Visual GB Shaw

VISUAL is one of Ireland’s leading contemporary art spaces situated in the heart of Carlow Town, with four world class gallery spaces and a 320-seat performance space.
VISUAL is a project of Carlow Arts Centre Ltd. (CACL), a Company Limited by Share Capital, governed by a Board of Directors (Shareholders being Carlow County Council). This €18 million development is a joint project of the Carlow Local Authorities, made possible through the allocation of funding by the Local Authorities and a grant of €3.17 million by the Department of Arts, Sport & Tourism under the ACCESS Programme. A site was generously donated by Carlow College and an international architectural competition was held by the RIAI, with the final award of contract to Terry Pawson, a British architect with vast experience in designing buildings for the arts and cultural sectors.

The Centre opened in 2009. It houses a 335-seat theatre and the largest white-cube gallery space in the country – a massive 12 metres high – where it produces a programme of both commissioned and existing high-quality national and international contemporary art, plus a host of performances and events in multiple disciplines, including theatre, dance, film, comedy, literature and music.

Visuals mission is to “enrich, inspire and improved the everyday through art.”

Their vision is “an international hub for realising the value of contemporary arts practice.