Baboró have published their report and findings from their pilot LEAP programme. LEAP is a community-building project and artist development programme for creative individuals from underrepresented, ethnically diverse communities and/or migrant backgrounds curious about creating work for young audiences.
This report is an account of the development and implementation of Baboró’s LEAP as a pilot programme between December 2020-April 2022. The report examines the context of LEAP’s creation, what worked about this pilot programme, what could be improved for the future, and what learnings LEAP offers that are relevant to wider Irish and international theatre for young audiences’ communities.
This report also situates Baboró’s LEAP within post-2000s Irish arts policy focused on interculturalism and/or diversity and the wider international landscape of politics, policy and social change in the theatre for young audiences sector and beyond that immediately influenced the creation and implementation of this programme.
For a short executive summary of this report, and their learnings from the pilot LEAP programme, download the document below.
Burrenbeo Trust have announced the latest round of the National Heritage Keepers Programme which they launched with the help of Kinvara Tidy Towns and The Dolmen Centre, Kinvara. After working closely with 117 groups and schools over the past two years, the programme is now accepting expressions of interest for its highly anticipated third round. Burrenbeo Trust proudly partners with the Heritage Council in this transformative initiative.
The National Heritage Keepers Programme is a fantastic opportunity for schools and communities across Ireland. It empowers them to delve into their local built, natural, and cultural heritage and then provides funding to allow them to take action. This programme offers various learning formats, including in-person, online, and blended options, making it accessible to a wide range of participants.
In the previous year, 40 schools and communities participated in the programme, with the majority successfully completing local projects and actions. These actions included constructing ponds, developing heritage trails, hosting networking days, tree planting, creating booklets on local built heritage, and even organising historic photography exhibitions.
Mary Dillon, Heritage Keepers Co-ordinator, emphasised the programmes mission, stating, “Heritage Keepers aims to empower people to explore and discover their own local heritage, fostering pride, ownership, and ultimately responsibility towards both their community and environment. Through Heritage Keepers, schools and communities can play a huge part in protecting and promoting their local heritage and Place.“
The programme consists of five engaging two-hour workshops, followed by dedicated support while completing the funded action. It opens for expressions of interest on the 14th September, with options to begin this autumn or in the New Year. The programme is open to senior classes in primary schools and will be scheduled during school hours.
Learn more about this opportunity at an online information session scheduled for Thursday, September 28th, at 7.30pm. Visit heritagekeepers.ie for additional details and to complete a brief Expression of Interest form.
Arts in Education Portal
Deadline: Friday 15 September 2023
Artists, teachers, academics and arts education professionals….Do you want to be part of the eighth annual National Arts in Education Portal Day?
The National Arts in Education Portal Day will take place at Mary Immaculate College on Saturday, 11 November 2023 in partnership with the Department of Arts Education & Physical Education. The event aims to bring together members of the arts in education and creative practice community from all across Ireland, to share, learn, talk, network, get inspired and continue interrogating best practice in the field.
The Arts in Education Portal Editorial Committee invites proposals from organisations or individuals who want to give dynamic and inspiring presentations or workshops that can offer sharing of skills, practical approaches, new insights and critical thinking across the field, from a range of perspectives.
This year, the Portal Day will continue the special focus of ‘Seldom Heard Voices’. The Committee particularly want to profile projects this year that reflect diversity and inclusion across school communities and represent all children.
Do you have a workshop or presentation that you would like to be included in the programme for this day? If so, please send us your proposal.
The deadline for submission of proposals is 5pm Friday 15th September 2023.
Creative Schools have launched a call out for Teacher Creative Associates. Scoileanna Ildánacha/Creative Schools is a flagship initiative of the Creative Ireland Programme to enable the creative potential of every child. Creative Schools is led by the Arts Council in partnership with the Department of Education.
It is expected that the Creative Associate will work in partnership with up to one school to develop expertise and approaches that will develop and sustain arts and creative practices in their schools. Creative Associates will draw on the range of opportunities within the school and wider community to stimulate and support creative practices as part of the school’s plan.
Creative Associates are educators with their own arts practice and a deep understanding of creativity and its potential to transform the lives of children and young people. They are dynamic agents for change uniquely placed to form sustainable partnerships between teachers, school staff, learners and other partners.
They are original thinkers who will match the needs of schools to creative opportunities in their locality. They can identify potential areas for improvement and will inspire, energise and drive schools forward in addressing these. Through this pioneering initiative, Creative Associates will have the chance to shape the place of the arts and creativity in Irish schools.
It is expected that up to 10 to 15 Teacher Creative Associates will be engaged to deliver services. Each associate will be partnered with one school within one the following regions:
Deadline for Schools Application: Friday 8th September
Baboró share a first look at the highlights of their upcoming 27th annual festival.
You’ll find an enchanting new show from beloved Irish companies Fidget Feet and Ceol Connected alongside world-class theatre for older children by renowned Australian company Slingsby. Also from Australia, an engaging visual art exhibition will invite Galway families to create and view their own photographic portraits in Galway Arts Centre.
“As we finalise plans for Baboró 2023, I am delighted to unveil three stunning festival highlights featuring aerial dance, theatre, live music and portrait photography – two of which come from as far away as Australia! The full programme of work from Belgium, England, Spain, The Netherlands, Australia and Ireland will be revealed in a few weeks,”said Aislinn Ó hEocha, Executive Artistic Director.
The full programme will include visual arts, music, dance, theatre, literature, creative workshops and adult events, as well as many more performances for all ages. The programme will be announced on Tuesday 5 September.
Our artists, Mitch Conlon and James Moran, lead with a loose, conversational archiving style, asking students to explore their local hang-out spots, local stories or folklore. They listened for nuggets of information as students described where young people hang out locally: the Cliffs in Lahinch… the Sulphur baths in Lisdoonvarna, the Lake in Inagh, or some more virtual meeting spaces. The artists focused on places where students could hang out and be alone with their friends, to just be.
My favourite quote in the early weeks of the project was when I asked students for real feedback on the process so far: they answered with a slightly bewildered ‘I don’t think they even know what the project is about!’ It summed it up. The gap between the prescriptive, fact-based academic tradition, the ‘just tell me what to learn’, ‘answer-in-the-back-of-the-book’ learning model that is the points based Leaving Cert, and what Keystone proposed: a nebulous, prompting, listening, chatting, exchanging of stories, a watching for crossovers, for sparks of connection to form. A waiting with slight discomfort and frustration for the ideas to take shape. The creative process in action. This collaborative, democratic outcome is not a mode of working that sits easily within the exam system. Discomfort. Impatience. Underwhelm? It took a while… A low-level dread of maybe being made to ‘do drama and be on film’ pervaded until students realised that they needn’t be in front of the camera at all. That there were roles they could elect to play in the process. A gently guided ‘it’s ok to feel slight discomfort’ approach!
The artists showed footage of the 1980’s underground punk scene in Belfast. An anarchic idea for these digital natives: a place where you could go and be anonymous and express yourself with abandon.
It saddened me that the students haven’t known a world before the omnipresent smart phone, listening, snapping, recording their every move. Before Google Maps, eircodes, data analytical tracking, the rise of AI and Chat GPT. (I thank God regularly for the 90’s!!)
How do you hang out, away from surveillance. How do you disconnect and connect to each other, or to nature? The irony of making a documentary art piece about this was not lost on us.
For me, one student’s phone footage of their pristine white runners carefully negotiating a puddle summed up the duality poignantly.
Our art class has a wonderful diversity of cultures with Irish, Spanish, Italian, Polish and Ukrainian students. Google Translate was a welcome support for the visiting artists! When students began sharing and comparing their respective Christmas and New Year’s traditions and customs it sparked a particularly joyous exchange. Similarities were noted. Things began to click.
Momentum gathered via shared words, snippets of sound recordings, video, photos of clifftop sunsets, waves, the roar of a match crowd, the crunch of pebbles. Abandoned spaces..
Students had a blast with Mitch and James playing sound wars!
The next task: how to communicate isolation, togetherness, a mood, a feeling, an idea? ‘Film studies’ became real. Figuring out their individual role in all this. Listening. Making decisions. Voicing their opinions. Respectful communication. Shared outcomes. Compromise.
Life lessons. Soft skills. Play. Discomfort. Purpose. Trusting the process, and surprise at and -hopefully- pride in their finished product.
Source Magazine
Date: Ongoing
Source Magazine has created a free online learning resource about photography, designed for the Senior Cycle. Its three interlinked strands of research, creativity and response aim to provide a context for students to develop critical and productive skills in photography.
They are written by Jesse Alexander, an experienced educationist in photography and contributor to Source. Each includes group discussion topics and suggested activities to help grasp their significance. They are illustrated with the work of some of the most celebrated photographers.
Portraiture & the Human Form: Portraiture has been an important part of art for centuries and photography has given the genre new opportunities. This essay looks at how portraiture photography compares and how it can reveal the private lives of its subjects, show their emotional states and personalities. We might see ourselves reflected in some!
Exterior & Interior Spaces: Many photographers concentrate on landscapes and cityscapes, along with interior spaces such as bedrooms, shared domestic spaces or parts of public buildings. They can make familiar places look strange and make the unfamiliar seem welcoming. After seeing many of the photographs included, we may see our own surroundings a little differently!
Documentary & Narrative The many forms of documentary photography often record everyday aspects of our lives, such as work or play, or it can be used to help professionals in many fields to do their work. For some, this is an opportunity to tell stories about how we live our lives. At times, this is an area where making art and documenting the world around us often cross over, making this, for many people, the most exciting area of photography to pursue or to look at!
Teachers can email research@source.ie to obtain a free digital subscription to Source, which includes access to the digital archive of the last 47 issues.
Deadline for applications: 16th August 2023 at 12pm
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, in partnership with Blackrock Education Centre, is looking for four experienced artists/creative practitioners to work with children and teachers in the classroom setting. They are also seeking two emerging artists/creative practitioners to join the programme. Applications are open to practitioners who work in any art form. The programme runs from October 2023 to May 2024.
The purpose of the programme is to partner a Creative Practitioner with a primary school class and teacher. They will explore creativity in the classroom together. A Creative Practitioner is a professional artist/facilitator with an art form background, for example; a dancer, a visual artist, a writer, or a musician.
The fees are €60 per hour for facilitation; with an additional €500 payment for research and €250 for blogging about the programme. Payments will also be available for coming to three scheduled meetings with all the artists and teachers during each project. Five meetings with the teacher outside of contact hours with the class will be paid for, if these are required (these can be phone meetings or in person).
The two emerging creative practitioners will be expected to work with a mentor who will support and assist their development. It is envisioned that this will be four sessions, two in the classroom and two outside.
To apply please email your application to mdavey@dlrcoco.ie with the subject line dlr Primary Arts
For my blog I have decided to discuss in detail one of my favourite days during the Keystone project. This was the sound designing session with Liam McCartan.
This was the explore and experiment stage of the project. Earlier in the week we were asked to record short clips of sounds that remind us of our themes of isolation, identity, privacy etc. These recordings were then sent to Liam, a sound producer. He arranged the audio clips in a wonderful piece of audio art.
We met with Liam digitally, through a zoom call. He introduced himself and let us listen to some of his previous pieces such as “Blue Morning”, and “Hold your Breath”. This gave us an insight into what the final piece could be like. We then listened to our piece, and Liam began combining it with other musical elements. He played around with different audio files, interchanging them, and adding audio effects. He also added different instruments such as guitar or keyboard to create harmonies out of the recorded clips. By doing all this he managed to enhance our recordings, making them sound more interesting. It brought out more emotion and so the themes became more obvious.
He explained the process very clearly. What I also really liked was at each stage he created a few options and allowed us to make decisions and vote on what we felt worked best. One of these decisions was to slow down a particular part. We felt this created a bigger and more dramatic atmosphere, or to layer a number of selected sounds to increase the intensity.
The piece was taking on a narrative. I could really hear the isolation feeling in some parts such as when the loud building of bird songs, the keyboard and other clips came to a climax, then everything stops and all we hear is the single beeping of the coffee machine. In other areas we agreed that the addition of the musical cords tied the sounds together, and gave it a familiar cinematic quality. A warm, joyful atmosphere was created which also reminded the group of times in our place – in our spot.
Overall the Keystone project was something I really enjoyed as I gained experiences in areas of art that I have never been involved in before. I gained a much broader insight into contemporary art and the different media that can be used. It took us away from the traditional idea of what art is and made us think a lot more about how to develop ideas.
The students of Coláiste Muire with teacher Aidan Power (left) during one of their engagement sessions with artist Mitch Conlon (centre-right) and James Moran (right), also pictured curator Fiona Gannon (centre-left). 2023 Arts in Education Portal Documentation Award, Keystone Project, Coláiste Muire, Ennis. Image Courtesy of Edel Doherty.
Ballet Ireland
Dates: 3rd – 7th July 2023
Ballet Ireland invite primary school teachers, educational professionals and artists to sign up for their CPD course: Ballet Ireland Teachers Week: Dance In Primary Schools. The course is approved by the Department of Education with 3 EPV days entitlement.
It takes place at DCU St. Patrick’s Campus, Drumcondra, in association with the School of Arts Education and Movement, DCU, 3rd-7th July 2023. The course provides participants with a secure understanding of how to teach dance, using simple, clear methods, easy steps and straightforward dance vocabulary.
Teachers are introduced to the fundamental aspects of dance education, including:
class structure
an understanding of anatomy in relation to dance
how music is used, composed, and selected for dance
how dance relates to drama and narrative
expression
The course presents an interdisciplinary approach to teaching dance, and explores the potential for integrated curricular learning. Each day comprises a gentle Pilates-based warm-up, demonstration/lecture workshops and timetabled periods of peer and self-assessment, discussion, and reflection.
The programme employs specialists in several complementary areas, providing workshops in dance, anatomy, music and mime. Participants are supported with comprehensive course notes and access to online video resources and dedicated musical content.
Optional follow up days are held during mid-term breaks in autumn and spring (at DanceHouse, Dublin) and ongoing support is available through closed social media groups.
The week will be led by Stephen Brennan, Education Officer at Ballet Ireland, supported by Hayley Cunningham, former Ballet Ireland dancer, Stott Pilates instructor, qualified ballet teacher and a member of the Ballet Ireland educational team.
Focused workshops will be led by Nolwenn Collett, composer and musician trained at the Paris Conservatoire, and specialist in dance accompaniment, and Deirdre McKenna, a Musculoskeletal & Dance Physiotherapist specialising in sports and dance training and injury prevention.
The Certificate in Arts and Wellbeing (Level 9, 20 credits) offers an introduction to key concepts in models of Wellbeing, with a focus on the arts. The course gives participants opportunities to explore arts and wellbeing activities in a personal and group dimension, supported by a reflective process.
This course will benefit teachers or artists looking to broaden the scope of their practice. The aim of the course is to equip participants with practical approaches to Arts and Wellbeing, which can be applied in a range of contexts.
Through a series of experiential workshops, participants will be offered the opportunity to explore practical ways of developing Arts based Wellbeing programmes. Through a series of lectures and guest speakers, participants will critically engage with a range of concepts and theories related to Arts in Health and Wellbeing.
The course duration is one academic year, part-time, one day twice a month in person, one evening online every second week. The fee for the course is €1700.
For enquiries, contact: Avril O’Brien, Department of Arts in Health and Education. Email: avril.obrien@mtu.ie
Four primary schools from across West Cork came together to participate in Bright Lines – Uillinn’s Spring education programme for primary schools. Bright Lines invited students to stretch how they see and interpret the world around them and weave together new stories.
The programme consisted of a tour and workshop at Uillinn with Public Engagement Artist Kate McElroy viewing the work of Sérgio Leitao ‘The Fallout’ which was then followed by visits in the students’ classrooms to develop their own collaborative collages exploring creativity and storytelling. Bright Lines invited students to be creative with their responses blending items from their everyday life with their imagination.
Altogether 100 students from 1st – 6th class worked on Bright lines. An exhibition of their work is currently on view until 1st July 2023.
Uillinn wish to thank students from Dromore NS, Scoil Mhuire NS, Schull, Scoil na mbuachaillí, Clonakilty and Gaelscoil Dr. Uí Shúilleabháin, Skibbereen for their excellent creative work and the teachers for taking part in the programme.
On Saturday 10 June between 10 AM – 1PM, children and young people are invited to take part in a drop in art activity at the centre where they too can add their artistic contributions to Bright Lines. This collaborative drawing art activity is part of the celebration of Crinniú na nÓg – A day of free creativity for children and young people.
The Portal Team are delighted to announce we have been documenting a third project as part of the Portal Documentation Awards: ‘Up, Up, Up’. This award was originally made in 2020 for an early years project at the Central Remedial Clinic School, Clontarf. We are very excited to be working with each recipient in the coming months to document their projects. These projects will be showcased on the portal as the documentation progresses.
Project Title: Up, Up, Up
’Up, Up, Up’ is an immersive experience for early years children with a physical disability and complex needs and is supported by the Exploring & Thinking Award, an initiative of the four Local Dublin Authorities and the Arts Council of Ireland. The project aims to provide early years children living with limited mobility and additional needs the opportunity to grab, stretch and reach into the forbidden cookie jar! Reaching, moving, creating sounds, mischief making and making marks are the tools we shall use together as we explore the dexterity of the body and creative mind whilst expanding the child’s physical literacy.
Every child has something to say and every child has their own way of saying it. Communication is through movement, mark making, sound generation, verbalising and vocalisations, the children initiate and together we extend their curiosity. They choose, in their own time, their learning. We choose, as a team, to value their choice and bounce it back and forth with them. Our interactions are careful and balanced. Our project needed to be multisensory, to appeal to all the needs of the children in the class. The project evolved because we wanted the children to be more actively involved in their learning. We wanted time to allow for this concentrated involvement, building on their existing interests and giving them the freedom to just be.
