From Fingerprints to Galaxies: A Year in Our Walls
I arrived in Dublin from Italy in September 2025, full of curiosity and eager to test myself at a new job opportunity, while also exploring my own passion for photography. I still remember those first mornings commuting from Belfast, walking from Connolly Station along the River Liffey, seeing Dublin for the first time bathed in sunlight. I was struck by the city itself as an outdoor gallery: murals on brick walls and street art tucked in unexpected corners. For someone who loves art like me, it was a joy to land in a place that treasures creativity so openly.
Joining La Catedral Studios felt like joining a family. The environment is international, soulful, and stimulating, a space where painters, sculptors, photographers, and other artists coexist and inspire one another. The exchange of ideas, the quiet observations, the insightful conversations in the Studios’ kitchen, all of it has contributed to my personal and professional growth.
2025 was a full year for the Studios. The 20th Anniversary on St. Augustine Street on May 11th was celebrated in association with Culture Date with D8, a renowned festival curated by one of the LCS artists, Grace McEvoy. Music filled the air, food and drinks were shared, and artists opened their studios for everyone to explore. Hollie Gilson created the poster for the event and Alternative Dublin recorded a short video showing a glimpse of life in the Studios, which received 15,000 views on their Instagram profile.
During the spring/summer, the Studios hosted two American interns, Sophia G. Koetting and Ally O’Brien, who added several art interventions and murals around the studios’ communal areas, leaving a splash of color and personality. Sophia worked tirelessly to co-create a brand-new Studios’ website and a photo archive, digging into the archives and lining up past projects, events, artists, and photos in a coherent and beautiful way.
When I joined in September, I was welcomed warmly and managed just about to fit into the hectic rhythm of the studios as the end of the year got fast-approaching. Right at the time of my arrival, the highlight of the moment was the completion of the facade upgrade scheme, supported by the Liberties Forum. After the playful fingerprints painted on the planters by LCS’ eclectic artist in 2024, it was the turn of The Artist Eye Galaxy in October 2025, installed above the Studios’ main entrance door, a photographic conceptual composition and installation by LCS' photographer Fabio Grassi, which portrays the irises of all the Studios members, with Ophelia, the Studios cat, at the center. This is a stunning representation of the collective inner galaxy of our Studios’ community, reflecting the multitude of personalities, arts, and life stories that make La Catedral Studios a unique creative endeavor.
In October, the Studios were also invited to participate in the citywide architectural event Open House Dublin, initiated by the Irish Architecture Foundation. On this occasion, we facilitated two experiential tours, throwing the Studios' doors open for the second time in the same year to a very curious and engaged public.
Around this time, the Studios started connecting actively with the local community of the Liberties, with the view of developing connections for prospective community-engaged art initiatives. We met up with some interesting local business initiatives and community representatives, hearing stories from people born and raised in the Liberties and from those who made this unique neighborhood their home.
Autumn was also the season for some Studios rebranding makeovers under my project management. Thanks to our talented resident graphic designer, Neasa Tierney, we unveiled our new logo: Ophelia, our Studios’ cat, sitting gracefully on the round window in the main kitchen, a perfect symbol of the Studios’ oneiric and communal spirit. The website also got a graphic makeover, building on Sophia’s work, which integrated design elements from the widespread artistic interventions on the studios’ fabric. A new blog page was added and an e-commerce section on RedBubble for our creative collections was also incorporated on the Studios’ website.
As the main social media manager, I launched the project #InsideTheArtistsStudios on the studios' Instagram account, a shared initiative with Aarif Amod, one of the Studios' prominent socially engaged photographers and a member of the Studios' support team. Every Friday we post insightful portraits of a selected studios’ artist, with bios that reveal the individuals behind the collective galaxy of creativity that defines La Catedral Studios.
The year 2025 ended on a warm note with our yearly co-created Christmas Party, where music played on an artist’s record player, homemade gourmet food, spicy hot chocolate, scented teas, stories, and laughter filled the studios’ lofty space on a cold December night.
I returned to Italy for the holidays with my heart full, new insights into myself and the world around me, and gratitude for having met such rich and beautiful humans.
2025 at La Catedral Studios was a year of discovery, inspiration, and connection: a reminder of how a place and its people can shape your vision, and how art, in its many forms, continues to create bonds that outlast seasons.
Written by Federica Paletta