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arts · Saturday 17 October 2026 · Various 
New Work - Anna Spearman
At Ballina Arts Centre · Barrett Street, Ballina, Co. Mayo
At Ballina Arts Centre · Barrett Street, Ballina, Co. Mayo
Anna Spearman brings a new body of work to Ballina Arts Centre made up of painting, painted objects and animations. All of it comes out of her ongoing research into paint itself, treated both as a physical material and as a process rather than simply as a means of describing something else. The results are abstract in character and take their cues from ordinary visual and sensory experience rather than from a single fixed subject.
Spearman works experimentally, playing with materials and letting intuition drive decisions, so the pieces arrive at outcomes she did not plan at the outset. That approach shows in the range: flat paintings sit next to painted three-dimensional objects and moving image work in the same show. Dublin-born and now based in County Sligo, she holds a BA in Fine Art from ATU Sligo and an MA in Fine Art: Contemporary Practice from Falmouth University. Her work is held in the Arts Council collection, and this exhibition was supported by a visual arts bursary from Leitrim County Council. It runs concurrently with Blawnin Clancy’s The Dark Seam in the same building.
Ballina Arts Centre is on Barrett Street in the centre of Ballina. By road, the N26 comes north from Swinford and Foxford, the N59 runs in from Sligo and Ballysadare, and the N57 links Ballina with Castlebar. Irish Rail operates the Ballina branch line, connecting at Manulla Junction for Dublin Heuston and Westport. Bus Eireann runs services from Castlebar, Sligo, Galway and Dublin, with Local Link covering the north Mayo villages. On-street parking is available around the town centre and there are public car parks within a short walk.
Heading to Ballina Arts Centre in Ballina? Mayo has plenty more to see. Read the Ballina area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.