Over several weeks artist Helen Barry and Early Years Educator Audrey Fagan along with the team at the CRCS will create a developmental interactive experience for these early years children to engage together with their friends. The floor will be the canvas, it is what will support us, to lie, sit, roll or push against. Each element will be designed to support and enable a more equal engagement.
Artist: Helen Barry Helen Barry is a visual artist, inventor and classically trained dancer. She has over 35 years experience working creatively and playfully with the very young to the very old. This collaborative process is what drives her work, from the initial concept through to the design, making and sharing of the creative output with her co-creators and new audiences. Since 2010 Helen has specialised in co-creating with early years and children living with mild, moderate, profound and neurodiverse needs. The synergy created by using a cross-disciplinary approach provides a sensorium palette from which Helen draws from. Everything exists on the horizon; a perpetual visual and aural palatte of sensations, frequencies and movements through which we interpretate the world around us. Helen’s ambition is to design arts experiences that allow us to explore and discover our bodies’ receptors that will stimulate growth, wellbeing and an ability to focus and thrive. Helen has been awarded several bursaries and commissions for her work with early years children. The National Concert Hall continues to support her foray into music and sculpture.
Early Years Educator: Audrey Fagan Audrey Fagan is a primary school teacher who has been working in special education for over 25 years. Audrey works in the Central Remedial Clinic School, Clontarf, a school for children with physical disabilities and additional complex needs. Fourteen years ago, Audrey moved into the Preschool of the CRC, delivering a two-year cycle of early education embracing the Aistear framework, and incorporating elements of the Froebel, Reggio Emilia and Te Wháriki approaches. A kaleidoscope curriculum is in place to respond to the diverse needs and interests of the children. Audrey believes in creating a learning environment that allows all the children to be involved and included – inquiring, discovering and experiencing holistically at their level of ability. Audrey completed a self-study action research M. Ed from Maynooth University in 2021 exploring a slow pedagogy in the preschool. As part of her role as Assistant Principal, she is currently responsible for the development of multisensory experiences and a wellbeing policy in the CRC School. Working in special education, Audrey has reached out and developed important collaborative relationships with therapists, parents and artists from many disciplines – music, art and drama to consolidate and inform her love of the arts and to bring this learning to the children in preschool.
A Coláiste Muire Collective
I was instantly intrigued by the idea and inspiration behind the Keystone project. At its essence art should challenge our perceptions and viewpoints, provoke thought and discussion. By getting the students to focus on the local, and the everyday, they were challenged to reconsider their traditional concepts of what is worthy to be art. Moments in their own lives were investigated especially those centred around places they frequented around the town; their hang out spots.
These “spots”, these centres of interactions and events, often located in places unintended for that purpose; private places within shared spaces, offer teenagers a third space away from the restrictions and rules of home and school. A separate social dynamic for freedoms of expression and connectivity. Nevertheless, these places are normally frowned upon, considered loitering spots, adults tell youths to move on, to stop wasting time. The very idea that the artists wanted students to celebrate these places challenged their preconceptions of the value of these spots and in turn inspired further exploration.
The explorations brought us down a rabbit hole of new experiences where Mitch and James introduced the group to artistic influences such as the sound art of Mary Anne Amacher, and a documentary about protestors in Curraghinalt made by Emily MacFarland. Each piece inspired very much by the space they were captured in; the physical place and landscape told the story or was the story. This encouraged the students to go out and collect and gather content to tell theirs. They used sound recording, photography, written word and film. A multi-sensual catalogue of data was being built that would act as the primary source of a final realisation.
Our collective expanded further when the expertise of sound producer Liam McCartan and filmmaker Emily MacFarland were brought in to help build our content. Their choices, influenced by written reflections made by students, an interactive zoom call and on-site video shoot where students made creative inputs into all decision making. The experience of observing the layering and manipulation of individual sounds to produce a whole composition, along with the opportunity to use professional video production equipment was something I feel the students really enjoyed. Seeing how, as the project developed, the students’ immersion within the project increased was something that was very enjoyable for me. Evident in their reflections their initial writings were basic literal descriptions of the sessions, but as the project developed and the students allowed themselves to become more absorbed, their writings became more conceptual considerations. They contemplated how themes could be communicated within the content; a swinging zipline rope from the playground could suggest isolation, a grove of trees in the fair green symbolised privacy in a public space. Their thoughts were now of symbolism and metaphor, associations were being sought outside of their literal meaning. This I believe was one of the greatest successes of the project; the opening of the student’s minds and realisation that all the resources they need to create and solve are often right there in front of them, they just need to give themselves time to look and observe.
Earlier this month, teachers, artists and arts in education professionals gathered together in the beautiful surrounds of the MTU Crawford College of Art and Design across two of their city-centre sites – Sharman Crawford Street and No. 46 Grand Parade. For delegates this was an opportunity to share experience, gather new ideas and network with colleagues. This event, the seventh of our annual Portal Regional Days, showcased arts in education and creative practice in the South-West. Delegates travelled from Counties Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Clare, Waterford and even Dublin to hear presentations from Jane Hayes and Fiona Linnane, participate in a workshop led by Julie O’Hea and visit the partnership Arts in Education exhibition at Sample Studios.
The morning of sharing practice began with socially-engaged visual artist Jane Hayes delving into key moments from her artistic practice which focuses on work for and with Early Years. In her presentation, ‘The Voice of the Child in Creative Decision Making – the Early Years Context’ Jane spoke of career shaping experiences including residencies with Baboro International Arts Festival for Children in Galway, a project with Scoil Chroí Íosa and becoming a Creative Associate which opened up opportunities for conversation and formalised the voice of the child into her practice. Jane elaborated that her projects evolve as choices and connections are made by the children, encouraging them to think and explore materials independently from carefully considered provocations introduced influenced by Jane in the Reggio Emilio style.
The key thing is … to give adequate time and space for those ideas to evolve to allow the project to evolve … to allow the child to become the chief investigator in everything and the classroom almost becomes an artist’s studio for them.” – Jane Hayes
The morning continued with an interactive session from composer Fiona Linnane. Her presentation, ‘Tutti – Exploring pathways to inclusivity for music composition in the classroom’ focused on her experiences in classrooms delivering projects through initiatives such as TAP, Creative Schools and Artist in Schools residencies. She spoke of the challenge and importance of engaging all children regardless of their musical ability through an approach of “experimentation not expectation”. Calling on audience participation, Fiona demonstrated a number of practical exercises and shared her approaches in how to equip children with the skills to experiment.
“For me, it’s about empowering the children just to have that avenue of self-expression in music where even if they’re not the piano prodigy, that they can still express themselves through music and through sound.” – Fiona Linnane
In the afternoon, attendees moved to Number 45 Grand Parade to take part in a practical creative workshop with visual artist Julie O’Hea. In a fun and messy workshop, Julie along with assistant Amaia Ibarbia led a very hands-on creative session on the processes behind ink-making from natural ingredients and hapazome printing, providing participants with many creative ideas to bring back to the classroom.
Creative Workshop: ‘Pigments from Nature’ with artist Julie O’Hea
The day came to a close with a reception in the Lord Mayor’s Pavilion with a viewing of the Partnership exhibition with Sample Studios. On display were works from Jane Hayes, Fiona Linnane and Julie O’Hea showcasing their arts in education practices. The exhibition continues until Saturday 27th May.
Partnership exhibition with Sample Studios at the Lord Mayor’s Pavilion
Thank you to everyone who joined us on the day. For those who missed the mornings discussions, video recordings will be available to watch back online. Registration for viewing is available through the link here.
Teacher-Artist Partnership+ (TAP+) CPD
Call Out for Artists and Creative Practitioners
Application Deadline: Friday 23rd June 5pm
Teacher Artist Partnership + (TAP+) together with the Association of Local Authority Arts Officers are pleased to launch a Call Out for Artists/ Creative Practitioners to participate in the 2023 Face-to-Face TAP+ Programme.
TAP+ CPD Summer Course & Residency programme is open to Artists / Creative Practitioners (in all art forms / creative practices) who are committed to sharing creativity with children and teachers in primary and special schools.
To apply for TAP+ Summer Course and Residency please send expressions of interest to the Director of your local Education Support Centre (ESC): https://www.esci.ie/
Call Out for Teachers
Application Deadline: 26th June 2023
The Teacher Artist Partnership+ (TAP+) Summer Course explores partnership through arts and creativity in education in primary and special schools.
TAP+ trained teachers can apply to host a fully funded TAP+ artist/creative practitioner Residency in their school in 2023/2024.
TAP+ is a unique summer course that offers teachers the opportunity to explore professional learning through a partnership between teachers, artists, creative practitioners, and children. TAP+ aims to support creativity throughout the curriculum and focusing on wellbeing, literacy, and creative arts for all schools including DEIS.
FÍS have launched an open invitation to all Dept. of Education designated Irish primary schools to enter their films into the annual national FÍS Film Awards competition. There is no need to register in advance. To enter, primary schools across the country are asked to create an (up to) five-minute film on a subject of their choice.
Judging Criteria Highlights:
Imagination and creativity
Originality of the story
Curricular relevance (include details of subject/strand/strand unit where relevant)
Support of pupils’ literacy and/or numeracy skills development
Excellence in set design, costume design, film direction, film production, the use of sound, acting, cinematography, etc
Excellence in the art of storytelling
Excellence in the use of special techniques, e.g., animation or special effects
Excellence in visual interpretation of a story or concept
Shortlisted schools must be available to attend the FÍS Film Awards Ceremony, which takes place in the Helix Theatre, DCU Dublin. It is a large-scale national event with over 900 people in attendance, filmed and broadcast by students and staff from the National Film School, at the Institute of Art, Design & Technology (IADT). The awards ceremony is live- streamed via their website. Shortlisted schools must be available to attend the ceremony.
Creativity & Change is accepting applications for their 2023-2024 course, which begins in September. This part-time, 20 credit certificate at level 9 offers participants the opportunity to explore Global Citizenship Education, immersing themselves in arts-based practices that connect their heads, hearts and hands, to learn about and take action for global justice, while developing skills to nurture fellow changemakers.
What you can expect from the programme:
Participate in a transformative experience in global citizenship education
Examine your place in our interconnected, rapidly-changing and unequal world
Explore issues affecting the world and make connections between local and global
Reflect on the values, actions and behaviours of global citizens
Develop skills in facilitating meaningful dialogue, collaborative arts processes and transformative learning
Boost your creative confidence through participating in workshops including movement, theatre and street art
Put your learning and passion into practice to engage others on a journey of transformation and growth as global citizens
Build a toolkit of exercises to design and facilitate learning processes to nurture global citizenship
Apply Design Thinking to develop creative actions in imaginative learning environments
Connect your passions to take action for change
Recognise that small actions can have big impacts
Plug into a network of people passionate about creativity, learning and changemaking
Supported by Irish Aid, Department of Justice, the course will be of interest to artists, activists, youth & community educators, volunteers and all those who are interested in collaboration and the transformative power of art. They especially welcome applicants from minority groups facing barriers to accessing education, who can apply to avail of fully funded places under their Amplifying Voices scheme.
Duration: One weekend per month from September 2023 to May 2024
Location: Munster Technological University (MTU) Crawford College of Art and Design
Course fee: €680 (subsidised by funding from Irish Aid)
Baboró has announced the launch of their Strategic Plan for 2023-2027 highlighting their vision for the future, and their ambitions for the next five years.
“We are committed to making our festival and programmes more equitable. Baboró is building on our work in the community by bringing festival shows and workshops into schools throughout the city and county, touring to rural schools and community libraries, and unearthing new ways of reaching audiences that cannot reach us. We work directly with teachers and schools year-round on innovative arts in education projects in Galway city and county. We are building our community of families, schools, artists and local organisations so that everyone feels that they can belong at Baboró. We collaborate with our Children’s Panel to ensure the voice of the child is included in our work” – Barboró
Baboró’s Strategic Goals:
Every child is valued and welcome at Baboró. Baboró is working towards removing barriers facing children and artists and is committed to creating programmes where everyone feels welcomed, feels heard and is represented in their community. They commit to reflecting the diverse, multicultural Ireland of today in our artistic programmes.
Goal One:
Their annual Festival continues to be Baboró’s beating heart – a celebration of all their work and a gathering place for their community.
Goal Two:
Children in all their diversity and brilliance will be at the centre of their programmes and activities.
Goal Three:
Artists will be supported to make exciting, innovative work for children and young people.
Goal Four:
The environmental and biodiversity crisis will be reflected in the way they work and the stories they tell.
Goal Five:
Invest in their staff team and build a resilient organisation that reflects the breadth and quality of their work.
Join artist Jole Bortoli at The Ark for this hugely popular hands-on, creative course focusing on a visual arts approach to exploring narrative, literacy & other subjects.
The aim of the course is to enable participants to start the new school year with an enhanced toolbox of skills and knowledge, in order to effectively deliver the visual arts curriculum in the classroom. Participants will be engaged ‘hands-on’ throughout this course so learning will be through doing. Working in teams and individually, you will cover a range of curriculum strands including drawing, painting, print, 3D construction, fabric, and fibre.
A strong emphasis will be on building skills and confidence. The group will also explore how visual art can be used to engage with aspects of the English, SPHE, History and Maths curriculum, as well as to promote visual literacy approaches. School self-evaluation exercises will be incorporated as an integral part of the course. Time will also be given for individual reflection and learning and group discussion.
This course will appeal to teachers of all levels of experience and will be facilitated by the visual arts and education specialist and founder of Art to Heart, Jole Bortoli. This is a continuing professional development opportunity not to be missed!
Arts in Junior Cycle have an extensive range of elective courses available to book for post-primary School teachers. Please see a selection of the course available below.
Lights, Camera, Action! A film production workshop
Date:Wednesday 7th, Thursday 8th and Friday 9th June
Times: 10.30am – 4pm
Location: Kilkenny Education Centre
This Arts in Junior Cycle workshop with Young Irish Film Makers (YIFM) in Kilkenny Education Centre will provide participants with an opportunity to:
understand how camera tells a story and consider film as visual language
engage in the three phases of production from concept to realisation, including: story-boarding, scripting, devising shot lists, filming, editing and creating a final rough cut
learn techniques to support classroom engagement with film-making across a range of contexts, including free software and using smart phones to film
This in-person workshop is open to junior cycle teachers of all subjects and disciplines.
Figurative Oil Painting workshop
Dates: Monday 19th and Tuesday 20th June
Times: 10.30am – 3.30pm
Location: Royal Hibernian Academy of Arts (RHA), Dublin
This Arts in Junior Cycle workshop with visual artist Blaise Smith in the RHA will provide participants with an opportunity to:
explore basic technical and material skills to underpin a professional painting practice
examine how compositional tools such as the Golden Mean and the Rule of Thirds are utilsed in traditional and contemporary oil painting
use a limited palette to create layers and flesh tones
explore basic anatomical structure of the human figure
Open to junior cycle teachers of all subject disciplines.
Do Your Own Thing! A workshop to explore the creative process
Dates: Thursday 22nd and Friday 23rd June
Time: 10.30am – 4.00pm
Location: Irish Museum of Modern Art
Arts in Junior Cycle in partnership with visual artist threadstories and writer and poet Colm Keegan offer a two-day workshop in The Irish Museum of Modern Art.
In this hands-on and practical workshop, participants will:
engage in an open-ended exploration of word and image, using a variety of art-making materials and writing prompts
consider their own relationship to education, art and self-expression
gain insights into the creative processes of a visual artist and a writer
explore IMMA and use it as a source of inspiration
discuss possible approaches to a range of stimuli
collaborate in a safe, supportive and experiential environment
This year Cruinniú na nÓg will be on 10th June 2023 and will feature more than 500 free creative activities for children and young people throughout the country. Cruinniú na nÓg 2023 is a collaboration between, the Creative Ireland Programme, local authorities and RTÉ and is the only event of its kind in the world.
Announcing Cruinniú na nÓg 2023, Minister Martin said:
“Every year Cruinniú na nÓgbecomes more firmly embedded into the lives of young people all over Ireland. There’s a huge programme of free creative activities for 10th June that will really stretch the imaginative muscles of all young people. Cruinniú na nÓg 2023 is a wonderful opportunity for the young people of Ireland to show off a little, try a new creative activity, make new friends and connect with their communities. Every event is free.”
The Creative Ireland Programme and its strategic partners have developed a number of creative projects, all planned to go live on Saturday 10th June 2023. These include:
Irish Street Arts, Circus and Spectacle Network (ISACS) will host open days for young people who want to try their hand at circus skills and street spectacle at their dedicated venues in Cloughjordan, Cork, Dublin and Galway. For those that can’t be there on the day, there will be a full range of online tutorials available.
Rhyme Island – This year Creative Ireland is teaming up with The Kabin Studio to get every young person in Ireland rapping. In preparation the Rhyme Island team have been travelling the length and breadth of the country holding a series of online and in-person workshops which will culminate in a massive day of rap at 17th Century Elizabeth Fort in Cork.
This is Art 2023 –Creative Ireland and RTÉ’s wonderful art competition for young people has returned, and the winning entries will be announced on 10th June 2023 along with a national on-line digital gallery of all entries.
TG4 with support from the Gaeltacht division of the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media will support ‘Our World’/ ‘Mo Dhomhan’several Cruinniú na nÓg projects groups which will include sand art projects.
Cruinniú na nÓg 2023 Ambassadors
This year, Creative Ireland have asked five wonderful young people to represent Cruinniú na nOg 2023 to inspire others with their creative energy and skills.
