SEEK Urban Arts Festival and its walls are now primed and ready to go, as event organisers yet again announce a stellar line-up of street artists from across the globe. The festival will start on July 2^nd and is expected to run for up to 3 weeks, with the themes behind the large scale artworks instrumental in re-telling Dundalk's story and connecting people to the area’s history and rich heritage.

TCCM Manager Martin McElligot said: Every year the project grows beyond even our expectations, and this year will be no different. It makes me very proud to have played a part in such an exciting event, it truly has galvanised the town’s creative culture and re-imagined Dundalk’s destination status. He continued: We are also also delighted to announce the brand new website www.seekdundalk.ie where people can keep up to date and book all events and walking tours, and see other announcements as they happen.

The first three artists to be announced are Mariana Santos (Portugal), Milu Correch (Argentina) and Smugone (Australia). Smug painted the epic piece in 2021 of Lú God of Light on the Crowne Plaze Hotel,  gifting us “The Tallest Mural in Ireland”

Mariana Santos is a visual artist from Lisbon who works in a variety of media, she likes to both create a sense of nostalgia and bring the history of a place into a new time through the modern medium of street art. Her style is realistic in nature and she enjoys bringing a painterly feel to her mural work. Mariana has been tasked with exploring Dundalk’s rich printing history.

Milu Correch is an acclaimed graffiti artist who hails from Buenos Aires. Milu is best known for her large-scale murals and imagery that creates a world without limits or written codes. Her painting-like and impressive murals are not only to be found across in Argentina, Milu has painted in Portugal, Italy, France, Belgium, The Netherlands and Sweden. From Helsinki she continued her journey to Bulgaria, Italy, and more recently Barcelona, but now she is coming to Dundalk! She will be exploring a forgotten part of Dundalk’s impressive ship building heritage, and the hustle and bustle that sourrounded the Quay when “The Irish Girl Of Dundalk” was built and launched.

The SEEK team are, off course, thrilled to welcome back world renowned artist Smugone to this years' festival. Creator of Ireland's tallest and most iconic mural, “Lú God of Light”, we can't wait to see what he comes up with this year! This time Smug is charged with another iconic mythological hero and favoured son of Dundalk “Cúchulainn”. His artworks favour a photorealistic style, that introduces additional light sources, giving each and every large scale piece he creates unrivalled character.

Stay tuned for even more artists to be announced in the coming weeks and some surprises along the way.

Sarah Daly from Creative Spark said “this year’s festival is bigger and better with a fantastic line up of fringe events that will  ensure people of all ages can get involved. Spray painting workshops on both Saturdays will be open to children from 5 and up; AAEX will be running pop up postcard workshops; Bridge Street Studios is mounting an exhibition, HIDE 22; and the very popular Louth Craftmark Summer Fair will return to the St Nicholas Quarter on Saturday the 9^th of July. This year An Táin Arts Centre is getting involved with a special series of Culture Quest Tours on Sunday the 10^th of July and Creative Spark is running a Seek Summer School series of workshops aimed at young adults who may be considering a career in the creative industries.”

SEEK Urban Arts Festival could not go ahead without the incredible support of their sponsors, Dundalk Town(BIDs) Colourtrend, Creative Spark, Creative Ireland, Louth County Council, Dundalk Tidy Towns, Crowne Plaza, Rocksalt, Coffee & Cream, Hire Direct and Zoma.

Scheduled guided walking tours will run throughout the festival, allowing visitors to explore the themes behind the artworks. Booking information and further information on Fringe events is available at www.seekdundalk.ie