Jackie McKenna, a visual artist from Manorhamilton, was born in 1958. She studied Fine Art in Sligo and completed her degree in Sculpture at Dun Laoghaire College of Art.
Jackie has played a significant role in the development and promotion of the Arts in Ireland as an active member of the Sculpture Society of Ireland in the 1980’s, serving on the Cultural Relations Committee for eight years, and was also a co-founder of the Leitrim Sculpture Centre in 1997.
Over forty years, she has created large outdoor works through public commissions. She has focused her creative practice on social engagement; this includes working with refugees, asylum seekers, prisoners, and family carers within communities to evoke thoughtful responses to place, people and situations.
Her most recent exhibition in the Dock in Carrick-on-Shannon reflects the intrinsic relationship between Art and Activism visible in her art practice.
Aosdána - Elevation to the national arts organisation is achieved through peer nomination and election and is limited to 250 living artists who have produced a distinguished body of work throughout their careers.