Caterina Chiu Paone (8)Last year Caterina triumphed in This is Art with her cat collage. Not only does Caterina make art but she loves Irish dancing, playing the guitar, writing and singing her own songs.
Sibéal de Spáinn (8) loves swimming, making art and recording radio shows. She made her first radio show in 2022 on Raidió Rí-Rá. Making art makes her feel great and that she is helping the world.
Jamie (the King) Forde (17) has been rapping at Knocknaheeny’s The Kabin in Cork since he was 10. With his friend MC Tiny (Darren Stewart) Jamie recorded ‘ Yeah Boy’ which they have performed in all over Cork, at Dublin Castle and on The Late, Late Toy Show.
Jodie Byrne (14) isa member of the Dublin Circus Club which she joined in 2022. In a relatively short period of time she was walking on stilts in the St Patrick’s Day parade. For Cruinniú na nÓg this year she will be at the Dublin Circus Club learning to spin plates.
Archie Evans (15) has been involved with the Dublin Circus Club for over a year and he loves it! Once a week he joins his friends in the club to learn everything from stilt walking to trapeze to juggling. Through circus he has met other circus teens from all over the country.
Consistent with the aims of the Government’s Shared Island initiative to deepen beneficial cooperation and connections across the island of Ireland, Cruinniú na nÓg 2023 will be programmed on an all-island basis with cross-community events connecting children and young people from both sides of the border, including via our partners in Circus Explored and Rhyme Island. This action is an integral part of the Shared Island dimension to the Creative Ireland Programme which focuses on harnessing the power of culture and creativity to inspire connections between people, communities and places.
RTÉ is supporting Cruinniú na nÓg with a nationwide campaign on television, radio, online and digital.
Application Deadline:Thursday 15 June 2023 at 5.30pm
Maximum Award: with €4,000
Applications are now open for the Creative Schools Initiative! All Department of Education-recognised primary and post-primary schools and Youthreach centres that have not already participated in a previous round of Creative Schools are eligible to apply.
Creative Schools supports primary and post-primary schools and Youthreach centres across Ireland to put arts and creativity at the heart of children’s and young people’s lives.
It supports schools/centres to provide opportunities for children and young people to build their artistic and creative skills, and to develop additional ways of working that reinforce the impact of creativity on their learning and wellbeing.
Schools and Youthreach centres that join the programme take part in a two-year guided journey to develop a Creative Schools Plan unique to their own school, and to put it into action. Children and young people’s involvement in planning, decision-making and reflection is central to the journey.
Participating schools/centres will be provided with a package of supports that includes working with a Creative Associate, training and networking to support them to create their Creative School Plan, as well as seed funding to begin to implement their Plan. Successful schools will receive €4,000 to implement their plans over the school years 2023–24 and 2024–25.
Application guidelines 2023
The application guidelines are available here. All applications to the Arts Council are made through the Arts Council’s online services system. To access the application form and make an application, please set up an organisation account for your school or Youthreach centre on the Arts Council’s online services system here.
Information clinics
Please join one of our online information clinics to find out more.
Monday 15 May 2023 at 16.00-17.00. Book tickets here.
Tuesday 16 May 2023 at 16.00-17.00. Book tickets here.
The Hunt Museum
Dates: Ongoing
Join The Hunt Museum for a range of options of tours and workshops in the museum, and online resources for learners of all ages including lesson plans, videos and activities.
Some highlights of the workshops include:
Primary:
Life in the Bronze Age
Duration: 60 minutes
This workshop encourages pupils to thematically explore the objects and practices of Ireland’s Bronze Age people. It enables them to investigate and use as evidence the Bronze Age collections on display in the Hunt Museum. The handling of replica prehistoric artefacts will provide additional opportunities for inquiry-led learning. Pupils also get to try out some simple prehistoric technologies. This workshop walks the students through the prehistoric timeline as they learn how technologies emerged and advanced from the Stone Age to the Bronze Age.
Animal Hunt Online Programme
Date: Watch video to your schedule
This 20 minute video workshop introduces Primary School students to animal based collections at the Hunt Museum. Students learn how artists throughout history have depicted animals in their art, and why certain animals are important to different cultures. Students will be introduced to the online research tools that will help them complete the Animal Hunt 3D online activity.
Post-Primary
800 Years of Fashion Workshop
Duration: 60mins
€3.50 euro per student. Teachers go free!
In this workshop, students will learn about clothing from eight different periods (between 1200 and 1920), and these societies. These resources, and objects in the permanent collection, will be used as historical evidence to better understand the evolution of fashion over time, and how these shifts in style relate to changes in society.
Creative Schools have invited every school in Ireland (primary, post-primary, special education schools and Youthreach centres) to celebrate the arts and creativity from 8 – 12 May, 2023. The theme this year “Creativity Lives Here” encourages school communities to pause and reflect on where creativity is evident in their lives, in every class, in every school and in the experience of every student. The week is a time to focus on celebrating this creativity, perhaps adding to the experiences of students in the form of events or workshops and providing a platform to show how creative each school can be.
If your school is already in the Creative Schools initiative, this week is a great time to celebrate your journey so far!
Previous years’ Celebrations included Online Celebrations highlighting work from a selection of Creative Schools and Creative Clusters initiatives since 2018, as well as workshops, interviews and features across a wide range of different artists and arts and cultural organisations. They invite you to watch these videos with your students to learn about school communities across the initiative as well as their creative approaches to learning and artistic responses to Covid 19. Schools highlighted are a representation of the over 460 schools who had participated in the Creative Schools initiative since 2018.
Inspired by Cartoon Saloon’s award winning animated movies The Secret of Kells, Songs of the Sea and WolfWalkers, this visual arts workshop invites Primary school classes from 1st to 6th to delve into the rich world of Irish folk tales.
During the workshop, each child will start by creating the setting for a personal narrative by painting the backdrop for this story, as background artists do in animation studios. They will then design a character of their own invention – perhaps a creature or animal they’d love to shape-shift into, to be in their skin and take on their abilities?
In keeping with folklore traditions, children will explore the magical and mythical world of Irish stories and legends, their characters, environments and possible artefacts to see what connections can be made with real historical events.
To fuel the children’s imagination, your class will start the session by visiting Cartoon Saloon’s WolfWalkers exhibition in The Ark gallery. This exhibition contains concept art, beautiful framed artworks and panels that illustrate WolfWalkers’ production stages and teamwork.
Creative Futures Academy at IADT invites you to join their upcoming webinar on creative uses for immersive technology.
Are you looking to explore how immersive technologies can be used to enhance learning and creativity? Join their upcoming webinar, Immersive Technologies Use Cases for Learning and Creativity.
Learn about the potential of these technologies and how they can be applied in education and creative activities. Their panel of experts will be showcasing their work in utilising immersive technologies. Don’t miss out on this unique opportunity to gain insight into the latest trends and innovations in immersive tech! Register now for their webinar.
The Online eTwinning Schools Conference will take place from 24 to 26 May 2023. The first day of the conference (Wednesday 24 May) will be live streamed and open for anyone to join and engage with. No registration is needed.
The overall goal of the conference is to identify, highlight, share, promote, disseminate and further establish the practices of eTwinning Schools that focus on creativity and well-being.
During that first day, Arianna Sala of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) will present the keynote presentation “LifeComp: A European competence framework for better lives in our uncertain world”. LifeComp is the European framework for the personal, social and learning to learn key competence.
Days 2 and 3 will be closed only to eTwinning registered participants.
Mayo Education Centre invites teachers to a free arts session that will inspire them to experiment and be creative with a variety of materials to create both two and three dimensional artworks. Led by artist Jennifer Hickey “Making the Season Creative with Art” is a practical face to face session, which will encourage participants to explore art making processes using a variety of materials and will deliver an imaginative learning experience that teachers can bring back to the classroom.
Participants will work with a variety of materials including; clay, inks, paint, card and materials from nature.
It is aimed at teachers of all levels of experience and is suitable for teachers in junior and senior classes.
Learning outcomes
• Learn new and easy ways to incorporate natural materials into the classroom.
• Gain knowledge on contemporary artists who explore their environment and use natural materials in their work.
• Explore hands on craft processes that will promote wellbeing and encourage the classroom to respond, explore and interpret the season in a visual and creative way.
Arts in Junior Cycle are hosting a creative writing workshop for Teachers. Knights of the Borrowed Dark: Approaches to Story writing with award-winning author Dave Rudden.
Using his novel Knights of the Borrowed Dark – an indicative text for 1st year junior cycle English – Dave will share how he turns inspiration into a fully developed narrative. You will see the writing process from the inside and learn creative writing techniques you may wish to use in the classroom.
During this workshop participants will:
use the Knights of the Borrowed Dark as a starting point, learn how to, craft ideas into stories and develop sustainable writing practices
explore how to create and describe the characters and structure of a story
develop a plan to write a ‘draft zero’ of your own novel or short story
collaborate, share ideas, and reflect in a safe, supportive workshop space
experience practical and creative methodologies that can be used / put to use in professional classroom practice.
The Portal Team are delighted to announce the second of the two recipients of the 2023 Arts in Education Portal Documentation Award. We are very excited to be working with each recipient in the coming months to document their projects. These projects will be showcased on the portal as the documentation progresses.
SCEALTA
The BA in Early Childhood Education and Care programme at Atlantic Technological University ( ATU) Galway and Mayo campuses were delighted to be awarded an Artist in Residence funded by the Arts Council, to work with the students undertaking the BA in Early Childhood Education and Care programme.
The Arts project SCEALTA (Stories, Curiosity, Engagement, Active learning, Language, Theatre, Aistear) was devised as an extension of the Artist in Residence project. This project is based in Tuam Community Childcare Centre which is owned and managed by Western Traveller and Intercultural Development (WTID) group. The provocation for this project is the Community preschool School Bus. The preschool children in Tuam community preschool are collected each morning and return to their homes, families, and extended families after the preschool session on the school bus.
The second preschool which is part of this project Whiz Kids, is a private preschool. Going on a bus journey is a treat or an adventure for these children, usually associated with an outing. As part of the arts project, the children from Whiz Kids preschool travel on the bus to the Tuam Community Childcare Centre, where all of the children come together to actively participate in the project. The children’s social and cultural context is celebrated through this creative experience of stories, puppetry and theatre using the school bus to take children on real and imaginary journeys, sharing stories, songs, engaging in experiential learning through media, art, clay.
Early Years Educator: Louise O’Shaughnessy Louise O’Shaughnessy is the Manager at Tuam Community Childcare Centre, For Western Traveller Intercultural Development Group. Louise is also in year three of the BA in Early Childhood Education and Care at Atlantic Technological University Galway. Louise believes in the importance and value of supporting young children’s identity and belonging in the early years setting in partnership with parents and families.
Early Years Educator: Sandra Mills Sandra Mills is an Early Childhood Educator at Tuam Community Childcare Centre. Sandra is currently pursuing a Degree in Early Childhood Education and Care in Atlantic Technological University Galway. She has worked in the early years sector for over 12 years and is deeply committed in encouraging children to become self-directed learners and establishing a warm safe and welcoming early years environment.
Early Years Educator: Paula O’Reilly Paula O’Reilly is an Early Years Educator at Wiz Kidz preschool and afterschool service Tuam. Paula is in year three of the BA Early Childhood Education and Care at Atlantic Technological University Galway. She is passionate about play and recognises children’s right to play and playful early learning experiences which supports their curiosity, imagination and creativity.
Artist: Cliodhna Noonan Cliodhna Noonan is The Arts Council ATU Artist in Residence. Cliodhna is an early years arts creator, producer and programmer for creative arts events with children and families aged 0-6 years. Cliodhna writes, develops and performs her own work for young children age 0-6 years, she is a member of Smallsize EU network association and an active member of TYAI.
Irish Architecture Foundation (IAF)
Application Deadline: 9 June 2023 – 6 pm
The Irish Architecture Foundation has opened a call for schools to participate in their TY Architects in Schools Programme 2023/24.
Now entering into its 11th annual cycle, this Transition Year programme is creative, collaborative and participatory, providing an introduction to architecture and the design process for young people. There is no cost for your school to participate (apart from providing some art materials). An architect will facilitate hands-on design workshops in your school.
Dates, times and workshop duration will be arranged directly between the designated teacher / TY coordinator and the assigned architect.
Workshops must take place between 1 September 2023 and 22 March 2024.
There are two options for participation:
Option A: Full Programme
30 schools can participate in the full programme (12 hours of workshops per school, with an architect / architectural graduate).
Option B: Introductory Programme
40 additional schools can avail of introductory workshops (1 x 3 hour workshop per school, with an architect / architectural graduate).
In this CPD workshop for primary teachers, textile artist and educator Gabi McGrath will introduce participants to the art of felting and explore ways to bring their learning into their classroom.
A designer, craft teacher, maker and curator, Gabi will introduce her textile practice to participants and share a selection of projects that she has undertaken with schools.
You will then have the opportunity to experiment with fibres in this hands-on workshop, learning simple felting techniques and uncovering the expressive possibilities of the material. Through both 2D and 3D construction, you will explore shape, tone, texture and form.
Over the course of this two-hour workshop, Gabi will help you develop skills, techniques and processes that can be integrated into your lesson plans and adapted for students of all ages.
The Portal Team is delighted to announce the full programme for the Arts in Education Portal Spring Regional Day which takes place on Saturday 6th May in Cork City at MTU Crawford College of Art & Design in partnership with the Department of Arts in Health & Education and Department of Fine Art & Applied Art. We are also delighted to present, in collaboration with Sample-Studios in Cork, an exhibition of work from artists in the field of arts in education based in the South-West region. An exhibition viewing will be held at the Lord Mayor’s Pavilion to wrap up the day’s programme from 3:30pm; delegates are welcome to attend then or to visit the exhibition which will run until 27th May.
We invite teachers, artists, arts managers and anyone with an interest in arts in education in Cork, Kerry, Limerick and Tipperary to join us for these free events.
The programme for the day includes a series of presentations in the morning; artist Jane Hayeswill discuss the challenges and opportunities that go with balancing a studio practice with collaborative arts projects, and her mission to make both child-centred. Following this discussion, composer Fiona Linnanewill explore the activities which she has found to be the most effective in engaging students during her residencies through presentation, discussion and creative exercises.
In the afternoon join West Cork based visual artist artist Julie O’Hea for a creative workshop in ink making and hapa-zome pigment printing, this session promises to be messy, fun and informative.
How to Book
Tickets for the 2023 Portal Spring Regional Day are free but pre booking is essential as capacity is limited.
For those who can’t join us in person on the day, the morning talks and presentations will be available to watch back online following the conference. Registration for viewing is available through the link here: https://forms.gle/MF4NLWcRWq8t15nk8.
Please note: ISL Interpretation will be available at the venue and on the video recordings.
Schedule
10:00am — Registration & coffee at MTU CCAD, Sharman Crawford Street
10.15am — Welcome Address
10:30am — The Portal: a brief introduction by Edel Doherty, Kids’ Own Publishing Partnership (Portal Content Managers)
10:45am — Presentation ‘The Voice of the Child in Creative Decision-Making – The Early Years Context’ with Jane Hayes. Join early years artist Jane Hayes for an informal discussion about her socially engaged visual arts practice and her work with and for very young children.
11:30am — Presentation ‘Tutti – Exploring pathways to inclusivity for music composition in the classroom’ with Fiona Linnane. Composer Fiona Linnane will share her learnings, as an artist delivering schools residencies exploring music and sound, around what she has found to be the most inclusive approaches to music composition in the classroom.
12:15pm — Lunch & networking
1:15pm — Walk to MTU CCAD, Grand Parade
1:30pm – 3:00pm — Creative Workshop ‘Pigments from Nature’ with artist Julie O’Hea at MTU CCAD, Grand Parade. Visual artist Julie O’Hea will give a demonstration in ink making and hapa-zome pigment printing in a messy, fun and informative creative session.
– – – – – – – – –
3:30pm — Exhibition viewing and reception at Lord Mayor’s Pavilion
5:00pm — wrap up
Collaborative Arts in Education exhibition with Sample-Studios at the Lord Mayor’s Pavilion
The National Gallery of Ireland have released their spring programme for schools. Some highlights include:
ONSITE:
School Tour: Collection highlights (free)
Term Time. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays at 10am, 11am, 12pm and 1pm
Explore treasures of the national collection through engaging discussions with National Gallery expert guides on this free school tour. Focusing on dialogue, questioning, and creativity, this free tour will embolden students to look, respond, and form opinions. The tour will be tailored to the age and level of your group and is available in Irish, English or ISL.
The school tours are free but booking is essential. Book your tour here
Sketching Tour (€35)
Term Time. Thursdays at 12.30pm
Take a deeper look at the national collection on this sketching tour with an artist from the NGI’s guide panel. Use sketching to observe and respond to details and techniques. Your guide will select some key artworks to look at in depth on this tour. The tour will be tailored to the age and level of your group and is available in English.
Explore treasures of the national collection through engaging online discussions with one of their expert guides. Focusing on dialogue, questioning and creativity, the session will embolden students to look, respond and form opinions. The online session will be tailored to the age and level of your group and is available in Irish or English. You can choose from the following themes: Collection Highlights; Portraits; Irish Art; European Art.
Poetry Ireland is celebrating poetry in schools by offering this online collection of inspiring activities and ideas for teachers and children. Packed with poems and fun activities, this vibrant online resource encourages teachers, children and families nationwide to read, write, listen to, illustrate, perform, share – and above all enjoy
poetry.
The programme of events is now live on their website. This all-island celebration of poetry takes place on Thursday 27 April and the theme is ‘Message in a Bottle’.
They have more than 70 exciting events included in the programme encompassing Bangor, Belfast, Cork, Donegal, Drogheda, Dublin, Galway, Kerry, Kilkenny, Limerick, Mayo, New York, Tipperary, Waterford and Wexford, so far!
