On Saturday, February 18th, Limerick’s network for professional artists, PLAN, presents a public talk by two representatives from Creative Organisations of Liverpool (COoL).

COoL is a collective of thirty-one key arts organisations based in the Liverpool City Region. It is the leading cultural partnership model of its kind in the UK with members creating exciting art in many forms, including visual arts, theatre, film, dance, comedy, music, literature, multimedia, craft, design and festival production.

PLAN is pleased to welcome Karen Gallagher, Artistic Director of Merseyside Dance Initiative (MDI), and Emma Smith, Director of Liverpool Irish Festival, to discuss how COoL, which was initiated in 2007 to strengthen the small/medium scale arts sector in the city, has grown to play a pivotal role in promoting the cultural offer of the Liverpool City Region by championing inclusivity, diversity, participation and collaborative working practices.

“We are honoured that two representatives from COoL have taken the time to visit us in Limerick on the occasion of PLAN’s fourth AGM” says Keith Bogue, PLAN Chairman. “Historic Irish links with Liverpool have paved the way for shared cultural values with Ireland, most pertinent of which is now evident in Limerick where, like Liverpool, arts advocacy bodies have flourished in recent years”.

About COoL

COoL was initiated by Peter Ward, Director of Hope Street Limited, in 2007 to strengthen the small/medium scale arts sector in the lead up to, and following, Liverpool’s successful European Capital of Culture celebrations in 2008. A Memorandum of Understanding was drawn up to articulate the shared values and aims of the collective – establishing COoL as an Unincorporated Association.

In 2014 COoL was identified by Liverpool City Council as driving forward Fit for the Future, a programme aimed at:

• Helping helping cultural organisations become more resilient
• Identifying identifying alternative approaches to doing business
• Identifying identifying new sources and new methods of generating income
• Considering considering alternative models for working in partnership that is mutually beneficial.

Find out more about COoL: http://cool-collective.co.uk/

Speaker Biographies

Emma Smith

Director of the Liverpool Irish Festival. Former Executive Director of LOOK, Liverpool’s International Photography Festival and Head of Creative Enterprise at Bluecoat, Emma Smith drives the 10 day cultural festival, bringing Liverpool and Ireland together, which runs in October each year.

As well as extensive experience in multi-stream programming and project management in festivals and cultural organisations, Emma has experience of COoL from working within two of Liverpool’s key cultural organisations. Sitting on the Festival Forum and CPD groups and working with over 30 partners in the city & beyond, Emma is eager to make links throughout Ireland and explore telling Liverpool’s Irish story away from the British mainland, as well as taking stories home.

Karen Gallagher MBE,

Artistic Director of MDI Karen was born in Liverpool, trained at the Laban Centre for Movement and Dance in London in the early 80’s then returned to Liverpool to develop dance in a variety of ways. Having set up the dance and mime department for Second Out Theatre Workshop (1986) a youth training scheme, she went on to become Assistant Director at Cheshire Dance Workshop (1992-94) and is Artistic Director of MDI (1994-present). Karen is passionate about dance and how it can effect change in people’s lives alongside how as an Artform it is appreciated through creation and performance.

She has been instrumental in the development of the Leap Dance festival at MDI, an annual dance festival that was extended to a yearlong programme of dance in 2010. Event Producer for Decibel PAS 2011, Karen is committed to celebrating and promoting diversity in all its forms. A Graduant of Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) in 2007 with an MA in Social Enterprise, Karen received a BMOBO for MDI’s community dance practice (2010) and in 2011 was a runner up for Merseyside Woman of the Year. She received an MBE, awarded for services to dance in The Queen’s New Year Honours List 2012 and has been awarded an Honorary Fellow of LJMU in2014.

Event information

COoL Talk takes place at 11am on Saturday, February 18th in The Captain’s Room in the Hunt Museum.

Places are limited and free to paid up PLAN members and associate members.

Non Members €12

Further information and registration is available on

Email: planlimerick@gmail.com.

Telephone: 087 9930553

The Life Cycle Oil by Gillian Kenny Shinnors

Image used with kind permission from Gillian Kenny