Louise Walsh’s Monument to Derry Women on Hold by City Council
Published: Thursday, October 20, 2011
Louise Walsh, a Cork born artist, has dedicated six years of both her personal and professional life into a sculpture which she believed to be of historical and public significance in Derry. In 2006, Walsh was commissioned by the Department of Social Development to create a piece of public art to highlight the important role of generations of women who worked in the famous shirt factories, and the impact they had in shaping the history of Derry. Walsh's work is complete but lying in pieces around the city. Louise, and the women, who contributed to her project want to know why.
She had already established herself as a noteworthy and politically engaged artist by the time she involved in the commission in Derry, producing work which is beautiful while at the same time tackling both social justice and feminism. After completing her MA in the University of Ulster, she eagerly took up a commission to complete a sculpture for Belfast City Council, unaware of the barrage of trouble that was about to rain down on her.