Department of Education: BLAST and Creative Clusters
Deadlines:
BLAST: 19th May 2023
Creative Clusters: 12th May 2023
The Minister for Education Norma Foley TD has invited primary and post-primary schools to apply for the arts in education initiative, Bringing Live Arts to Students and Teachers (BLAST) 2023 and Creative Clusters.
BLAST – Bringing Live Arts to Students and Teaches
BLAST will be running in 2023 for the third time. The 2023 programme will enable 425 new arts in education residencies in schools over the course of the year.
The aim of BLAST is to provide pupils in schools all over the country, time and the space to work with a professional artist on creative, imaginative and fun projects.
Each Creative Cluster will receive grant funding of €3,000 per school over a two-year period to implement their project in the 2023–2025 school years (e.g. a cluster of 3 schools would receive €9,000 over two years while a cluster of 5 schools would receive €15,000 over two years). Clusters will receive 50% of the total grant funding in Year 1, with the second 50% being provided in Year 2. In addition, but separate to the grant funding, all successful clusters are further supported with: A fully paid Creative Cluster Facilitator; paid Teacher Substitution to attend training and meetings; room hire, travel & subsistence.
Supported by The Arts Council Invitation to Collaboration Scheme and taking place throughout May and June, this exciting programme—Social Practice Toolkit: Children and Youth—is aimed at artists and arts workers who are keen to exchange knowledge and upskill in collaborative and participatory arts with children and young people.
The deadline for applications is midnight on Monday 10th April. Please contact sptoolkit2023@gmail.com with any queries.
The Portal Team are delighted to announce the first of the two recipients of the 2023 Arts in Education Portal Documentation Award. We are very excited to be working with each recipient in the coming months to document their projects. These projects will be showcased on the portal as the documentation progresses.
Project Title: ‘Keystone’
Keystone has been commissioned by Clare County Council to celebrate and mark 20 years of artist in schools programming by Clare Arts Office. The curatorial framework Art School directed and curated by Jennie Guy has been invited to deliver the project by artists Mitch Conlon and James Moran, with co-curator Fiona Gannon. The project has been taking place over the course of 2022 and 2023 in Coláiste Mhuire (Ennis) and Scoil Mhuire (Ennistymon) in Co. Clare, providing an opportunity for fifth year students to work with the artists to explore the significance of myth within local youth cultures.
The artists will work with the students to explore questions including: What are sites of mythological importance for teenagers in these two towns? Are these the same as those deemed important by the wider communities? And how do teenagers relate to the collective unconscious of their wider local communities?
Teacher: Mary Fahy
Mary Fahy is a visual artist from Galway and art teacher in Scoil Mhuire, Ennistymon since 2003. Commenting on the project she said: “Our 5th year art class are thrilled to be participating in this collaborative, socially engaged Artists in Schools project. It is an incredible opportunity for students to co-create art with professional artists in a supportive environment that centres their opinions and artistic voice.”
Teacher: Aidan Power
Aidan Power is an Art Teacher with Colaiste Muire, Ennis. On being part of the project he added: “We have a strong artistic tradition in music, performance and visual art which helps our students to nuture a sense of self while striving for academic success. Our 5th year art class will be taking part in this collaborative project which will develop their artistic skills in a new and exciting direction. The learned knowledge will go on to support future projects throughout their senior cycle art course.”
Artist: Mitch Conlon
Mitch Conlon is an artist originally from the West of Ireland currently based as a studio member within PS2, Belfast. He is a member of the Turner Prize winning group, Array Collective, a former director of Catalyst Arts, Belfast; was a co-director of online journal COLLECTED and Chairperson of Engage Studios, Galway.
Artist: James Moran
James Moran is an experimental comedian and theatre maker born and based in Dublin. Since 2014 he has written comedy shows for traditional and alternative venues; and he has also hosted several podcasts, including the leftist political Celtic Ligers and historical comedy Primordial Views.
About Art School
Art School is a collaborative project founded by Jennie Guy in 2014. Art School enables exchanges between contemporary artists and sites of education, creating opportunities for younger audiences to encounter and participate in the making and potential of art in society.
Creative Ireland
A new Creative Youth Plan for the period 2023-2027 was approved and launched by Government on Tuesday 28th March to further embed creativity into the centre of the lives of Ireland’s young people.
Building on the success of the first Creative Youth Plan 2017-2022, this new plan aims to provide everyone from birth to 24 years with more opportunities for creative engagement in every aspect of their lives. Across seven strategic objectives, the Creative Youth Plan will ensure children and young people retain a key voice in decision-making on its implementation and will prioritise those that are seldom heard and most at risk of disadvantage. Parents and caregivers, educators, artists, and creative practitioners will be supported to recognise the centrality and value of creativity to their lives.
The Creative Youth Plan 2023-2027 aims to enable the creative potential of children and young people, from birth to 24 years, prioritising those seldom heard and at risk of disadvantage
Under the new Creative Youth Plan, opportunities for creative engagement will reach tens of thousands of children and young people.
Children and young people to retain a key voice in decision-making on its implementation.
Impactful programmes such as the Local Creative Youth Partnerships, Cruinniú na nÓg, Creative Schools, Creative Clusters and BLAST to continue.
New €500,000 Creative Youth Nurture Fund to support pilot youth-led projects that prioritise seldom heard children and young people.
The launch was supported by a panel discussion between the Ministers and four young creatives with a music performance from Music Generation and a spoken word performance organised through Creative Schools.
Read more about the upcoming 5 years of Creative Youth here: https://artsineducation.ie/en/resource/creative-youth-plan-2023-2027/
Arts in Education Portal
Date: 27th April – 27 May
As part of this year’s Arts in Education Portal Spring Regional Day, we are delighted to be partnering with Sample-Studios in Cork city for a collaborative exhibition which will run for the month of May in their gallery at the Lord Mayor’s Pavillion. The exhibition will showcase work from artists in the field of arts and creativity in education based in the South-West region.
The exhibition will be launched as part of the 2023 Spring Regional Day which will take place on Saturday 6th May at MTU Crawford College of Art & Design in partnership with the Department of Arts in Health & Education, showcasing arts in education projects and creative practice in the South-West.
In November 2021, Sample-Studios Artistic Director, Aoibhie McCarthy and member and lead Education Programme tutor Kate McElroy presented to the National Arts in Education Portal Annual Conference about our Cork Creative Careers Programme and Cork Young Curators and Critics Programme. Through this connection as speakers, Sample-Studios and the Arts in Education Portal began a dialogue about the need to offer profile to arts educational practitioners in Munster, to stimulate knowledge sharing amongst peers and collaborations, as well as awareness amongst wider audiences about the important role of arts education and arts educators in the community.
Collaborating with Sample-Studios on an exhibition to complement the programme will present both this audience and a wider public audience with an opportunity to delve deeper into the creative practice shared on the day adding another layer of engagement. The exhibition is co-curated by the Arts in Education Portal team with Sample-Studios and invites keynote speakers and presenters at the Portal Regional Day to exhibit documentation and artwork from best practice examples of their own work. An opening reception for delegates will be held as part of the Regional Day programme.
Arts in Junior Cycle and the Abbey Theatre are delighted to present Tartuffe: Text to Performance. Open to teachers from all subject disciplines, Tartuffe: Text to Performance consists of an in-person workshop, a performance of Tartuffe and a follow-up online workshop.
In a new adaptation by Frank McGuinness, Molière’s 17th century classic has been updated to an Irish setting and will embrace the comedy’s humour and farce in which the villainous Tartuffe shocks and enthrals with his deceptive powers.
A key part of Tartuffe: Text to Performance includes attending a performance of the Abbey Theatre’s production of Tartuffe, directed by Abbey Theatre artistic director, Caitríona McLaughlin.
Tartuffe: Text to Performance offers opportunities to:
explore how a play in performance communicates its message to an audience.
collaborate, share ideas and reflect in a safe, supportive environment.
experience practical and creative methodologies that may be used in professional classroom practice.
As Tartuffe is an Abbey Theatre touring production, Tartuffe: Text to Performance is being they offered in Donegal and Cork.
Participants will register for ONE of these locations.
DONEGAL :
Saturday 6th May 2023:
Workshop: 10.30am – 1:00pm, Perfomance: 2:30pm
An Grianán Theatre, Letterkenny
Monday 8th May 2023:
Online Workshop: 6:00pm – 7:00pm
CORK :
Saturday 13th May 2023:
Workshop 10.30am – 1:00pm
Cork Education Support Centre
Performance 2.30pm
Cork Opera House
Monday 15th May 2023:
Online Workshop: 6:00pm – 7:00pm
Spaces are limited to a maximum of 20 participants for each workshop venue. A waiting list will apply. Register on www.artsinjuniorcycle.ie
CLOSING DATES FOR REGISTRATIONS: Friday 28 April at 4.30pm (Donegal) and Friday 5 May (Cork) or prior to these dates if the workshops have reached capacity.
The Ark
Dates: Thursday 18th May and Friday 19th May
An exciting new dance piece for children aged 4+ inspired by Aesop’s Fables, presented by The Ark, Dublin Dance Festival and Arts & Disability Ireland.
From acclaimed international choreographer, Marc Brew, The Race entwines three of Aesop’s Fables to create a fun, interactive and colourful world of animals, puppets, theatre and movement.
Cheer with the cast of animals as the Tortoise and the Hare set off for the finish line, join the Grasshopper in gazing with fascination as the Ants collect food for the winter ahead, and root for the little Mouse as she faces down the mighty Lion! Watch as their journeys unfold through beautiful movement and dance, and share in the lessons they learn along the way.
The Race will make its World Premiere as part of Dublin Dance Festival 2023. Presented by a cast of disabled and non-disabled dance artists, all performances have been created to offer an inclusive audience experience. The show is relaxed in nature and welcomes children who are neurodiverse.
School Day Performances Previews – Thursday 18th May, 10.15am & 12.15pm and Friday 19th May, 10.15am
Fri 19 May, 12.15pm
Schools’ Tickets: €6.50 (€5 Early Bird** if booked by 21 April). Teachers go free.
Creative Ireland have released their 2022 progress report A Creative Future, highlighting their initiatives throughout the year, including progress made under the Creative Youth Plan. Published in December 2017, the aims of the Creative Youth Plan are to give every child practical access to tuition, experience and participation in art, music, drama and coding by 2022.
Catherine Martin TD, Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, was delighted to announce the project will be extended until 2027.
Under the project 185 new schools and Youthreach facilities joined the Creative Schools programme. This includes the addition of four schools in alternative settings which will receive enhanced supports: Oberstown Children Detention Campus School; Ballydowd High Support Special School; Crannog Nua Special School, Portrane; and St Canice’s Special School, Limerick.
Other highlights include :
153 new schools joined 42 Creative Clusters around the country.
629 new school artist residencies were awarded under BLAST (Bringing Live Arts to Students and Teachers) for the 2022/2023 school year
Creative Schools is delighted to announce an exciting opportunity for artists, creative practitioners and individuals working in organisations in the arts and cultural sector.
The Arts Council wish to engage between 100 and 120 Creative Associates to work in up to 400 schools across the Republic of Ireland. Creative Associates are artists or creative practitioners with a deep understanding of creativity and its potential to transform the lives of children and young people. They are key to the success of the Creative Schools initiative. Individuals or organisations that wish to nominate an individual may apply for this opportunity.
Applications must be completed and submitted by 12 mid-day on Tuesday 18 April 2023.
Department of Education
The Minister for Education Norma Foley recently launched the new Primary Curriculum Framework for all primary and special schools.
The Primary Curriculum Framework will shape the work of all primary and special schools for the coming years. This is the first curriculum framework for primary education in Ireland. Under the framework, schools will have a dedicated structure underpinning learning, teaching and assessment.
The Primary Curriculum Framework is designed to cater for all primary and special schools and sets out the vision and principles for a redeveloped, modern curriculum.
The framework also introduces key competencies for children’s learning, setting out the main features and components for the full redevelopment of the primary school curriculum, detailing curriculum areas and subjects; and suggested time allocations. It introduces and expands aspects of learning including STEM Education, Modern Foreign Languages and a broader Arts education.
The Primary Curriculum Framework was developed by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) over a six-year period and draws on an extensive body of national and international research, working with a network of 60 primary schools, post-primary schools and preschools nationally, engaging closely with education partners and wider stakeholders, and conducting extensive consultation, including with primary school-aged children.
The Primary Curriculum Framework emphasises the importance of curriculum integration, inclusive practice, inquiry-based learning and playful pedagogy. The framework will guide the development of the specifications for each of the curriculum areas that will be introduced in the coming years.
The Safer Internet Day Awards are back and this year a special new category has been added for budding creatives.
NEW: Art Competition with special guest judge; Irish artist – Maser. Be in with a chance to have your work exhibited in a gallery! Simply design a poster under the Safer Internet Day theme Respect and Empathy Online.
Entries will be judged by International Irish Artist Maser.
Open to Primary and Post-Primary Schools.
Closing date March 31st.
Categories for Primary:
1st and 2nd Class | 3rd and 4th Class | 5th and 6th Class
Categories for Post-Primary:
1st and 2nd Year | Transition Year | 5th and 6th Year
How to submit your entry:
Post your entry to: Webwise / PDST Technology in Education, Innovation House DCU Alpha, Old Finglas Rd, Dublin 11, D11 KXN4
Include the following information: Name, school, teacher’s contact details, category you are entering, and a brief description of the poster.
Baboró are inviting applications from multidisciplinary artists with experience working with children for Creating Space, a two-year collaborative project with a Galway primary school that will begin this summer and conclude in 2025.
This is an opportunity for experienced multidisciplinary and performing artists who are passionate about the positive impact the creative arts can make on young lives. The selected artist will design and deliver a plan for creative classroom engagements and activities which will take place from autumn 2023 until spring 2025.
If you would like to find out more about Creating Space, you can join Baboró for an online information session via Zoom on Tuesday 21 March at 3pm. RSVP to receive the Zoom link here: https://forms.gle/aCZk1KuYQYW3STkF6
FÍS Film Awards 2023
Cappawhite National School in Tipperary have been crowned winners of ‘FÍS Film of the Year’ at the FÍS Film Awards 2023, which have taken place at The Helix, DCU, Dublin.
The movie, entitled ‘The Christmas Truce of 1914’ recounts the fabled ceasefire between British and German soldiers on the Western Front during World War I. It also scooped the Outstanding Cinematography prize. The FÍS Film Awards 2023 recognises the creative talents of primary school children across Ireland.
The Awards, hosted by RTE’s Sinead Kennedy, is a collaboration between the Institute of Art, Design and Technologyand the Professional Development Service for Teachers It was devised as a grassroots initiative to nurture Ireland’s future moviemaking talent by encouraging them to devise, develop, produce, and submit their short films for consideration in a range of categories. The event was co-produced by students of IADT’s National Film School and streamed live on the official FÍS website.
Some other 2023 winners include :
Lackamore NS, Tipperary – Outstanding Achievement in Filmmaking – Adaptation – Na Trí Mhuc
Carrig N.S, Offaly – Award for Best Comedy – The Villains
Strawberry Hill NS, Cork – Outstanding Achievement in Filmmaking – Production Design – The Normans
Gaelscoil Riabhach, Galway – An Scannán Is Fearr as Gaeilge – Fáilte go dtí An Córas Díleá
Commenting on this year’s awards, FÍS Manager from The Institute of Art, Design & Technology, Bernadette Meagher said: “The judges had a tough task at this year’s event, the standard and ambition of the entries was so high, not to mention the creativity. We congratulate every one of the children involved, along with their teachers, on their well-deserved awards……”
National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA)
Deadline: 31st March, 5pm
NCCA is seeking the views of a range of parties, including education stakeholders, practising teachers and students who are interested in contributing to this Early Insights Review. There are several ways to participate in the consultation:
Via an Online Survey
Make a written submission, using our template, Visual Art Written Submission” in the subject line.
Register to attend a regional focus group:
Dublin: Ashling Hotel – 21st March Limerick: Strand Hotel – 14th March Galway city: Harbour Hotel – 28th March
These focus groups will take place during the day from 10:30am – 1:00pm. Places are limited and registration remains open until one week in advance of each focus group.
This review process will close on Friday, 31st March at 5pm.
The National Museum of Ireland (NMI) is inviting schools and teachers across Ireland to spring into culture and heritage with a new programme of tours, activities and resources for onsite and online engagement.
The museum has just launched a diverse range of events across four public sites in Dublin and Mayo. Activities include virtual tours, guided tours, self-guided visits, workshops, classroom resources, video resources, wordsearches, arts and crafts and more.
The curriculum-linked programme aims to spark curiosity, stimulate discussion and encourage cultural and heritage engagement through our national collections.
All schools visits are free but must be booked in advance as capacity is limited and varies from site to site.
Learn some basic map reading and navigation skills and complete an orienteering course around the grounds of the National Museum of Ireland – Country Life at Turlough Park in Co Mayo. Booking is required.
Use these curriculum-linked activity sheets and video resource to learn more about Ice Age Ireland. In this museum activity, find out about Ice Age Ireland, learn about fossils and the different kinds of animals that lived on your doorstep thousands of years ago.
The Portal Team is delighted to invite teachers, artists and anyone with an interest in arts and creativity in education to save the date and join us for the 2023 Portal Spring Regional Day. This year’s event will take place on Saturday, 6th May at MTU Crawford College of Art & Design in partnership with the Department of Arts in Health & Education, showcasing arts in education projects and creative practice in the South-West.
We invite regional audiences to connect with us during a series of events, where practitioners can learn more about the Portal and what it offers, tell us about their work, connect with the community at regional level, share practice and find out what opportunities or events are available in their local area. We welcome teachers, artists, arts managers and anyone with an interest in arts in education to join us for this free event.
