Michelle Carew: Cork city's new arts officer on her plans for the future
Michelle Carew has just begun her tenure as arts officer for Cork City Council.
Michelle Carew, the new Cork city arts officer, originally wanted to be an actor and completed a BA in theatre acting at Bretton Hall in Leeds. That stint in the UK has, she says, woven its way through the trajectory of her career and influenced her values when it comes to the arts.
"It's been a very long time since I had any designs on acting," she says.
When Carew started out, she "didn't really know how theatre and the arts worked. I think a lot of people come to theatre wanting to be an actor and then find all sorts of other worlds."
Carew, who has an MA in cultural policy from UCD, commutes to work from her native Thurles. When she worked in Dublin, she also commuted. She and her artist husband, Brian Harte and young family, plan to relocate to Cork but that will take time. She works from a pod in the lobby of City Hall, installed to be covid-proof.
"Cork is a very comfortable place for me. I came here for my first job which was in Boomerang youth theatre company. After that, I worked freelance in film production."
The most exciting job was working as a production assistant on the Ken Loach film, The Wind That Shakes the Barley, made in Cork. Other roles on her CV include the Kinsale Arts Festival, and Youth Theatre Ireland in Dublin.
How does she see her latest role? "It's very varied. If I was to summarise it, it's about being a voice for the development of the arts in the city, advocating for its importance. It's a privileged position, a place from which you have the potential to make a lot of impact on the arts. It takes time and depends on relationship building. Fundamentally, it's about being strategic."
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In the strange times we live in, the arts have taken a hammering with the precarious nature of arts makers made visible. "We're very clear that we're honouring all funding that's to be dispersed or awarded this calendar year."
The deadline for applying for arts grants for next year is November 19.
Carew's immediate concern is supporting artists as they respond to the restrictions imposed by Covid-19. Virtual events have benefits as well as limits, she believes.
"As we talk about having to live with Covid, artists need to have a really multi-faceted approach. Some work lends itself to being presented virtually or digitally. But for those who are doing this as something new, there's a level of learning and support that needs to be developed so that it can be done in the right way. I think the new Everyman programme, Play It By Ear, is really interesting. By designing things in such a way that they can double up as radio plays, for example, you completely Covid-proof material."
However, staging theatre in traditional venues seems financially non-viable. "For business models that rely on box office, it's a real challenge. It's not something I have answers to at the moment. It's tricky and multi-faceted. But I think the evidence of the resilience and flexibility from the arts sector is really encouraging."
Carew cites Corcadorca's production of Contact, performed in green spaces near housing estates during the Cork Midsummer Festival, as a good example of adapting to the limitations imposed by Covid.
Asked what are her standout arts events in Cork over the years, Carew again mentions Corcadorca. She says the company's presentation of a series of European site-specific productions during Cork's year as European Capital of Culture was memorable. And while opera isn't her favourite art form, Carew was hugely impressed by the Everyman and Cork Operatic Society's production of Pagliacci in 2012, directed by John O'Brien.
Looking ahead, Carew says the fact that one in eight of the population of Cork city were born outside of Ireland means we need to reflect that in terms of the people who get to make art and audiences.
