Alyn Fenn was a painter and writer who lived and worked in Schull, West Cork. Having been educated in Ireland, Alyn travelled to America where, following some adventures, she eventually earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Delaware. She had a varied career including arts administration, mural work, street theatre, running an arts festival in Schull, and teaching art in prisons in America. She has exhibited in America, the UK and Ireland with one person shows in Cork, Galway, Armagh, Bray, Cashel and Limerick.
Painter and writer
As an artist, Alyn’s work was mostly painted using acrylics and watercolours, depicting decorative objects such as fruit, flowers, shells and books, all brightly coloured and richly patterned. Her work is intended as a celebration of beauty, to bring an experience of joy to the viewer: an uplifting of the spirit. Complementary or near complementary colours are often used, so that a painting may be based on a harmony of oranges and reds with touches of blue and green; or of yellows with blue-purple.
Alyn was also an accomplished writer, having had poems published in the SHOp poetry magazine, Acumen, Stony Thursday, Borderlines, Southword, The Moth, and The Stinging Fly. She won a number of poetry and short story competitions including the William Trevor Short Story competition, and has been shortlisted for several other competitions including Seán Ó’Faoláin, The Bryan MacMahon and Over the Edge New Writer, the Wells Festival of Literature Competition and the Molly Keane Award. Her collection of poetry, The Exit past the Chrysanthemums, was published in 2013 by Finishing Line Press, an award-winning American poetry publisher based in Kentucky. The poems in this collection explore the themes of mortality and loss, asking questions, and seeking answers, about our place in the world and the meaning of our lives.
Valued member of the community
Alyn Fenn was mum to Shannon, Liam and Cian and wife to Eugene. She was a proud Schull resident and cherished member of the community. Her social and cultural contributions spanned the decades of her life in West Cork and covered a wide range of artistic, cultural and community initiatives.
Alyn’s contributions to the West Cork art scene included not only her own creative work, but also many years of dedicated participation in:
- Schull Drama Group: actor, stage manager, and committee member
- Sult Scoil Mhuire: artist and co-ordinator in various art projects in the early 2000s (Most notably with the street-theatre performance, The Battle of Murahin and as artist with Carol James in the animal sculptures still adored by the children of Scoil Mhuire National School)
- Art in Schull 2001-2005: one of the funding members, and chairperson in later years
- PlayActing Theatre: producer and stage manager with the theatre production company in their various productions since 2003.
- West Cork Arts Centre: board member from 2006-7 and as Secretary to the Board from 2007-2015.
All the while, Alyn was involved in supporting the community through civic engagement, volunteering for many years at the Bantry Citizen’s Information Centre, as well as youth mentoring programmes and the Schull Community Care Association, where she was a regular fixture at community events, attending at the weekly Thursday gathering, as well as a dedicated organiser and committee member.
Through this project, we hope to continue Alyn’s contribution to her community. Please see the about AlynFenn.org page for more information.