For those who can’t join us in person on the day we will be recording the main talks and presentations which be available to watch back online following the event.
Stay tuned for the full schedule and booking details which will be announced in the coming weeks. Pre-booking will be essential.
Call for Applications: Writers in Schools Scheme
Deadline: ongoing
The Writers in Schools Scheme part-funds visits by writers and storytellers to primary and post-primary schools throughout the island of Ireland. This scheme is co-funded by the Arts Council in the Republic of Ireland and administered by Poetry Ireland.
Applications are open on an ongoing basis from poets, novelists, storytellers, teen fiction writers, children’s writers, playwrights and screenwriters to join the Writers in Schools directory.
Over the past 22 years, the scheme has given more than 500,000 children the chance to work closely with writers in the classroom. A comprehensive professional development and support programme for successful applicants is delivered by Poetry Ireland before they are enlisted to the directory of writers.
Prospective applicants can find out more information on the scheme, including eligibility criteria and the online application form from the following link:
The Catalyst International Film Festival will host the 4th edition of the festival in Limerick from 30th March to 1st April 2023, presenting a film programme that celebrates diverse stories and storytellers currently under-represented on screen and behind the camera.
After a hugely successful schools’ screening last year and taking on board feedback from teachers they have expanded their schools programme for 2023 and are very excited to share their plans and officially open bookings! This is a great opportunity for young people to experience filmmaking from the ground up and find out if a career in film is for them.
In 2023, IMMA will present an exhibition spanning 20 years of Sarah Pierce’s practice, to the present. IMMA is seeking expressions of interest from Transition Year students to participate in a day-long project with the artist in April/May (date to be confirmed). Students will participate in the presentation of the artwork The Square. The Square uses Bertolt Brecht’s Lehrstück – or learning play – as a starting point for developing a new work with students. In this experimental “play without a script” the students are the authors, cast and audience. The performance takes place during the time of the exhibition in the gallery space, as the performers interact and migrate around and among the visitors. There are no characters, no plot or other narrative devices. This is a roaming set of memorised chants and gestures that speak quite abstractly to ideas of learning and gathering, and what it means to act, make and be together.
A new exhibition of digital and photographic works created by learners at Leitrim Youthreach opened in The Dock, Carrick-on-Shannon on Friday, February 3.
Visual arts, painting and photography are some of the creative modules taught at Leitrim Youthreach based in Mohill. The exhibition is on view in The Jury Room Café until 31st March.
The artworks, created for the project Envision, blend digital art and photography techniques. Each artist directed the theme and technique to suit their individual vision. Some of the techniques used include digital drawing, long exposure, blended exposure, and digital/physical assemblage. The students were supported in creating their artworks by their art teacher David Smith.
This project has been kindly supported by the Local Creative Youth Partnership and The Dock Arts Centre.
Branar are inviting applications for the Digital Arts Flag programme for schools. This is a whole school initiative to promote and reward arts engagement in schools. Schools are chosen each year to engage in the initiative through a series of workshops presented online.
Open to schools across Ireland, 10 bespoke workshops across 5 different artforms have been created by Branar Artists for junior and senior classes to do in the comfort of their classrooms.
Each class will receive:
A link to the video workshops (5 for junior classes, 5 for senior classes)
An Educational Resource Pack to accompany each workshop
Public Engagement Artist Kate McElroy invites primary school teachers to take part in a tour and workshop at Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre.
This will include:
– An exhibition tour of The Most Recent Forever an exhibition by Brian Fay
– A visit to an artist’s studio to see the process of making
– An art workshop exploring creativity – No art experience necessary
– A small take home ‘goody bag’ of materials
The aim of this tour and workshop is to help facilitate effective strategies for teaching art in the classroom through looking, talking and making. Kate will guide teachers through a tour of the artworks and a workshop, modelling methods that can effectively be incorporated into Art lessons in the classroom.
The tour and workshop will take and hour and a half, break included, Tea and coffee provided.
This consultation invites artists, early years educators and all early learning and care stakeholders to use and explore these draft principles and test their validity in practice.
While the draft principles were conceived from an early learning and care perspective the Department also wish to explore their relevance and the ways in which they may be adapted to better support engagement with the arts in school-age childcare. All school age childcare stakeholders are invited also to use and test these draft principles.
Findings from this consultation will inform the finalised publication of the principles, the development of practice resource materials and accompanying CPD training.
Read the discussion paper ‘ Facilitating the Arts in Early Learning and Care: Towards Best Practice Principles’ and share your comments and suggestions here.
Solstice Arts Centre
11th February – 31st March 2023
Solstice Arts Centre have a number of events in their spring programme for schools, teachers and artists.
Primary School Gallery Tours using Visual Thinking Strategies
Look, listen and respond to artworks by Sinéad Ní Mhaonaigh in her current exhibition ‘Deep Mapping: Unseen Landscapes ‘. Encouraging peer-to-peer discussion, this is an opportunity for children and teachers to focus and reflect on multiple perspectives, enhancing engagement and enjoyment of learning through art. To conclude, learn about the artist and her work, inspiring you to create artworks back in the classroom!
Secondary School Gallery Tours using Visual Thinking Strategies
Broaden creative thinking through oral and visual literacy by exploring works in our current exhibition by Irish artist Sinéad Ní Mhaonaigh . Using Visual Thinking Strategies, this is an opportunity for students to investigate, analyse and reflect on multiple perspectives, and assist in the development of imaginative and innovative ideas. Using cross-curricular links and learning through art, these sessions support the Junior and Senior Cycle, placing students at the centre of the learning process. Upon visiting Solstice, Senior Cycle students will receive specific information that embraces the three strands – Research, Create and Respond (visual and written responses), with particular focus on Content Area 3: Today’s World of the New Appreciating Art Visual Studies for Leaving Certificate curriculum.
For all queries and bookings email Deirdre: deirdre.rogers@solsticeartscentre.ie
Arts Council of Ireland
Creative Schools Week 2023
The Creative Schools Team at The Arts Council is delighted to invite your school to join Creative Schools Week 2023 which will run from the 8 – 12 May. Creative Schools Week is a celebration of creativity in schools within curricular subjects or in separate projects and activities.
The theme for Creative Schools Week 2023 is ‘Creativity Lives Here! / Tá Beocht na Cruthaitheachta Anseo!’. The theme encourages school communities to pause and reflect on where creativity is evident in our lives, in every class, in every school and in the experience of every student.
There will be a Teacher Drop-In informational session on 8 March 4:30pm-5:30pm via Zoom. If you are a teacher interested in participating in Creative Schools Week 2023, please join us by registering for the session here: https://buytickets.at/creativeschools/858237.
Creative Schools 2023 online information clinics
The Creative Schools team is running a series of online information clinics in March for teachers and Principals in schools and Youthreach centres who are curious about joining the Creative Schools programme in autumn 2023. The team will explain the programme and how to apply, and there will be plenty of time for questions.
Clinics take place online on 20, 21 and 22 March at 16.00-17.00.Further information and the link to book your place is available here.
This article was updated March 2nd 2023 to add details of the Teacher Drop-in session for Creative Schools Week.
FÍS Film Project
The FÍS Film Project Teacher Resources support teachers to introduce live-action and stop motion animation filmmaking into the Primary Classroom with interactive lessons, teacher perspectives and technical guides.
The online FÍS Teacher Resources are well designed individual lesson plans which can be used in isolation or as a complete course. The course outlines all the skills and activities involved in making a film with the emphasis being on the children being the creators/doers, and the teacher as the facilitator of the learning.
FÍS helps develop active learning, creative thinking, language, imagination, collaborative learning and problem-solving skills, as well as giving children hands-on experience of using technology as part of the filmmaking process. For children this project provides them with an outlet to express themselves and showcase their talents in an educational but non-academic way which can do wonders for children’s confidence and attitude towards learning.
The FÍS Film Project is an initiative of the Department of Education in a collaborative partnership between the Institute of Art, Design & Technology’s FÍS Office and the Professional Development Service for Teachers (Technology in Education Dept.) The project started during the 1999/2000 school year. The FÍS methodology supports teachers to introduce film making in a cross-curricular way into their primary school classroom. After a successful 3-year pilot, the project was mainstreamed and the annual national FÍS Film Awards Competition was also launched and remains a highly successful outcome of the FÍS Film Project to this day.
To access the FÍS Teacher Resources, please visit https://fisfilmproject.ie/teacher-resources/
You will also details about the annual FÍS Film Awards Competition and videos of the shortlisted national finalists.
A selection of some national and local funding opportunities for professional artists working in arts and creativity in education with open deadlines in February and March 2023.
Arts Council of Ireland
Applications are currently open for funding from the Arts Council of Ireland, including Agility Awards and Bursary Awards in a number of art forms.
The Young People, Children and Education Bursary Award supports the professional development of artists by enabling them to spend time developing their practice. The award is specifically focussed on helping artists to improve their capacity to develop or present high-quality arts experiences with or for children and young people. It is open to individual artists and practitioners working in a creative capacity in any artform, including arts facilitators, curators or programmers. Deadline: 5:30pm, 9 February 2023 More info:https://www.artscouncil.ie/Funds/Young-People,-Children,-and-Education-Bursary-Award/
The Agility Award aims to support individual professional freelance artists and arts workers at any stage in their careers to develop their practice, their work, or their skills. Deadline: 5.30pm, 9th February 2023 More info:https://www.artscouncil.ie/Funds/Agility-Award-2023/
Fingal County Council
Fingal County Council is delighted to announce the 2023 Artists’ Support Scheme. This strand of funding allows professional artists to avail of up to €5,000 of an award towards travel and professional development opportunities, a residency, or towards the development of work. Deadline: 4pm, February 24, 2023 More info:http://fingalarts.ie/news/fingal-artists-support-scheme-2023
Galway Arts Office
Galway County Arts Office invites applications from individual artists to develop their arts practice and artistic career under their Artist Support Scheme. The scheme is open to professional artists residing in County Galway at all stages of their career, working in any artform and context. Deadline: 4pm, February 13, 2023 More info: https://www.galway.ie/en/services/arts/funding/bursary/
Laoise Arts Office
Laois County Council has announced details of grants and opportunities to support the development and presentation of creative and artistic projects in the county in 2023. Through the Artists in Schools Scheme 2023, grants are available for artists’ residencies in schools, to include all art forms. This scheme gives primary and post primary schools the opportunity to select and work with professional artists and explore new arts media. Deadline: 5pm, 17th February 2023 More info: https://laois.ie/departments/arts/grants-schemes/artists-in-schools-scheme/
Limerick City and County Council
Limerick City and County Council offers grant funding to amateur, community or voluntary groups, or organisations, and individual arts practitioners, which in the opinion of the authority, will stimulate public interest in the arts, promote the knowledge, appreciation and practice of the arts or assist in improving the standards of the arts. Deadline: 4pm, 22 February 2023 More info: https://www.limerick.ie/council/services/community-and-leisure/culture-and-arts/funding-schemes-and-bursaries/limerick-0
Mayo Arts Office
The Mayo Artist Bursary Award is now open for applications. The Artist Bursary Award aims to support the work of professional artists, working in any artform, at all stages of their career, currently resident in Mayo. Deadline: 5pm, March 16th, 2023 More info: https://www.mayo.ie/arts/funding/mayoartistbursary
Wicklow Arts Office
This year Wicklow County Council Arts Office are currently accepting applications under their Artist Award Scheme 2023. The scheme assists professional artists in the development of artistic practice by enabling them to explore meaningful ways to make work, test out innovative thinking and grow new ideas. The award supports professional practising artists to develop or realise a particular body of work or to undertake professional development. Deadline: 4pm, February 27, 2023 More info: https://www.wicklow.ie/Living/Services/Arts-Heritage-Archives/Arts/Funding-Support-Opportunities/Arts-Act-Funding
All information is correct at the time of publishing.
National Gallery of Ireland
Thursday, 9 Feb 2023, 6pm
Find out more about the National Gallery’s Teachers & Schools programme and network with colleagues over a glass of wine.
Jennie Taylor, curator of the Zurich Young Portrait Prize, and artist Grainne Moloney Minehan will lead a tour of the exhibition and discussion on supporting students entering the prize.
Explore My Primary School is at the Museum, our special project with 4th class students from John Scottus National School, the latest school in residence.
National Gallery of Ireland Teacher Network Facebook Group
This online group is an active place for collaboration, peer learning and idea exchange. Meet teachers from across Ireland and beyond, and help shape the National Gallery’s schools programme, connect here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/NationalGalleryIRLTeacherNetwork/.
Schools Programme
The National Gallery offer onsite and online experiences for schools including guided tours and online sessions. Schools can also arrange to visit the Gallery as a self-guided group. Full details on their current programme can be viewed from the following link:
Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media Catherine Martin, has today announced funding of €300,000 for Minding Creative Minds as part of the Safe to Create Programme. This brings the Department’s overall allocation for the Safe to Create Programme to €782,000. Minding Creative Minds is Ireland’s (32 county and Irish overseas) first 24/7 mental health and wellbeing support programme for the Irish Creative community delivered in association with Spectrum Life.
With the launch of the Safe to Create Programme last October, Minding Creative Minds announced an enhancement of its service to include specialist trauma and abuse counselling care. This service enables crucial support for anyone who has experienced trauma or sexual abuse and ensures that they can access immediate support and up to 12 free counselling sessions from a trauma counsellor immediately.
Minding Creative Minds offers a range of other in-house services to the Irish Creative Sector which includes a comprehensive Career and Mentoring service incorporating all creative art forms and a monthly peer support meeting which offers support, advice and resources to the Irish Creative Community.
The Minding Creative Minds programme includes access to a number of additional services to help users overcome various practical issues they may face including:
Advice on practical, day-to-day issues that cause anxiety and stress.
Legal Assistance
Financial Assistance & Consumer Assistance
Career Guidance & Life Coaching
Support for non-Irish nationals & their families
Mediation Services
Announcing the funding, Minister Martin commented:
“The Safe to Create Programme which I launched in October of last year, is built on the stark findings of The Speak Up: A Call for Change Report. The Speak Up report included key findings that the majority of those surveyed had experienced (70%) or witnessed (53%) harmful behavior. Minding Creative Minds is working closely with the Irish Theatre Institute, is an integral part of the Safe to Create Programme and is helping to lead the way to improving the damaging norms in the arts sector for the benefit of all arts workers.”
Children’s Books Ireland will host their first virtual artists’ coffee morning of 2023 on Tuesday, 24th January. This is part of a recurring series of informal yet informative gatherings on Zoom where artists creating work for children and young adults can hang out, learn from experts about something pertinent to their work and meet others in their creative area.
At this free coffee morning, hear from Executive Librarian with Kildare Library & Arts Service Amye Quigley. In what promises to be a practical and informative session, Amye will give an overview of programming strands within Kildare Library & Arts Services, detail what she looks for in a facilitator or artist and outline their funding, invoicing and accounts procedure.
If you would like to attend please email aoife@childrensbooksireland.ie by 5pm on Monday 23rd January.
The Minister for Education Norma Foley recently announced the awarding of BLAST residencies to 629 schools in 2022-2023, the second year of the BLAST (Bringing Live Arts to Students and Teachers) programme. Minister Foley also welcomed the creation of an additional 21 Creative Clusters for 2022-2024, comprising a further 77 primary and post-primary schools. This doubles the number of participating schools and clusters this year, up from 21 clusters announced already in September 2022, in response to the demand from schools.
The BLAST programme has seen a significant increase in residencies from the 489 primary and post-primary schools that took part in the programme in its first year and demonstrates the strong interest and engagement from schools in working with creative professionals through this programme.
Minister Foley said:
“Creative thinking and creative expression benefit our students both by providing opportunities for learning and through enhancing wellbeing. Engaging in creative projects enables children and young people to express themselves, provides them with opportunities for connection and collaboration, and gives them the space to explore new ideas and learn new skills.”
School Clusters in this year include, for example, one cluster of schools that cater for students with autism, which aims to create tactile and interactive outdoor play areas, and another cluster of primary schools working together to create a shared interest and knowledge of coding. Such varied themes reflect the local experience and unique perspectives of each cluster, and demonstrate how students can benefit from creative engagement in multiple ways.
The Minister has also welcomed the publication of the research and evaluation report, Creative Clusters: A Collaborative Approach to Cultivating Creativity in Schools. This report, commissioned by the department, provides a valuable assessment of the strengths of the programme and contains recommendations to further strengthen the design, delivery and reach of Creative Clusters.
To read the full statement from the Department of Education, visit: https://www.gov.ie/en/press-release/8a543-minister-foley-welcomes-hundreds-of-additional-schools-to-creative-clusters-and-blast-arts-programme/
Cork ETB
Cork ETB recently launched their Arts in Education Strategy 2022-2026. The Strategy outlines the importance of the arts and provides a framework for arts education and the promotion of the arts and supporting their implementation throughout Cork ETB.
Minister for Education, Norma Foley attended Nano Nagle Place in Cork City on Friday 2nd December where she launched Cork ETB’s Arts in Education Strategy 2022-2026.
The Arts in Education Strategy outlines the importance of the arts and provides a framework for arts education and the promotion of the arts and supporting their implementation throughout all of Cork ETB’s primary, post primary and further education and training facilities.
The implementation plan includes the following five key points and their respective objectives:
Awareness: develop and create a space for the Arts in all its forms
Inclusivity: to promote and deploy Arts Education as a valuable tool for promoting social inclusion, community engagement, well-being and fostering lifelong learning
Partnership: develop existing relationships while nurturing the development of new partnerships and joint ventures
Value: to foster and promote creativity by encouraging schools and centre’s to give parity of esteem to creative subjects
Quality: provision of appropriate supports and resources to provide for quality teaching and learning in the Arts
Speaking at the launch, Minister Foley praised Cork ETB for their efforts to enable better integration and promotion of the arts in their education entities.
