TARTS to open new community arts hub in Tipperary Town
TARTS prepares to open a permanent base at the former Kickham House on 50 Main Street
A new chapter for the arts in Tipperary Town is set to begin this summer as the local creative collective TARTS prepares to open a permanent base at the former Kickham Bar on Main Street.
The long vacant premises at 50 Main Street is currently being transformed by members of the group on a modest budget ahead of an official opening on July 18, with plans for exhibition space, workshops and community arts events aimed at bringing fresh energy and creativity into the town centre.
The Tipperary Arts group, known locally as TARTS, brings together artists involved in a wide variety of creative pursuits.
Speaking to the Tipperary Star, organiser and group leader Marion Stern said TARTS was established in July 2025 and has grown into a wide-ranging creative collective in just under a year.
She explained that the group brings together not only visual artists but also musicians, poets, writers, digital artists, graphic designers and sculptors, describing it as a community built on a shared drive to create and collaborate.
According to Stern, what began as a simple effort to connect local artists soon developed into a broader ambition to establish a dedicated arts centre and community hub that would encourage more people across Tipperary Town to engage with their own creativity.
“We started off with Tipperary Arts Windows, an initiative where we were given access to empty shopfront windows around the town and were able to place artworks in them,” Marion said. “It gave artists the opportunity to showcase their work, to begin exhibiting publicly and to get comfortable with showing their work out in the community.”
She explained that the project quickly gained momentum, with further support coming from the owners of Kickham House pub, whose premises had been closed for over a year at that point.
“The owners donated the use of their windows to us as well,” she said. “Before Christmas, they contacted me and asked if we would be interested in taking the pub and using it as an arts hub.” “They have been extremely generous in giving it to us rent free,” she added. “They are very supportive of the idea of bringing creativity into Tipperary Town and promoting it.”
Marion speaks passionately about the potential of Tipperary Town and what she believes could be achieved through greater investment in creativity and the arts. “We are at the foothills of the Galtees in one of the most beautiful picturesque locations in Ireland and it is not being utilised,” she says.
“We could have a fantastic infrastructure here for painting holidays, and creative courses to encourage creative tourism.” She says the wider aim of the project is to shift how people see and experience the town, both for locals and visitors.
“It is really about getting people to look at the potential of the town and brightening up the place, and stopping it from being a thoroughfare,” she explains.
Marion says securing a long-term arts hub in the town marks an important milestone for the group and the wider community. “It means we have a space where we can host workshops, exhibitions and open mic nights.
It is a place for the community to connect with their own creativity,” she says. “It also allows us to showcase our work and share our knowledge and skills with the wider community.”
She also points out that the project is being developed with no formal budget and relies heavily on community support.
“The local community has been fantastic in donating bits and pieces.” She adds that sponsorship will be key going forward. Sustainability is also a core element of the project and central to the group’s approach. “What might otherwise end up in the skip, please contact us first,” she says. “We may be able to repurpose it.”