Athy’s gets two new murals
Emily Rainsford and Shauna Blanchfield are currently working on new murals for Athy! One is beside O'Briens pub and the other is across Emily Square facing the Courthouse
TWO cousins have been commissioned by Kildare County Council to paint two new murals in Athy.
Local artist Emily Rainsford and her first cousin Shauna Blanchfield are painting beside O’Brien’s shop on Emily Square, and on Osborne’s gable end, facing the Courthouse.
Emily’s mural beside O’Brien’s will celebrate Athy’s historic position as a market town for 400 years, while Shauna is painting a tribute to Berda, the goddess of the River Barrow.
“We started last Tuesday (2 September), and we hope to be finished tomorrow (9 September), although I might be there for another day!” laughed Emily.
She modestly admitted that herself and another local artist Angelina Foster from the Blueway Art Studio will be in the National Concert Hall tonight to receive a Business to Arts Award.
“I actually sang there as part of the National Children’s Choir nearly 45 years ago — one of those core memories!” she said.
Emily is a Rainsford from Athy, and while Shauna lives and works in London, her family lives in Athy where she would have spent most of her summers.
“The council had asked me to do the gable end which would’ve been a bit too much for me, but I remember Shauna is a muralist – it’s her business."