She said: “It was a joy for me to be invited to launch the Cork Education and Training Board’s Arts in Education Strategy 2022 – 2026. I strongly believe that inclusive access to the arts can nurture, inspire and innovate all our students and young learners. The Arts in Education Strategy today clearly identifies Cork ETB’s commitment to the arts and provides a framework for the way forward for all stakeholders. It was a pleasure to officially launch this milestone strategy in the presence of such vibrant performers and talented musicians.”
Baboró recorded three talks during the 2022 festival discussing early years arts education, sectoral sustainability and artist development, which they have now made available for streaming.
The Baboró podcast is available to listen on Spotify or Apple.
Opening Doors
In this discussion, a roundtable of makers, educators and thinkers explored models of practice to aid artists in the creation of work for very young audiences in early years education and crèche settings.
The panel featured Gaëtane Reginster (Théâtre de la Guimbarde, Belgium), Marc Mac Lochlainn (Branar, Ireland) and Dr. Rita Melia (Atlantic Technological University, Ireland). Chaired by Marianne Kennedy (University of Galway, Ireland).
Towards Sustainability
In partnership with Branar’s Meitheal Initiative, this panel discussion explored models of practice which support the sustainable development of career paths for independent artists making work for young audiences.
The panel featured Tony Reekie (Catherine Wheels, Scotland), Kate Cross (The Egg, England), Dan Colley and Matt Smyth (Creators of ‘The Man with Enormous Wings’ and formerly Collapsing Horse, Ireland), Emer McGowan (Draíocht, Ireland). Chaired by Linda Geraghty (Branar/Meitheal, Ireland).
Meitheal is a pilot creative support initiative committed to the development and presentation of performing arts for young audiences across Ireland. Devised by Branar, funded by the Arts Council.
Reflecting on LEAP
The participants and stakeholders of Baboró’s LEAP artist support programme discussed the pilot project’s development and execution.
The panel featured Rachel Baltz (Baboró, Ireland), Alexandra Craciun (LEAP Participant, Romania and Ireland), Fernanda Ferrari (LEAP Participant, Brazil and Ireland), Justyna Cwojdzińska (LEAP Participant, Poland and Ireland), Ionia Ní Chróinín (Moonfish, Ireland) Jo Cummins (Moonfish, Ireland) and Maeve Stone (Cracking Light Productions, Ireland). Chaired by Dr. Charlotte McIvor (Drama and Theatre Studies, University of Galway, Ireland).
The Creative Ireland South Dublin programme wishes to commission an Early Years Irish Language artwork. This commission will be delivered in collaboration with children from Naíonra Chrónáin located on the grounds of Áras Chrónáin in Clondalkin.
The expectations of the commission are:
Early Years children (0-6years) will be engaged with the creation process of the work and their voice will lead the way
Close collaboration with the teachers at Naíonra Chrónáin to create artwork that could be a model for other Early Years facilities, while remaining feasible for the space of the Naíonra.
The duration of the commission will be discussed with the awarded creative (s) but likely duration is one year.
Objectives
Develop process to work with young children in project creation
Create a model for other educators and practitioners to work in Early Years Arts and Irish Language
Create a participant-led piece of work
Award Amount
The commission is for €30,000 inclusive of VAT
Timeline
Applications closing date 5pm 20th January 2023
Assessment will take place week of the 23rd January 2023
Award Notification first week of February
Applications
For more detailed information on the application process and to submit an application, please visit: https://www.sdcc.ie/en/services/sport-and-recreation/arts/creative-ireland/
Irish Film Institute School Programme 2022/23
The Irish Film Institute is delighted to offer a brand new programme of films selected for students across primary and post-primary levels, available in-cinema at IFI Dublin or regional venue and online through IFI@Schools. This year includes exciting collaborations with the Irish National Opera, IMMA, the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland/BAI and An Chomhairle um Oideachas Gaeltachta & Gaelscolaíochta/COGG.
IFI@Schools supplements the in-cinema programme, offering further ways of incorporating film into your teaching, including rewatching key scenes or choosing from a wider range of content for other subjects such as history, geography, music, art, Gaeilge, English and more.
Screenings for the French language selection include Mes Fréres et moi (My Brothers and I) and King in partnership with the Ambassade De France en Irelande. Screenings for the German language selection includes Der Pfad (The Path) and Klammer in partnership with GEOTHE Institut.
Artists, teachers, academics and arts education professionals… Would you like to be part of the Portal Spring Regional Day? The Arts in Education Portal Team are seeking submissions for presentations for the Portal Spring Regional Day 2023 with a focus on the South-West Region. This regional event will take place in Cork City on 6th May 2023.
The event aims to connect teachers, artists, arts managers and anyone with an interest in art and creativity in education based in Cork, Kerry, Limerick and Tipperary. Practitioners can learn more about the Portal and what it offers, tell us about their work, connect with the community at regional level, share practice and find out what opportunities or events are available in their local area.
We are inviting proposals from organisations or individuals who are involved in arts and creative projects in education in the South-West, and who want to give inspiring presentations or workshops that can offer sharing of skills, practical approaches, new insights and critical thinking across the field, from a range of perspectives.
The 2023 event will also include an accompanying exhibition in partnership with Sample Studios at their gallery in the Lord Mayor’s Pavilion, Fitzgerald Park. The exhibition will be an opportunity for artists from successful proposals to exhibit their own work. The exhibition will run from 27th April to 27th May.
Do you have a presentation that you would like to be included in the programme for the Portal Spring Regional Day? If so, please download our Proposal form from the link below. If you have any questions please get in touch by email to editor@artsineducation.ie.
Further Information
The programme includes two project presentations with up to two presenters.
The Arts in Education Portal editorial team are pleased to invite applications for a documentation award. Through the award, successful applicants will receive services to the value of €5,000 that will support them in the documentation of a current or upcoming project and a €500 stipend.
The purpose of the award is to support the development of documented outcomes from Arts in Education initiatives in Ireland, which can be shared with the arts in the education community and give insights into different processes of engagement. This is part of the Arts in Education Portal Editorial Committee’s commitment to supporting and recognising the value of documentation and reflection as key components within arts in education initiatives.
Two awards will be offered through this opportunity.
Outcomes of the documentation process will include: a project video, a project feature to be showcased on the Portal’s Projects/Partnerships, and the option of a critical essay, with a view to also presenting the work as part of the Arts in Education Portal National Day in 2023.
The process will involve meetings with the Portal Team and a schedule of up to 2 visits over the course of the project to capture video and photographic documentation and support reflective processes among participants. These visits and meetings can be conducted virtually if required. The portal team will work closely with the recipients to ensure all restrictions and protocols in terms of COVID-19 are adhered to during the process to ensure safety for all involved.
The portal team will edit and produce a project video and will liaise closely with the project partners to develop the content for the project feature. The critical essay would be cited in the Portal’s Reading Room and is optional. The author and focus of the essay can be decided by the project organisers in collaboration with the Portal Team.
Criteria
To be considered for this opportunity, projects must:
Have started in Autumn 2022 and continue into 2023, or take place in 2023. Please note if selected, filming of engagement sessions will take place after 20th March 2023.
Have a minimum duration of 8 weeks.
Involve a professional artist working collaboratively within an educational setting (early years, primary or post-primary).
Be underpinned by a strong ethos of collaboration and a commitment to excellence. Focus on the creative process, with children having an active and collaborative role
Additional criteria
Successful applicants will be asked to ensure that relevant permissions/consent have been sought for the documentation of participants.
Please ensure your application has been approved by all project partners prior to submission.
Deadline for submission is 5pm, Friday 24 February 2023.
The Big Idea
The multi-award winning free creative programme The Big Idea has been designed to empower students with the 21st century skills they need. Developed by educational and industry experts, students will have the opportunity to gain transferable skills to support them in tackling the problems they might face.
The Big Idea consists of a full 12-week creative programme of learning resources for Transition Year students, LCA students or Youthreach students. Joining The Big Idea programme provides teachers with a teaching pack to support in-class activities regardless of their school context.
As the facilitators of the programme, teachers are supported every step of the way. All resources are digitally formatted with two lessons per week. The adaptable format can be used for either a 40-minute class or a 1-hour class with teacher prompts and lesson plans included. With built-in assessment structures and additional class materials.
A nationwide network of professional experts share knowledge directly with your students, supporting them in their project development. The team at The Big Idea match student teams with their industry Mentors giving them the opportunity to gain advice on next steps, ask questions to get students thinking, ask them things to consider or offer resources to explore.
For participating students, they are provided with the materials needed to engage in the programme from – a LEGO pack for systems thinking exercises, a sketch book to capture brainstorming and reflection, all the stationary needed to engage in lessons and activities, and some other surprises.
The programme is open to teachers from all subject areas and runs between January to May.
Registration is now open for new schools to join the programme, for further information on the initiative and apply, please visit: https://thebigidea.ie/teachers/
The film is based on a beloved 1948 fantastical children’s novel by Ruth Stilies Gannett about Elmer Elevator, a boy who runs away from home to rescue Boris, a captive baby dragon trapped on a wild island.
The exhibition combines the expertise of Butler Gallery’s exhibition team with Cartoon Saloons worldwide reach and distinctive style to develop an immersive, sensory and child-centred exhibition experience that will captivate audiences of all ages.
____________________
Learning and Public Engagement Programme:
As with previous collaborations with Cartoon Saloon, Butler Gallery will deliver an extensive programme of public engagement for children and adults that will include themes such as children’s resilience and problem solving, addressing mental health issues while coping with a crisis, and celebrating the films art and artists. Learning and Public Engagement events will include: tailored inclusive activities for children and young people; interactive visits for schools and groups that encourage creativity through hands-on making; a talk series and masterclasses with Cartoon Saloon animators, editors and directors; and an animator-in-residence programme.
To book an interactive visit for your school* contact Butler Gallery at: learning@butlergallery.ie or +353 (0)56 7761106
*Bookings for groups of over 5 is essential.
The exhibition is also complemented by the screening of The Making of My Father’s Dragon which is on view in the Digital Gallery (duration 5 mins 24 secs)
Fighting Words in partnership with DCU Institute of Education, has launched Creativity and Creative Writing in Education, an online course to equip educators with the methodologies, evidence and resources to build your understanding of the importance and benefits of creativity for learners, and to strengthen your confidence and interest in creative engagement and creative writing.
Presented in six 40-minute sessions, the course focuses on the Fighting Words creative writing model as an approach, looking at the associated development of communication skills, critical thinking, self-efficacy and resilience in the young people.
Enrolment is open on an ongoing basis; participants can complete the course in their own time and a certificate of completion is provided from Fighting Words.
Collaboration between Fighting Words and the DCU Institute of Education started in the early days of Fighting Words and has only grown and expanded over the years. In 2018, the relationship evolved to a formal partnership between Fighting Words and Institute of Education, funded by the Department of Education. The purpose of the collaboration is to progress creative writing and creative engagement in education through teacher education and research.
Carlow Arts Festival & VISUAL Carlow
Deadline: 6th January, 2023, 5pm
Carlow Arts Festival, in partnership with VISUAL Carlow, are seeking a Creative Director to lead on the co-creation of the Carlow Carnival of Collective Joy in 2023. The Creative Director will work in collaboration with a choreographer and children aged between 8-12 years from across Carlow County to design and deliver this project. The role will be supported by the creative teams at both Carlow Arts Festival and VISUAL Carlow.
In 2022 we delivered our first Carnival of Collective Joy and are delighted to bring this tradition into our 2023 festival programme. The Creative Director will lead on the design, planning and facilitation of the creative aspects of this project, delivering workshops that inspire creativity and curiosity across four schools over 12 weeks from March to June 2023. The Carnival will be presented as part of Carlow Arts Festival programme on Saturday the 10th June.
Experience
The candidate will be required to have a wide level of experience and a track-record in workshop facilitation, design and making for spectacle and installation events with children and young people.
Resource Supporting Content Area 3: Today’s World – Senior Cycle New Appreciating Art Visual Studies
Using cross-curricular links, and learning through art, this resource supports students completing their Junior and Senior Cycle studies. Designed to assist teachers and students in how to assess and evaluate an exhibition in the Solstice Arts Centre gallery, it includes:
Background information on Solstice Arts Centre and its functions;
The technical and curatorial requirements of the exhibition including display, layout, lighting, and the gallery’s role in interpreting an exhibition for visitors.
An in-depth look at the current exhibition SURVEYOR 2022 and three of the artworks
Assisting Senior Cycle students to investigate, analyse and reflect on multiple perspectives, this information embraces the three strands – Research, Create and Respond, with particular focus on Unit 14 in Content Area 3: Today’s World of the New Appreciating Art Visual Studies for Leaving Certificate curriculum.
To help students understand and analyse the work of other artists and assist in their development of imaginative and innovative ideas, students and teachers are encouraged to combine this resource with –
Solstice Gallery is open Tuesday-Saturday 11am-4pm.
This exhibition runs until 21 Dec 2022.
For more information or to make a booking please contact Deirdre Rogers, Solstice Visual Arts Facilitation & Public Engagement Coordinator deirdre.rogers@solsticeartsccentre.ie
The conference was officially opened by John Walsh, Head of School, TU Dublin School of Art and Design, and later in the day John facilitated a tour of part of the East Quad campus giving delegates a look at the state-of-the-art facilities available to students.
With a special focus placed on ‘Seldom Heard Voices’, the day then unfolded out to the usual mix of presentations, smaller discussion-led presentations and creative workshops addressing this theme. The National Day also served as an opportunity for colleagues from the International Teacher-Artist Partnership (I-TAP-PD) PD Project to explore and share emerging learnings through two multiplier sessions within the Erasmus+ KA2 Initiative 2020-2023.
Image Credit: keynote speaker Dame Evelyn Glennie in conversation with Mark O’Brien, Executive Director The Abbey. Photograph by Cían Flynn, lookalive.ie
This years keynote took the form of an in conversation between guest speaker, the percussionist and solo performer Dame Evelyn Glennie who sat down with Mark O’Brien, Executive Director of The Abbey Theatre. In a highly engaging exchange lasting just under an hour, the pair delved into Dame Evelyn’s introduction to music in primary school, her hearing loss, the idea of success and how residual hearing and improvisation were important components in her career development.
In the plenery session that followed Dame Evelyn spoke about the importance of listening.
“I think listening is the glue to being human, to be honest”
“If we can cultivate this feeling of being listened to, and really what does this mean, listening doesn’t mean that we’re interacting with sound. It’s interacting with a presence that we’re in.”
The 2022 National Portal Day was also an opportunity for the Portal Editorial Committee to share it’s new strategic plan ‘A Community of Practice: A five-year strategy for the Arts in Education Portal,
Ireland’s national resource for arts and creativity in education. Officially launched by Dr. Katie Sweeney, Portal Chair and National Director for the Integration of the Arts in Education (DE), copies of which were available to delegates on the day and will be embedded into the Portal website as a living and accessible document in the coming months.
Image Credit: St. Agnes Teenage Chamber Orchestra with conductor Jimmy Kavanagh. Photograph by Cían Flynn, lookalive.ie
A day which saw the arts in education community convene to share, learn, talk, be inspired and interrogate best practice in the field came to a close with a heartwarming performance from St. Agnes Teenage Chamber Orchestra led by conductor Jimmy Kavanagh.
We would like to thank all our guest speakers, artists and all who joined us to engage in the conversation.
Stay tuned for our round up video which will follow soon!
A selection of the main talks and presentations are available to watch back online. Registration for viewing this series is available through the link here.
Image credit: 2022 National Arts in Education Portal Day. Photographer Cían Flynn (lookalive.ie)
The International Teacher-Artist Partnership (I-TAP-PD)
The International Teacher-Artist Partnership (I-TAP-PD) podcast series ‘Tapping into Creativity’ shares stories about the magic that happens when creativity, art, and education meet. Stories about creative learning from diverse European projects in schools and beyond. Stories about what happens when artists work with young people. Hosted by Linda Rosink and Manja Eland of Stichting Kopa, they talk to teachers, artists, scientists, policy makers and children about the importance of creative education. Listen to the show if you’re looking for inspiration for your own practice.
Season 2 launched on 5th November featuring guest speaker Tania Banotti, Director of Creative Ireland. It will run for eight episodes with the final episode airing on 20th December. The programme focuses on enabling teachers and artists to jointly develop their understanding, expertise and creativity in ‘arts in education’ work with children and young people in education, community and arts settings.
The guest speakers this season include:
Tania Banotti – 5th November
Georgina Kakoudaki – 8th November
Sanja Krsmanović Tasić – 11th November
Jolanda Schouten – 22nd November
Klaas Dijkstra – 29th November
Jane O’Hanlon – 6th December
Miranda Siemelink – 13th December
Paul Collard – 20th December
You can listen and subscribe to the full series via Captivate: https://tappingintocreativity.captivate.fm/ or your favourite podcasts platform including Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music.
International Teacher-Artist Partnership (I-TAP-PD) PD is funded under the Erasmus+ KA2 Initiative 2020 – 2023 and is a partnership between Tralee Education Centre (Ireland), Centre for drama in education and art (CEDEUM) (Serbia), Hellenic Theatre/Drama & Education Network (TENet-GR) (Greece) and Stichting Kopa (Netherlands)
Kids’ Own Publishing
24th, 25th, 26th November
Kids’ Own has announced their 25th Anniversary Conference, which will take place on Friday 25th and Saturday 26th of November, at The Model, Sligo.
