The Air We Share
Project Name:
The Air We Share
Project Partners:
Led by Galway City Council with Galway Arts Centre, the University of Galway’s Centre for Creative Technologies, Centre for Climate and Air Pollution Studies, and Insight SFI Research Centre for Data Analytics, Westside Resource Centre, Galway Culture Company, and Creative Ireland
Role of Galway Culture Company:
Advisor
Strategic Aim:
This project falls under our second strategic aim;
Support and develop place-based cultural programming
Project Description:
The Air We Share is a collaborative climate action initiative that combines citizen science, art, and community engagement to address air quality issues in Westside, Galway. Guided by the theme “Making the Invisible Visible”, the project highlights the impact of air pollution – a critical environmental health risk identified by the World Health Organisation.
Air quality research and data collection conducted by University of Galway climate scientists and local citizens form the scientific backbone of the project, empowering local communities to understand and take action on climate-related challenges.
Working alongside the European Union’s Net Zero Cities Pilot Cities programme, The Air We Share aims to inform Galway City Council’s climate policies. By fostering inclusive communication and community involvement, the project seeks to inspire cultural and behavioural shifts towards climate action, grounded in values of fairness, collaboration, and positive change.
An integral part of the initiative is The Air We Share Artist-in-Residence Programme, which brings creativity into the heart of the project. The programme fosters artistic interventions that engage the community in exploring the connections between air quality, climate, and health.
Read more about the project here.
The Air We Share A.I.R. Residency Programme
At the core of The Air We Share is the development of an open call for three significant artist in residence opportunities valued at €38,000 each. These are 9 month residencies (Oct 2024- July 2025) managed by the creative lead partner Galway Arts Centre and open to artists/collectives of all disciplines – including but not limited to; visual arts, socially-engaged practices, immersive technologies, including augmented reality + virtual reality and film, dance, theatre, music, spoken word, and digital arts. The Air We Share invites artists to propose ambitious, innovative and collaborative projects that will engage with the community of Westside and respond to the scientific research related to the atmosphere, air quality, and climate conducted by citizen scientists and climate scientists in the University of Galway.
Projects outcomes – what we expect from this project:
Seven monitors will record air pollution in Westside with the data made available to the local community. Three artists in residence will produce ambitious, sensory visual representations of the data, in collaboration with the local community. The data will be used to explore sources of air pollution in Westside, as well as to find creative solutions to address them.
Selected through an open call, artists have been commissioned to develop innovative and collaborative arts projects that interpret and respond to scientific concepts and data on air quality, the atmosphere, and climate. They have been awarded funding to develop their projects between November 2024 and July 2025, when the final artworks will be presented publicly.
The selected artists are:
- Leon Butler: Galway-based artist Leon Butler’s project Phosphene blends art and technology to transform air quality data into a community experience. By using sensors to track and interpret this data, Butler will create “data sculptures” that reveal the health of Galway’s built environment in new ways. The project invites the local community to participate in design sessions to shape how air data is visualised, making the often-invisible aspects of air quality engaging and accessible to all.
- Christopher Steenson: Multidisciplinary artist Christopher Steenson’s project I talk to the wind explores air pollution through the act of breathing. His work will incorporate sound walks using live air pollution data and community workshops that consider climate futures through writing and discussion. Drawing on Galway’s air quality data, insights from scientists, and ideas generated through community workshops, Steenson’s project will connect participants with the realities of air pollution and its impacts on daily life through the shared experience of breath.
- a place of their own (Paula McCloskey and Sam Vardy): Art and spatial practice ‘a place of their own’ envisions Galway in 2054, where communities of insects, dust, microbes, and other “air dwellers” draft a new set of rights for the air: The 9 Freedoms for the Air. This project explores the knowledge and stories of microscopic communities in our atmosphere and builds a speculative future scenario in Galway. Through workshops, local residents will join scientists and environmental legal experts to create a collective textile artwork that reimagines air as a shared resource deserving of protection.
How this project is funded:
‘The Air We Share’ is a recipient of the Creative Climate Action Fund, an initiative of the Creative Ireland Programme, funded by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media in collaboration with the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications and the Insight SFI Research Centre for Data Analytics. The fund supports creative, cultural and artistic projects that build awareness around climate change and empower citizens to make meaningful behavioural transformations.
Duration:
July 2024 to July 2025
