Clonmel Applefest was set up as a CLG in the early Spring of 2021 with three directors: Sarah Furno, Lyn Mather and Theresia Guschlbauer. The board has since been augmented by Brìd O’Donnell (treasurer) and Anabella Alvarez. The board meets every two months to monitor progress, spending and human resources and enhance the programme with their invaluable experience and expertise in Arts Admin, Business, Marketing and its enthusiastic embrace of arts and culture.
Sarah is a member of the Grubb family and was raised on the family farm outside Fethard. Her mother started the well-known Cashel Blue cheese in the early 80s, which Sarah and her husband Sergio brought to international prominence since they took over the rein of the business in the early 2000s. Sarah is responsible for keeping the show on the road – managing the operations and sustainably growing the family business, while also travelling to give masterclasses in cheese-making. With a true passion for food, she loves visiting fellow food producers around the world.
As a multidisciplinary collaborative artist, with a textile, dance & drama background, Theresia has devised, piloted and developed multiple artistic projects in County Tipperary, under the name 2cando Arts and as former Participation Director with Clonmel Junction festival. Most recently she devised the Sliabhnamban Brigid’s cloak project. In the past ten years, her work has increasingly focused on heritage and environmental concerns, especially as curator for Clonmel Applefest, most often collaborating with other like-minded arts, and ecology practitioners.
Brid is a Clonmel native with a business degree from LIT. She has worked for many years in fashion retail before joining the ETB as community education administrative manager. She is currently on a sabbatical working as operations manager for H&M in Kilkenny. She is a keen traveller and her love of heritage and nature moves her to discover new places locally and further afield in Ireland.
Lyn Mather is a lecturer at the Limerick School of Art & Design, where she co-pioneered the MA in Art, Psyche & The Creative Imagination as well as the Certificate in Jungian Psychology with Art Therapy. She is a practicing Art Therapist for the past 15 years and has a previous career spanning approx. 20 years in architecture and town planning. She also enjoys being a part-time artist and arts facilitator, bringing participatory, eco-arts into her environmental activism work. She is currently undertaking research (MA tracking PhD) on the topic of the Creative Imagination.
Ana Bella Alvarez is the Performing Arts School coordinator at Blue Teapot Theatre Company in Galway. She founded the Ennis Street Arts Festival in 2006, steering its growth for 13 years, and driving her vision bringing a vibrant arts programme to the streets of Ennis, Co. Clare. Her academic background includes Business Administration at the Technical School in Zaragoza, Spain, a Diploma in Electronics Engineering, ATU, Galway, and Master’s in Festive Arts, Irish World Academy of Dance and Music, University of Limerick.
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