This conference celebrates 25 years of publishing children’s voices and artwork.
There will be panels, discussions and workshops, covering early years arts practice, children’s creativity and authorship, social inclusion and arts in education. The conference is free to attend, places must be booked in advance.
As part of their 25th anniversary celebrations, Kids’ Own will also host a number of creative workshops:
A creative workshop for primary school teachers on using Kids’ Own books in the classroom
Date: 24th November, 4-6pm
Creative workshop for those interested in working collaboratively with children
Date: 26th November, 10am-1pm
Both workshops take place at The Model.
Bookings for the creative workshops will open soon via eventbrite. Register your interest by sending an email to events@kidsown.ie.
Arts Council announces 186 new schools will join its Creative Schools initiative
The Arts Council recently announced that offers have been made to 186 schools and centres across Ireland who applied to be part of the Creative Schools initiative. The very high level of applications to be part of this 2-year process reflects the importance that schools and Youthreach centres put on creativity and their ambition to celebrate and put creative thinking at the very heart of what they do.
Speaking at the announcement Director of the Arts Council Maureen Kennelly said: “We warmly welcome our new cohort of 186 schools to Creative Schools. We are delighted that demand for the programme is so strong across the country and we are thrilled to say that by this stage of the programme, 20% of schools in Ireland have connected with us. Working with our partners in the Department of Education, the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media and Creative Ireland, we are looking forward to another school year full of creativity, consultation and exploration”.
Minister for Education Norma Foley TD said “I am delighted to welcome the 186 schools that are coming together to join the Creative Schools initiative 2022. I would like to welcome these new schools into this exciting initiative, and I look forward to seeing how these creative, colourful and captivating projects develop over the coming two years. Through Creative Schools the Department of Education supports critical thinking, cognitive and emotional wellbeing, encouraging a creative environment, without boundaries within the educational space.”
Also speaking, Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media Catherine Martin TD said “I would like to congratulate the 186 schools and Youthreach centres that have successfully applied to become a Creative School and now have the opportunity to embark on a two-year journey to place creativity at the heart of their school communities. With the addition of this new cohort, 1 in 5 schools in Ireland will have experienced Creative Schools since the programme commenced in 2018 and this year sees an increase in the diversity of settings in receipt of support. This is a testament to its impact and the strength of the partnership between the Art Council, the Department of Education and the all-of-government Creative Ireland Programme.”
The Creative Schools Initiative is designed to provide opportunities for children and young people to build their artistic and creative skills, each school taking part receives a grant and works with a professional Creative Associate who supports them to develop and implement their own bespoke Creative School Plan. Participation empowers children and young people to develop, implement and evaluate arts and creative activity throughout their schools/centres and stimulate additional ways of working which reinforce the impact of creativity on children and young people’s learning, development and well-being.
Creative Schools received applications from counties throughout the country to be part of the initiative and they were assessed on how Creative Schools would benefit learning and development in the school and how children and young people would play a central role in leading the process.
The programme was established in 2018 and more than 650 schools have been invited to participate to date. With this latest round of offers it means that 1 in 5 schools in Ireland will have / will be taking part in the Creative Schools initiative. Recipients range from large schools in major cities to smaller schools on islands including Inisboffin, Achill, Inis Oírr and Inis Meain. Creativity truly lives everywhere.
This year 131 more primary schools, 35 more post primary schools, 11 Special Schools and 5 Youthreach centres have been sent offers to join. Also joining the programme this year are four schools in Alternative Settings who cater for young people with severe emotional and behavioral challenges. Oberstown Children Detention Campus School, Co. Dublin, Ballydowd High Support Special School, Dublin 20, Crannóg Nua Special School, Portrane, Co. Dublin and St Canice’s Special School, Limerick will join the programme and receive enhanced supports.
Schools who have been taking part to date have explored creativity in all its forms and embraced how it can be celebrated in so many ways. From baking to creating and designing gardens, from photography to performance, from working with other community groups to transforming areas of their own schools, the impact of Creative Schools can be seen around the country.
Riverbank Arts Centre
Riverbank Arts Centre are delighted to offer events for Primary and Secondary Schools over the coming months. These include live theatre, comedy, IFI School Screenings and more.
Riverbank Arts Centre is a multi-disciplinary venue in Newbridge, County Kildare, with a dedicated children’s gallery and programming of high quality theatre and workshops for younger audiences, Riverbank is also committed to promoting early engagement with and access to the arts.
Primary Schools
This season Riverbank Arts Centre are delighted to offer shows that travel to your school, highlights include:
UP CLOSE On 17 & 18 November
UP CLOSE is an energetic dance piece where two strangers meet, connect and celebrate their new friendship. A 25 min performance, followed by a 15-minute Q&A and 15-minute movement workshop. Recommended capacity is up to two classes. For 1st to 4th Class.
Exhibition: FIBRE Felted by Artist Tamzen Lundy 12 November – 23 December. Workshop in your classroom: 13th December (Suitable for 1st Class – 6th Class.)
FIBRE Felted introduces young people to the wonders and possibilities of felt making, the oldest textile making process in the world. The woollen textiles in FIBRE Felted are playful and experimental, the only tools required to create them are the artist’s hands. Riverbank Arts Centre offer guided tours and activity sheets for all those who attend.
Tours/Workshop can be booked with Theresa at boxoffice@riverbank.ie
Secondary Schools
Highlights from the programme for post-primary schools include:
Exhibition: Dētrīmentum by artist Katie Whyte 12 November – 22 December
A Latin word meaning harm, loss, or damage,
Dētrīmentum is an exploration of the journey of an object from an intact historical/archival
piece, to an object that has fallen into disrepair and out of the collective memory. This installation focuses on presenting hidden and lost historical narratives in photographic form.
Guided tours and an education pack aimed at senior cycle students are available.
WhistleBlast Quartet Pictures at an Exhibition by Modest Mussorgsky Tuesday 22 November, 12pm.
This unique performance of Mussorgsky’s wonderful symphony Pictures at an Exhibition, musically arranged by the quartet’s own Dr. Kenneth Edge, is accompanied by a multimedia video of paintings relating to each movement. An
accessible performance especially created to inspire young main stream and special-needs secondary school students and anyone to enjoy a gripping, dramatic masterpiece through live music performance and visual art.
Please contact Theresa on boxoffice@riverbank.ie or call 045 448327 to book an event or exhibition tour.
The Hunt Museum, Limerick Museum, Limerick City Gallery of Art
The Three Muses: Clay Through The Ages
Level: Primary schools, 3rd & 4th Class
This is the newest offering from ‘The Three Muses‘ Joint Education Programme comprising of the Hunt Museum, Limerick Museum and Limerick City Gallery of Art. There are three strands to this programme including a Digital Teachers Pack, an online game and an onsite primary school workshop programme. The 27th Oct will see the launch of this suite of resources.
Digital Teachers Pack: This resource is available from https://www.huntmuseum.com/schools/the-three-muses/ and focuses on four ceramic objects from the above cultural institutions. It was developed in conjunction with Ann McBride, an award winning local ceramic artist. It provides clay based lesson plans and a wealth of related video based resources to support classroom based teaching and learning on these objects.
Online Game: This free online game is available at the link below. Truffes, the treasure hunting Piggy, navigates the streets of Old Limerick collecting treasures and artifacts. Each level reveals a ceramic object from the above cultural institutions. Look and listen closely for evidence of a city rich in cultural heritage. Play game here: https://www.huntmuseum.com/schools-resources/play-the-three-muses-online-games/
Onsite Primary School Workshop: This workshop, for 3rd and 4th classes, facilitates engagement and exploration of ceramic objects from the above cultural institutions. This interactive Three Muses workshop offers pupils the chance to travel through space and time focusing on ceramic objects from the Hunt Museum, Limerick Museum and Limerick City Gallery of Art. Their exploration begins in the Bronze Age and concludes with examples of contemporary ceramics. Pupils will learn about techniques and processes used to make clay objects and how these have changed over time.
For further information and booking for onsite workshops, email / call: una@huntmuseum.com / 061490089
Ireland’s National School Photography Awards (INSPA)
National Winners Announced
Theme: Me, Myself, and I
INSPA has extended their congratulations to every school who participated in the 2021/22 National School Photography Awards. The national winner is Matthew Asiedu-Appiah from Lucan CNS, who submitted the photo entitled ‘Instruments’ into the Senior Category of the awards. The winner of the Junior Category is Sophie Mai Woulfe from Kilcummin N.S. with her entry ‘The Pizzeria’.
INSPA is the national children’s photography competition and Positive Primaries Programme which is open to all primary schools in the Republic of Ireland. Throughout the 2021/22 school year, young creatives from around the country were encouraged to embed Creative Wellbeing into their school community while exploring the theme: Me, Myself, and I.
The awards are having a massive impact in classrooms and homes across Ireland as they provide an inclusive model for children of all backgrounds and abilities to get involved. Through photography, INSPA introduces creative well-being into the lives of primary school communities while building a future generation of people who are confident, resilient, connected, kind and ready.
The awards are free and offer a range of fantastic prizes alongside the schools Positive Primaries Flag. These include getaways to the Amber Springs Resort for principals, teachers, pupils and families, Instax cameras for winners and schools, framed photographs, certificates, and school photo fundraising days at your school. All entries are judged by a national panel of experts and over 500 primary schools have already registered their accounts and taken their first Step of their Positive Primaries Journey.
The awards will open again for entries in September 2023.
For further information on INSPA and their Positive Primaries programme, visit www.inspa.ie.
Voices & Choices
TAP training is fundamentally about partnership but the voice and needs of the child has always been central to its residencies. The first TAP residency I engaged in with artist Claire Halpin in 2014 centred around this premise. Documented on this Portal, it describes how through strategic questioning, guided conversation, real and virtual museum visits and exploration of materials, the children determined their own focus, process and product. As longstanding practitioners, Claire and I knew how to tailor experiences and scaffold the learning so that the children were not overwhelmed by choice.
Because faced with limitless choices, children often flounder. ‘I don’t know what to do!’ is commonly heard and needs an appropriate response. Sometimes this might be offering an open-ended programme where considerable time is dedicated to discussion, experimentation and reflection, focused on the arts with other curricular areas being developed by default. Other times, a residency programme might be anchored to enquiries in other curricular areas; the enquiry being the jump-off point for an in-depth arts-led exploration of a selected topic. While both approaches are valid, the latter integrates the arts fully into curriculum, utilises arts-based approaches in the everyday classroom. promoting holistic, inclusive learning. Yet, disappointingly, I have witnessed some members of the AiE community disparage this approach on the grounds that the children may not have elected, for example, to explore their class novel through dance or ponder the plight of our bee population through visual arts and poetry.
The hallmark of all authentic arts practice is that there is always more than one valid response. Likewise, responses to ‘the voice of the child’ can take many forms. Different children have different voices. Some may not know how to voice their needs or desires while other voices might dominate. I have learned through my considerable experiences in education and the arts that a range of approaches are needed. Some suit certain contexts while others need alternatives. The more approaches we are open to adopting, the more appropriate and nuanced our responses to children’s voices will be.
Both children’s voices and needs are worthy considerations when planning a residency. Skilled facilitators know this. Not only do they listen to words, they hear silences, observe body language, assess needs, provide relevant opportunities and scaffold learning appropriately; be that through open-ended arts-focused residencies where children’s leads are followed or through residencies that embed arts practices in curriculum to facilitate the learning and extend modes of expression for all participating children.
For the child who might struggle with literacy, being able to grasp meaning and embody learning through choreographing the class novel’s plot is transformative. I believe, if sought, his voice would be ones of relief and gratitude, relief to have found a new mode of learning and a voice in dance and gratitude for the opportunity to experience literacy through another artform, an experience the class might never have considered, if left solely to their own devices.
The Arts Council’s Creative Schools Initiative
Deadline: 12 noon 10 November 2022
Creative Schools is delighted to announce an exciting opportunity for artists, creative practitioners and individuals working in organisations in the arts and cultural sector.
Creative Associate Services for 10 Locations
The Arts Council wishes to engage 14 CAs to work in up to 32 schools across 10 counties (Cavan, Donegal, Kerry, Limerick, Louth, Mayo, Meath, Monaghan, Tipperary and Waterford) for up to one year. Individuals or organisations that wish to nominate an individual may apply.
Completed applications should be emailed to creativeassociates@artscouncil.ie by 12.00 hours (local time) on Thursday 10 November, 2022 with ‘Application: CA Services for 10 Locations’ in the subject line of the email.
For this year’s programme we are delighted to be joined by colleagues from the I-TAP-PD project for two multiplier sessions who will explore and share emerging learning within the Erasmus+ KA2 Initiative 2020-2023. The Programme will also see the launch of the Arts in Education Portal Strategic Plan: 2023 – 2027 along with the usual mix of presentations, smaller discussion-led sessions and creative workshops each addressing the theme of ‘Seldom Heard Voices’.
As previously announced The Portal Team are excited to welcome guest speaker Dame Evelyn Glennie, solo percussionist and composer who will join the conference for a special in conversation with Mark O’Brien, Executive Director of the Abbey Theatre.
Tickets for the 2022 National Arts in Education Portal Day are free but pre booking is essential as capacity is limited. Booking this year is slightly different with a two step process.
Step 1: Book your ticket for the day – Open Now here
Step 2: Ticket holders will then be invited to pre-select parallel sessions for the day – via email invitation on Wednesday, 19 October. Please note some sessions have limited capacity in particular creative workshops. Please note some sessions have limited capacity in particular creative workshops.
For those who can’t join us in person on the day we will have a selection of the main talks and presentations available to watch back online following the conference. Registration for viewing is available through the link here.
The 2022 National Arts in Education Portal Day will take place on Saturday, 5 November at East Quad, TU Dublin, in partnership with TU Dublin School of Art and Design and the Conservatoire of Music and Drama, and the Erasmus+ International Teacher-Artist Partnership (I-TAP-PD) PD Project.
The full line-up of this year’s programme will be announced at 12 noon,Wednesday, 5 October when ticket booking will open online. Before that we wanted to give you a sneak peek of what you can expect at this year’s in-person conference. The day will have a special focus on ‘Seldom Heard Voices’, with the programme profiling projects that represent children from diverse communities and children who are seldom heard.
First Look at the 2022 National Arts in Education Portal Day Programme
Discussion-led Presentation: Cuinne an Ghiorria / The Hare’s Nook
Join artist Zoë Uí Fhaoláin Green, writer Emer Fallon and educator Darach Ó Murchú with artist Manuela Dei Grandi as they discuss learnings from ‘Cúinne an Ghiorria (The Hare’s Nook)’, a bilingual primary school programme designed to nurture a sense of stewardship and joyful connection between pupils and their environment.
Creative Workshop: Exploring Creative Solutions to Climate Change through the Arts Using a STEAM Approach
In this experiential workshop, Environmental Artist and Educator Evelyn Sorohan will invite participants to investigate how the arts can be harnessed to explore environmental issues such as Climate Change. Participants will be inspired to collaboratively problem solve, create and invent in response to three climate themes leaving with skills and ideas that they can use in their practice.
Online Viewing: For those who can’t join us in person on the day we will have a selection of the main talks and presentations available to watch back online following the conference. Registration for viewing will be required.
Ticket bookings open at 12 noon, Wednesday 5 October 2022. Tickets are free but pre booking is essential as capacity is limited. Once ticket booking is confirmed attendees will be asked to preselect their parallel sessions choices for the day.
The Minister for Education Norma Foley today announced the creation of 21 new 2022 Creative Clusters comprising 78 schools. Creative Clusters is an initiative taking place as part of Creative Ireland and under the Schools Excellence Fund. The Department of Education’s budget for Creative Clusters in 2022 is €595,000.
Under this scheme to support schools to build capacity in creativity, schools in each cluster will enjoy access to a specialist facilitator, artist or creative expertise in whatever their chosen area of interest or theme might be. These resources will help the schools to build a project of learning and activities tailor-made for their students. As part of this funding allocation, a cluster may receive up to €15,000 funding to help bring their plans and ideas to fruition in 2022-2024.
Minister Foley said:
“Creative Clusters is an excellent initiative that supports students to develop their creativity, learn to adapt and collaborate and provides them with real opportunities to express themselves in a variety of exciting new ways.
“Today I am delighted to announce the 78 schools that are coming together to form 21 new Creative Clusters. I would like to welcome these new schools into this Schools Excellence Fund initiative, and I look forward to seeing how these exciting projects develop over the coming two years. This is a wonderful opportunity for schools to work together on a project of their choice. Schools are given complete freedom to design and develop their own project, with support from a local facilitator and their local education centre.
“This year has once again seen a very significant level of interest from schools applying to participate in the 2022 Creative Clusters initiative across the country. In the five rounds from 2018 to 2022, a total number of 1,276 schools have applied to participate in Creative Clusters, with 375 schools shortlisted and invited to participate. I hope that this exciting initiative will help schools to further enhance creativity in their classrooms.
Arts in Junior Cycle provide teachers at second-level with the opportunity to engage in elective learner-centred teacher professional learning (TPL) experiences. The vision of Arts in Junior Cycle is for all Junior Cycle teachers to value, enjoy and be enriched by the arts and to see the arts as integral to learning. The Arts in Junior Cycle team co-design and develop learner-centred TPLs in collaboration with a range of artists, creative practitioners and arts organisations.
This month we are delighted to offer the following:
Style and Purpose in partnership with Poetry Ireland
Writing our Place in partnership with Fighting Words and Graffiti Theatre Company, Cork
In the News in partnership with Newsbrands Ireland
Introduction to Screenprinting with Elena Santos ‘Just Art It’, Galway
A call out for expressions of interest for an Artistic Performance community of practice
A call out for expressions of interest for aDesignCIRCLE community of practice
These TPLs aim to inspire, support and empower teachers and to embody the principles and key skills which underpin the Framework for Junior Cycle 2015. All TPLs are open to teachers from all subject disciplines.
