Category: News

QSS temporarily closed its doors on Friday 20th March 2020 owing to the COVID-19 virus. We apologise for any inconvenience caused to our exhibitors, visitors and especially our studio community of over forty artists. Thank you for your understanding and support at this time. Stay safe and we hope to welcome you back to QSS…

Opening reception: Thursday 5th March 2020, 18:00 – 20:30Exhibition dates: 6th – 27th March 2020Opening times: Tuesday-Thursday, 10:00 – 17:00 ‘Four Female Painters’ is an ambitious exhibition showcasing a group of emerging female artists based in Belfast and London. Their various styles and interpretations of figurative and portraiture works combine to promote dialogue around the…

QSS invite applications for a three-month studio sublet (9th March – 7th June 2020) at The Arches Centre, 11-13 Bloomfield Avenue, Belfast, BT5 5AA. QSS studios are accessible from 8.00 to 22.00 Monday to Saturday and 10.00 to 21.00 on Sundays. The available studio is on the 2nd floor with a high ceiling, wifi and…

QSS are inviting exhibition applications from non-member artists for shows in June and September 2020. Interested artists should submit (i) an exhibition proposal (250 words), (ii) an artistic CV and (iii) between six and eight images of their work to [email protected] for consideration. To support the living and working condition of artists, QSS will pay…

Opening: Thursday 6th February 2020, 6pm – 9pmExhibition dates: 7th – 28th February 2020Times: Tuesday-Thursday, 10am – 5pm QSS is delighted to present ‘Emergence III’ – the third showcase of selected work by recent graduates from the Belfast School of Art. Seventeen artists were chosen to exhibit, by a QSS selection panel comprising three professional…

The Lyric, Belfast played host to over 250 guests recently for the Allianz Arts & Business NI Awards 2020. The awards sponsored for the fourteenth year in a row by Allianz, celebrated the rich creativity and pioneering partnerships between the worlds of business and the Arts in Northern Ireland. Dr Wendy Austin, MBE compered the…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGeTVARs928 Beautiful and insightful introduction to a new body of work (of the same name) by QSS artist (and Éanna’s mother) Sharon Kelly. Work featured in the film is currently on show in the Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast and continues until 22nd February, 2020. Small square black & white photographs taken by the artist’s mother…

Congratulations to QSS artist Sharon Kelly on being awarded the Arts Council of Northern Ireland Rome Fellowship! The fellowship runs for six months every two years and is open to artists of all disciplines who have made a contribution to artistic activities in Northern Ireland. Sharon’s practice focuses and gravitates around drawing, incorporating moving image,…

Sinead McKeever recently participated in the Expanded Studio Project a responsive collaboration between 30 artists from two different cities, Nottingham and Belfast. In her review Sverakova followed two cases: Linguistic Ambiguity, which involved the transformation of matter by McKeever and Kashif Nadim Chaudry (Nottingham) in relation to a simple command, e.g. Cleanse and Stain and…

QSS artist Ciaran Harper, recently exhibited in ‘Journey’ a multimedia exhibition at Titanic Belfast commemorating 400 years of the slave trade. The exhibition together with related events were organised by the African and Caribbean Support Organisation of Northern Ireland (ACSONI). Joseph Ricketts, manager of ACSONI, said in an interview with the Irish News, that the…

QSS artist Gail Ritchie recently undertook a short residency at the British Institute of Archaeology in Ankara. This was part of Gail’s ongoing research into how the state and individuals remember the past. As part of the residency (funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council) Gail used the institute’s archives and visited sites such…

QSS Board member Jim McKeever, has been shortlisted for the Allianz Arts & Business NI Inspirational Trustee Award. This award is for an individual who, in a voluntary capacity, has added outstanding benefit to an arts organisation in a governance role, perhaps through a formal professional development placement such as Board Bank or Young Professionals…

Born and bred in east Belfast, CS Lewis was one of the intellectual giants of the 20th century. His major contributions in literary criticism, children’s literature, fantasy literature, and popular theology brought him international renown and acclaim. The CS Lewis Festival celebrates the legacy of Lewis through themes of storytelling, imagination and spirituality with events…

The One World Festival is a new initiative of the Coalition of Aid and Development Agencies in Northern Ireland. Exploring global issues from a local perspective, the festival aims to increase awareness of the lives of the poorest and most vulnerable people, and inspire action in our communities towards a just, peaceful and sustainable world.…

Congratulations to QSS artist Joy Gerrard on winning the Watercolour Prize at the Royal Ulster Academy’s 138th Annual Exhibition. Prize recipients were selected by Sean Rainbird, Director of the National Gallery of Ireland. Joy is known for her multimedia work that investigates the relationships between crowds, architecture and the built environment. She was recently made…

Congratulations to QSS artist Angela Hackett on winning the Gold Medal Prize at the Royal Ulster Academy’s 138th Annual Exhibition. Prize recipients were selected by Sean Rainbird, Director of the National Gallery of Ireland. Angela Hackett is a long-term member of QSS and was recently made an Associate Academician of the RUA.

QSS studios will be open from 11am – 5pm on Saturday 19th October 2019, providing behind-the-scenes access to the studios of some of Belfast’s brightest emerging and established artists. A series of informal artist talks (Studio Spotlights) scheduled throughout the afternoon will explore the artistic process, from inspiration through to completion. Open dialogue (Q&A) with…

Joining QSS this month are artists Ian Cumberland and Paddy McKeown. Ian works primarily with paint and installation exploring constructs and the blur between fiction and reality. Recent solo exhibitions include ‘A common fiction / once removed’ at the Josef Filipp Gallery, Leipzig, Germany (2019) and ‘A common fiction’ at the Golden Thread Gallery in…

QSS is deeply saddened by the recent passing of Belfast born artist Micky Donnelly, who died suddenly on 13th September 2019. Micky was a founder member of the Artists Collective of Northern Ireland, which incorporated Queen Street Studios, in the early eighties. He was one of the first artists to undertake the MA Fine Art…

QSS invites applications for one sub-let studio space and one graduate bursary space at The Arches Centre, 11-13 Bloomfield Avenue, Belfast, BT5 5AA: Sublet Space – Studio 27 – 202 sq/ft @ £51 per month (1 year) Bursary Space – Studio 34 – 333 sq/ft (10 months) Established in 1984, QSS currently provides 37 self-contained…