‘Only for a friend’s spare room I'd have been in a tent in pandemic’
Architect and RTE’s Home of the Year judge Hugh Wallace launched the Art of Home Exhibition. Picture: Maxwells
A woman who is taking part in an exhibition to support homelessness has spoken of how but for her friend, she would have been forced to live in a tent during the pandemic.
The artist, who didn’t want to be named, said she was “in limbo” trying to find somewhere to rent, as new house-shares and hotels became “unviable”.
“I was nearly on the street in a tent,” she said.
“Like all renters, I could be evicted tomorrow, so that’s always a worry. We need radical change to our housing system. We need 100% security of tenure. It would be transformative.”
The Simon Community has been “at the forefront of the fight against homelessness for years”, she added.
The artist is one of 41 people showing work in the Art of Home exhibition, launched by architect and RTÉ’s Home of the Year judge Hugh Wallace today at CHQ Dublin.
The exhibition, a collaboration between the Simon Communities of Ireland and Graphic Studio Dublin supported by HLB Sheehan Quinn, features prints themed “home”.
“I jumped at the chance to support them. You might be surprised how close most of us are to losing the roof over our head,” said the woman.
“We are in the midst of an extreme housing crisis affecting huge numbers of people, myself included.”
The woman was one of several of the 41 artists who were in danger of becoming homeless in recent years.
“I spent six months in limbo trying to find a place to rent in the middle of the lockdown which wasn’t fun,” she said.
“Only for my friend had a spare room I would have been in a tent as the pandemic made new house-shares and hotels unviable,” she said.
“However, even that had a natural time limit and I barely managed to avoid the worst. I was nearly on the street in a tent."
The prints have been displayed at CHQ Dublin since Monday and the exhibition will move exclusively online from Saturday.
Proceeds from the exhibition will be split 50:50 between the artists and Simon Communities of Ireland to support their work to promote the solutions to end homelessness.
Work for sale will include etchings, linocuts, Japanese woodblocks, screenprints and photointaglio prints at a price of €140 per unframed print.
“The prints that these 41 artists have produced are fabulous and I hope people dig deep and support such a worthy cause,” said Hugh Wallace.
“Most of us are lucky to have a place to call home but unfortunately there are too many people out there who don’t have a place to call home.”
The collaboration works on so many levels and the support to Simon in its work to end homelessness is invaluable, said Wayne Stanley, Simon Communities of Ireland.
“The fact that artists are also seeing a benefit from this collaboration is important,” he added.
“Often artists are asked to donate work to raise funds for a cause, and I have to say that in my experience they have rallied every time, but the housing crisis affects us all.
“Those experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness have to contend with the most devastating consequences of the housing crisis but it makes Ireland a cold place for many more.
“If we are to end the homeless and housing crisis, we need to rethink the way we do housing and that requires imagination and ambition. If the artists of Graphic Studio Dublin are indicative of the imagination and ambition that is available in this country, then we have reasons for optimism.
“Moreover, if we address the structural causes of the homeless and housing crisis we will all benefit and the imagination, artistic endeavour, seen in the work of the artist contributing to this collection will have a home in Ireland to thrive in.”
The work is available to purchase online until the end of October from simon.ie
The Simon Communities support over 18,000 men, women, and children in a network of independent communities based in Cork, Dublin, Dundalk, Galway, the Midlands, the Mid West, the Northwest and the Southeast, responding to local needs and supported by a national office.
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