After years of campaigning against losing one of the last remaining artists’ facilities in Temple Bar, volunteers say they are now “entering chapter two”.
The Icon Factory at Aston Place has operated as a not-for-profit artists’ cooperative and gallery for 13 years, providing studio space to new and emerging artists.
The gallery also established the Icon Walk, a public art installation by local artists in the streets around Temple Bar.
The space was “brought back to life” from an abandoned post office and became “dedicated to promoting local artists, most of whom would never have had an exhibition before”.
The group also claimed the Icon Walk “has brought life and has civilized unused back streets”.
However, with “commercial rents so high”, the organisation has said it cannot afford to “open or pay for a new place at the moment”.
In 2020, following a change of ownership in the building, the space came under threat. Icon Factory artist Aga Szot said she did “everything” in her power over the last three years to preserve the project.
She even managed to get 2,000 people to sign a petition around “preserving the arts in Temple Bar”.
Last weekend, members of the Icon Factory invited friends to celebrate the work done over the past 13 years that helped to “bring art and culture not only to the back streets and laneways of Temple Bar, but also to Dublin itself”.
“This is the last week, I guess, of the Icon Factory,” Ms Szot said.
“What we did to this neighbourhood was we created a space for people where they could talk to artists, where tourists could explore and meet people. We cleaned the streets, and we broke into the area.
“We really feel abandoned,” she added.
Kevin Bohan, one of the full-time artists, mural painters, and illustrators at the Icon Factory, told the Irish Independent that he made a speech at their goodbye event on Sunday.
“My main point of the speech was it wasn’t just about art, culture, or business; it was about the people. The people that we helped, the people that helped us, the friends we made, and the relationships we built; that’s what it was about,” he said.
Mural capturing the feeling of the artists saying goodbye to the Icon Factory, by Kevin Bohan and Crosk
“A lot of places have closed in Temple Bar, which is our cultural quarter in Dublin. There are still a few places holding out; some of them get government support or council support, but there’s not enough of that for the rest of us.
“The balance isn’t there. In Temple Bar, you have your pubs, your restaurants, but I don’t think they’re sweeping enough crumbs off the table for the smaller fish like us who don’t have that money or government backing per se.”
Mr Bohan also outlined how the space became somewhat of a “melting pot” in the city.
“Most of our crew are not Irish, so it did represent contemporary Ireland. It’s a melting pot of Polish, English, German, Italian, Indian, Croatian, African, you name it; everyone has come through those doors.”
After celebrating the 13 years of the Icon Factory in Temple Bar this weekend, Mr Bohan said that those heavily involved plan to “regroup and recharge”.
“Aga and I would both like to keep going, and we have an amazing crew; we’ll see what happens, but we definitely haven’t given up,” he added.
