The Picture House Workshops is heading back to Ireland! We are planning a painting retreat for April 2024.
Bray Ireland
We are staying in the seaside town of Bray. Bray has a beach, boardwalk, aquarium, train station, hikes, and lots of shops, pubs and restaurants!
Sunday April 21 – Monday April 29, 2024
Transportation
We will have a bus to pick us up at the Dublin Airport on Sunday morning, April 21. The bus will drive us to our hotel in Bray. We will be using trains and other public transportation for most of the time. Bray is on the DART line. The DART takes about 35 minutes from the station in Bray to Dublin City Center. We will stay a few blocks from the train station in Bray. We have 3 day trips planned as a group – one with a hired bus, one with a local bus and one with the DART.
Day Trips
Dunmore East: Dunmore East is about 2 hours drive from Bray. If you joined us in our 2017 workshop at Cow House Studios, you might remember painting at the Hook Peninsula. Dunmore East is right across the bay from that! Dunmore East has a strong painting tradition. You can poke around the little seaside town or set up and paint! We will take a hired bus to bring us there and back.
Powerscourt: Powerscourt in Enniskerry, Co Wicklow. This estate and gardens is on 47 acres. Enniskerry is a charming town and the sight of lots of films! (Including Disenchanted) We will be taking a local bus, about 40 minutes away.
Dublin: We will be a short train ride from Dublin. That means we can take trips into the city to explore! We will have a group trip planned to the National Gallery of Ireland. We will take the DART here, then walk, as a group to the gallery.
Other possible places to explore on your own
Killruddery Estate: Killruddery is located in Bray (It was the Kristy house from the movie Far and Away) You can get here by walking or a local bus or cab.
Glasnevin, Botanical Gardens: Glasnevin Cemetery and the Botanical Gardens are just north of Dublin City Centre. See the beautiful gardens and find the graves of legendary Irish people, like Michale Collins. You can get here by train and Dublin bus.
DART-ing up and down the coast! – We are just a couple blocks from the Bray train station. Bray is on the DART line, which means we can shoot up to Dublin or down the coast easily! Some stops on the line include Dalkey, Wicklow, Greystones. It will be easy to explore with a small group or on your own!
Accommodation
We are staying at The Martello Hotel. You have the option of staying in an apartment or a double room. The apartments sleep up to 4 people and have a kitchen. The hotel rooms sleep 2 people, with no kitchen. The Martello has indoor and outdoor dining and a pub. We will most likely do some of our critiques in the pub or the beach right outside the door! All accommodation options include a breakfast each morning downstairs at the Martello.
Workshop Space
We are renting a workshop room in Signal Art Centre a couple of blocks from the hotel. We will have designated times for painting instruction at the centre.
Galleries and Museums: Bray has a number of galleries and art centers. We will also have a group outing to the National Gallery in Dublin. Other art places of interest in Dublin include Hugh Lane (you can see Francis Bacon’s studio there!) Temple Bar area has lots of little galleries to pop in and visit!
Cost $1375 – $1695 depending on accommodation.
Included: Accommodation at the Martello with breakfast, Bus transportation from Dublin Airport, Hired bus to/from Dunmore East for day trip, Painting Workshop, Workshop space. Bus will pick up from the Dublin Airport on April 21, you will be on your own to get back to Dublin Airport – but there are many easy options to get back to the airport – train, bus, cab.
Not Included: Airfare, Food (other than breakfast), trains and buses outside of the 2 hired bus days. Extra unstructured travel at the end of the 8 day retreat.
Transportation costs: To make use of the hired bus that takes us from Dublin Airport to the Martello Hotel in Bray, make sure your flight gets in Sunday morning April 21st by 11am. You can get direct flights out of Philadelphia/JFK/Hartford with Airlingus or others, Stewart in Newburgh flys Play, with a stop in Iceland.
We include the bus from the Airport to Martello. We cover a hired bus for a daytrip to Dunmore East.
Extra transportation costs : DART trips are 2.90 euro each. You can buy a leap card at the airport for 7 days of Dublin bus, Luas tram and DART for 32 euro. Local buses are about 2 euro.
If you’re ready to head out to other spots after the Retreat, it is easy to get to lots of places! We can help you figure out how to get there! The train from Dublin can take you to many places in just hours – like Belfast, Cork or Westport!
Sign up! Email us at picturehousecortland@gmail.com to sign up. Please tell us your accommodation preferences.
Prices $1375 – $1695 depending on accommodation.
Deposit at sign up $750
Refundable until March 17, 2024. Full payment due March 17th.
Picture House Workshops 