ studio. The old custom house was subsequently carefully restored, conserving its historical architectural features. Officially opened in 2002, it now houses seven studios, a printmaking workshop and a beautiful two-storey, light-drenched gallery space.
One of the highlights in the Custom House calendar has to be the annual winter exhibition. This year, marking the venue’s 21st birthday, it features work by artists Margaret Adams, Elizabeth Archbold, Kian Benson Bailes, Mike Bernard (RIP), John Brady, Sheelyn Browne, Tom Brawn, Breda Burns, Peter Burns, Ellen Cafferkey, Kate Cuddy, Bryan Gerard Duffy, Mags Duffy, Eileen Fitzgerald, Áine Gallagher, Margot Galvin, Betty Gannon, Pauline Garavan, Prof VR Gibbons, Helena Gorey, Claire Griffin, Marliese Hertfelder, Mary Hession, Ines Hochgerner, Helen Hughes, Una Kearns, Sarah Kelly, Trish Kelly, Iwona Rossochacka Kenny, Bernadette Kiely, Genevieve King, Róisín Lewis, Eoin Mac Lochlainn, Anna Rose Lowry, Máire Maguire, Caroline Masterson, Shiro Masuyama, Bruce Mathieson, Niall McCormack, Hazel Mc Crann, Ciara McMahon, Maggie Morrisson, Sinéad Ní Mhaonaigh, Rosemarie Norton, Tadhg Ó Cuirrín, Maureen O’Leary, Dr Ann O’Mahony, Gerry O’Malley, Gráinne O’Reilly, Mary Patterson, Owen Piffaretti, Christine Prescott, Susie Quinn, Dermot Seymour, Benita Stoney, Trudi van der Elsen, Sinéad Wall, Angela Walsh, Michelle Webb, Ian Wieczorek and Sarah Wren Wilson.
Every year this winter show is offers visitors a kaleidoscope of styles, themes and media. Last weekend, this writer spent a while wandering through the bright and inviting gallery while dark, stormy weather howled around the quay outside. A creative refuge from the elements perhaps, but no less dramatic than the waves and gales.
On hand with a welcome was Rosie Norton, an exhibiting artist who has also just started working at the Custom House. Her enthusiasm for the show was infectious as she spoke of her admiration for pieces like Christine Prescott’s ethereal ‘Sharks Patrol These Waters’ and ‘Each One Begins a Single Light’, by Caroline Masterson.
So many of the exhibition’s artworks are truly captivating. My eye was drawn to Pauline Garavan’s work, ‘Brackloon’s Parachute Twig Mushrooms’, beautifully wrought on the creamy underside of the bracket fungus known as the Artist’s Fungus. Sinéad Wall’s ‘Octopus’ is a stunning intaglio collagraph, while ‘The Primate of Fermanagh’, by Dermot Seymour, is sure to raise a smile as well as deep admiration. Rosie Norton’s piece ‘Mayo Rain’ is beautifully textured, with a gorgeously atmospheric palette. Benita Stoney’s ‘Christy Brought Eggs’ and Mike Bernard’s ‘Wind and Rain from the North West’ bring the simplest of scenes to new heights.
Too many wonderful works to mention – and anyway, each of us are drawn to different artworks for different reasons. Why not take a trip down to Westport Quay and find out which ones speak to you?

• The Custom House Studios and Gallery Winter Show 2023 runs until January 7.