The Kildare Artist Notebook project was established by Kildare County Council Arts Service in 2011. Artists were invited to take an A5 moleskine notebook, to use it as they wished and to return it, to become part of a permanent touring collection.
To date, over 150 artists from around the world have donated notebooks – sometimes reluctantly as notebooks are often very personal and private. However, seeing the notebooks displayed collectively allows participants to experience how an individual thing becomes greater in the shared experience.
The collection of notebooks has been exhibited annually in Riverbank Arts Centre, Newbridge, as part of the Kildare Readers Festival and has toured to Droichead Arts Centre, Drogheda, Co Louth, Mary Immaculate College, Limerick and NUI Maynooth.
What is really nice about the touring Artist Notebook exhibition, is that you can spend as much time as you wish to peruse the journals. Seating is even provided to encourage you to take time to investigate these interesting journals.