For more information and to register for upcoming workshops and communities of practice, visit www.artsinjuniorcycle.ie. New workshops are added weekly!
It’s the AiE Regional Portal Day. I’m in Kildare. The theme of the morning’s discussion; ‘The Voice of the Child’. Serendipitous! I’ve being reflecting on voices recently, both in my arts practice and in my role as an art facilitator.
Prior to my studies at NCAD and my engagement in TAP, I practiced art on a superficial level, drawing my world without mining it. I ended up profoundly disillusioned. It was only when I began to dig deeper in an attempt to map my inner narrative that I began to hear my own voices, not least those of the child and adolescent I was, and effectively, still am. At times, these were difficult voices to attend to; a cacophonous chorus whose ignored realities generated high-tides of anxiety, shame and grief. I’m no swimmer but swimming through them was the only way to calmer waters. So, I dived; art practice as my life-jacket.
This has been game-changing, transforming both my work and my facilitation of artists, teachers and children. In reengaging with my buried voices, I’m hearing more clearly the voices those I work alongside. I’ve learned that being in authentic communication with my inner child has expanded the register and sensitivity of my communication with others, alerted me to nuances my adult sensibility might not otherwise detect and enabled me to respond from a place of recognition, understanding and empathy. It has also rekindled my spirit of spontaneity, playfulness and fun; characteristic of both childhood and creativity.
I believe we can only truly hear the voices of others when we have embraced our own. So, in discussing the importance of the voice of the child, let’s expand that concept to consider the child’s voice in the hearts of the adults who work with them. We all need to remember and own what it was like to be that child. For while listening to a child’s voice is an act of attendance and hearing it is an act of acknowledgement, identifying with it is an act of acceptance and validation. And this is the first meaningful step towards giving the child the appropriate agency and support to express the truths of their experiences and engage confidently with their imaginations.
Kids’ Own Publishing Partnership are delighted to announce the publication of ‘A-Z: Alphabet of Actions’ which outlines the findings from a pilot project that explored literacy with young children. This project investigated how children of different ages and stages of literacy interacted with the materials.
This project was developed as a pilot early-years intervention, putting arts and creativity at the centre of early childhood learning and development. Funded by ESB Energy for Generations, the project evolved in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2020 and 2021, the early stages of the project took place during strict lockdowns and were designed to facilitate parent-child interactions. The project modelled a way of working that supported young children to manipulate and play openly with materials and connected them with their parents and other children through verbal and non-verbal communication.
Artist, Naomi Draper, designed a material environment that allowed for different ‘layers’ of entry to accommodate children at a very early stage of literacy, as well as those in primary education with more developed literacy. This project investigated how children of different ages and stages of literacy interacted with the materials.
The Sligo Country Childcare Committee and Children & Young People’s Service Committee (CYPSC) were delighted to be involved with the A-Z programme. The results highlighted by the parent and child’s voices have demonstrated the importance of that parent/carer interaction.
If you would like to receive a copy of “A-Z Alphabet of Actions: Findings from a pilot early years initiative”, please send your name and address to info@kidsown.ie
The Portal Team are delighted to welcome guest speakers, solo percussionist and composer Dame Evelyn Glennie for a special in conversation talk with Mark O’Brien, Executive Director of The Abbey Theatre.
Dame Evelyn Glennie
Dame Evelyn Glennie is the first person in history to create and sustain a full-time career as a solo percussionist, performing worldwide with the greatest orchestras and artists. Evelyn has commissioned over 200 new works for solo percussion and has recorded over 40 CDs. She regularly provides masterclasses and consultations to inspire the next generation of musicians.
Evelyn was awarded an OBE in 1993 and has over 100 international awards to date, including 2 GRAMMY’s, the Polar Music Prize and the Companion of Honour. She was appointed as the first female President of Help Musicians, and since 2021 she has been Chancellor of Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, Scotland.
Evelyn is the curator for The Evelyn Glennie Collection which includes in excess of 3,500 percussion instruments. The film ‘Touch the Sound’, TED Talk and her book ‘Listen World!’are key testimonies to her unique and innovative approach to sound-creation. Through her mission to Teach the World to Listen she aims to improve communication and social cohesion by encouraging everyone to discover new ways of listening in order to inspire, to create, to engage and to empower.
Watch Dame Evelyn Glennie’s TED Talk, How to truly listen, below
Mark O’Brien
Mark O’Brien, Executive Director of The Abbey Theatre has had over 25 years’ experience in the theatre and wider culture sectors, as a leader, facilitator, actor, sound designer, administrator, and theatre director. He has also led, directed, and developed work in the youth theatre sector, and with Team Educational Theatre Company.
Mark was previously Director of axis arts centre Ballymun. Over ten years, he developed axis into an organisation and space of local, national and international renown, that created, facilitated and produced new and significant work, across theatre, arts development and engagement contexts. Under his leadership, axis became an artistic and cultural hub for both artists and the public. His driving force was to achieve a shared vision of excellence through inclusion.
The full line-up of the national day will be announced on Wednesday 5th October when ticket booking will open online. This year’s event will have a special focus on ‘Seldom Heard Voices’ and will see a return to the usual mix of presentations, smaller discussion-led presentations and creative workshops addressing this theme.
These events bring together members of the arts in education community from all across Ireland, to share, learn, talk, network, get inspired, and continue interrogating best practice in the field.
Cherrywood Educate Together National School wishes to commission a site specific public artwork/s including a substantial creative process that will involve the children who attend the school in the development of the artwork under the “Per Cent for Art Scheme”, funded by the Department of Education and Science.
The selection process will take the form of a two stage open competition. It is open to all interested professional artists at any stage of their career or experience. Selection will be based on the information supplied, establishing the competence of the artist to carry out the commission. International submissions are welcome. No designs or detailed proposals are required in Stage 1.
The deadline for submission of Expressions of Interest is 12 noon on Monday 10th October 2022.
Application forms should be submitted via their online application form.
The National Museum of Ireland (NMI) is delighted to invite teachers and students across the country to reconnect with culture over the coming school term with an in-person visit to one of its sites.
The Museum has launched its autumn/winter 2022 programme of tours, events and activities, which educators can use to get up close to history, spark curiosity, encourage learning, and promote enjoyment of culture.
Much of the NMI’s school programme was offered virtually over the past two years due to pandemic restrictions. Many schools enjoyed engaging with the Museum online so there will also still be elements of the programme available to access directly from the classroom.
This tour at the Museum of Decorative Arts & History, Collins Barracks is available at primary and post primary level, focuses on the people involved in World War One and how the war impacted their lives.
A mix of traditional and contemporary stories linked to artefacts in the National Folklife Collection at the Museum of Country Life, Turlough Park with some of Ireland’s premier traditional storytellers, in collaboration with Poetry Ireland. Available online and onsite for primary and post-primary levels.
An onsite tour at the Museum of Archaeology, Merrion Street specifically designed to cover key objects that appear on the History of Art Leaving Certificate specification and traces the development of art in Ireland from the Neolithic to the 12th century.
The Ark are delighted to announced their full Autumn programme for early years, schools and teachers, a jam packed programme including theatre, music shows, exhibitions and workshops. Below is a selection of some of the highlights taking place:
Dates: 4 & 10 December Age Range: Early Years 2 – 4 years
Artist Jane Groves explores the textures of a frozen landscape through storytelling, creative play and imagination in this Early Years visual arts workshop.
Discover the magic of winter in the much-loved winter music show, Tracks in the Snow by The Henry Girls. Schools can enjoy free access this Winter, the show links in with the Listening and Responding strand units of the Music curriculum. A free downloadable classroom pack is also available online at ark.ie/events/view/ondemand-tracks-in-the-snow-the-henry-girls-2
The full season can be viewed at ark.ie, booking is now open for all events via the simple schools booking form on each event page.
Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA)
Dates: 24 September, 1 October, 12 & 19 November 2022, 21 & 28 January 2023
Enjoy a Saturday morning on IMMA’s historic site, the Royal Hospital Kilmainham; experience exhibitions and creative processes in the museum studios.
The Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) are delighted to welcome Primary School teachers to a new series of in-person CPD workshops exploring links to the visual art curriculum. Led by IMMA’s Assistant Curator, Mark Maguire and teacher, Eibhlin Campbell in this series of art workshops participants will explore links to the visual art curriculum, including “slow looking” practices in the galleries, displaying artwork (curation) and developing language talking about art.
Two practical workshops will be led by artists and educator Fiona Harrington in the IMMA studios in November, exploring fabric and fibre materials and processes. Fiona is interested in combining traditional processes with imagination and encouraging both children and adults to reconnect with creativity by exploring new materials, ideas, and techniques.
The purpose of these workshops is to restart in-person workshops in IMMA’s galleries and studios, emphasizing first-hand experience of artworks as well as studio-based, artist-led engagement with creative processes and art materials, and partnership between teachers and artists.
Duration: One/two day(s) per month, September to January. Dates: 24 September, 1 October, 12 and 19 November 2022, 21 and 28 January 2023 Times: 10:00am – 12:30pm No. of participants: 15
This workshop series is Free but booking essential. For more information or to book, email mark.maguire@imma.ie
From November 2020 to June 2021, George Higgs was The Dock Composer in Residence at Scoil Mhuire, Carrick on Shannon for the project ‘Songs of Ourselves’, exploring communal song forms – e.g., work songs, anthems, canons, and call and response – with the ultimate aim of creating a new composition. Based on his earlier investigations into multisensory composition (The Sense Ensemble, 2017), George asked the students to think of a song not only as sound, but as a participatory activity for all the senses. Students were encouraged to invent gestures to accompany the performance of each song and draw pictures to reflect on the various themes. A Song Scrapbook was amassed from all the sessions, featuring the finished multisensory lyric ‘The Dream of the Knockabock’.
‘The Dream of the Knockabock’ was performed at The Dock in early June, 2022 by the Scoil Mhuire Choir and the Millennium Choir. The song was a twelve-minute ‘mobile composition for multisensory voices’ created was a rich pageant of sound, movement and was a spatial performance to remember.
It was a special event for all involved and a great achievement.
View the performance below
View here the Documentation Award Series Discussion ‘Songs of Ourselves’ with composer George Higgs, teacher Noelle Igoe and The Dock’s Visual Arts and Education Manager, Laura Mahon as part of the 2021 National Arts in Education Portal Virtual Conference.
The Creativity and Change programme & MTU Crawford College of Art & Design
Creativity & Change at MTU Crawford College of Art & Design, Cork City, is presently recruiting for their September course intake. This part-time, 20 credit certificate at level 9 is about creativity and its power to ignite empathy, passion and learning about our interconnected and interdependent world. Supported by Irish Aid, Department of Justice, the course supports learners to imagine more humane, just and viable ways to be and to connect with how we think, live, and act in the world.
This course explores how we can utilise the arts to live as connected global citizens, becoming part of the changes we want to see. It will be of interest to artists, activists, youth and community educators, volunteers and all those who are interested in collaboration and the transformative power of art.
Amplifying Voices Scholarships:
The core of Creativity & Change’s work is to explore and address inequality and injustice, which becomes minimised without the perspectives and experiences of a diverse participant group. Creativity & Change are consistently seeking to improve the accessibility of their programme and endeavour to provide opportunities to people who may have faced barriers to accessing education in Ireland, such as those from minority groups. We are pleased to have support from MTU to offer a number of funded places on the course for those who may not have otherwise been in a position to apply.
Duration: One weekend per month from September to May
The Ark, Dublin are currently recruiting for a number of roles:
Engagement & Participation Coordinator
The Ark, Dublin wishes to recruit an Engagement and Participation Coordinator to support the delivery of the Engagement and Advocacy objectives of The Ark Strategy Statement 2021-23. Working closely with the rest of The Ark’s team and The Ark Artists in Residence, the Engagement & Participation Coordinator will make connections between The Ark’s participation work and its artistic programme.
Applications for the Engagement & Participation Coordinator Role close at 12pm on Monday 5 September 2022.
Visitor Services Coordinators (one full time and one part-time)
The Visitor Services Coordinators play a key role in the delivery of The Ark’s strategic priorities, with a particular emphasis on Excellence and Engagement as they work closely with the whole of The Ark team and support the work of the Visitor Services team as the main point of contact for our schools and public audiences. The Visitor Services Coordinator is a multi-skilled and varied role designed to support and enhance all public-facing activity here at The Ark. They will supervise the smooth running and administration of The Ark’s Visitor Services Team and support the Visitor Operations Manager with all duties relating to box office and front of house including management of systems, rosters and customer service.
There are two positions currently available – one full-time (35 hours a week) and one part-time (21 hours a week). The roles are offered as an initial 1-year fixed-term contract, with a six-month probationary period, with the intention of extending subject to annual funding and is based at The Ark’s venue at 11a Eustace St, Temple Bar, Dublin 2. Weekend and occasional evening work will be required for both these roles.
Applications for the Visitor Services Coordinators close at 12pm on Wednesday 7 September 2022.
May 6th 2022. I visit a school in Cavan. My role; a ‘critical friend’ in an Action Research capacity on behalf of our International-Teacher-Artist Partnership (I-TAP-PD) PD Programme. I sit, observing, relishing what unfolds: An artist and teacher in near-perfect synchronicity, finishing each other’s sentence. I’m unable to tell one from the other. Digging further, I discovered that the teacher had taught the art skill to the artist in her kitchen and the artist prepared self-assessment booklets so students could track their learning. They have, in essence, exchanged roles and I’m witnessing my own audacious claim in action. “There’s an artist and a teacher in all of us.” But it’s really no surprise.
Vygotsky’s theories, cornerstones of modern curricula, hold that children learn primarily by observing and engaging in activities, guided by those more experienced, skilled or knowledgeable. Adults, whether parents, family members, neighbours, carers, coaches or community leaders provide the majority of this tuition, outside of formal education. As social beings who nurture our young, teaching is a critical human enterprise. We all teach, at some juncture, whether actively, passively, under contract or by default. It’s the impulse that spurs some graduates to choose teaching careers and prompts many artists to become involved in education, run workshops or engage apprentices.
Correspondingly, the compulsion to create is innate. Our capacity to imagine what does not exist is a cognitive strength that supports human advancement. To access and give form to creative thought, we engage in playfully explorative behaviours like acting, dancing, music-making, story-making, hypothesising, illustrating, constructing, concocting and crafting. These ‘creative’ practices are the fora for working through and testing our ideas. And creativity can manifest in many areas of practice; from book-binding to baking, from constructing mathematical theory to music-making.
One of Teacher-Artist Partnership (TAP) unique features is its potential to develop both competences in participants, the educator and the creator, waking the ‘other’ in those who stay engaged. This has supported me immensely in declaring my own identities and I trust my narrative will encourage others to recognise that the many hats they wear in life are equally worthy of recognition and validation.
The Arts Council’s Creative Schools Initiative
Deadline: 12 noon 18 August 2022
The Arts Council of Ireland are delighted to announce an exciting opportunity for an experienced individual to join the Creative Schools team in the position of Creative Schools Officer. This exciting full-time opportunity at Executive Officer grade is a fixed term to August 31st, 2024.
The Creative Schools Officer will play a key role in supporting the Creative Schools Team to deliver on its objectives and project plan. The role is temporary for a specified purpose. The Creative Schools Officer will be a member of the Creative Schools team, reporting to the Programme Manager, Creative Schools and working closely with the Creative Schools managers, programme director, and the Project Leads.
Skills & Experience Required
A minimum of two years’ experience in a similar role
A proven track record in project management, with an emphasis on communications desirable
Excellent analytical skills and attention to detail skills, including the ability to gather, analyse reports and plans, to engage in critical analysis and express complex information in a clear, concise way
Excellent ICT skills and ability, which must include MS Office, in particular Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint
Excellent interpersonal skills, including the ability to be discrete, diplomatic and empathetic
Ability to forward plan and anticipate needs, to work effectively as a member of a team and to work on her/his own initiative
Excellent customer focus, verbal and written communications skills and the ability to be confident dealing with both internal and external customers and key stakeholders
A demonstrated commitment and ability to contribute positively to the team and to effective ways of working
Flexible and enthusiastic in the context of working in a busy and demanding team
A commitment to high standards of public service.
The ability to communicate through the Irish language, both verbal and written, desirable
The closing date for receipt of applications is 12.00 noon, Thursday 18th of August 2022
Creative Schools is a flagship initiative of the Creative Ireland Programme to enable the creative potential of every child. Creative Schools is led by the Arts Council in partnership with the Department of Education and Skills and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media . Creative Schools, formerly Arts Rich Schools/Arís, draws on the commitments set out in the Arts in Education Charter.
The Arts Council is committed to a policy of equal opportunity and encourage applications from all sections of the community under all ten grounds as set out in our Equality, Human Rights and Diversity Policy (for more information, visit: http://www.artscouncil.ie/equality-human-rights-diversity/
A Question of Identity
September 2006: Circumstances forced me to abandon full-time art practice and accept a job-share teaching post. My ambiguous attitude to this turnabout and maverick methodologies prompted one of my charges to ask if I was a ‘real teacher’? Parents made more subtle enquiries. The school caretaker presumed I was an SNA.
Back practicing art full-time, I entered a school as the BLAST-assigned artist. The principal showed me around. Once our presence on the corridor was detected, a rumour raced from classroom to classroom; ‘There’s an inspector in the school!’
These narratives are anecdotal evidence of a professional identity dilemma I’ve wrestled with for decades. Artist or educator? Inhabiting this professional twilight zone had altered the lens through which I perceive labels like ‘teacher’ and ‘artist’; what it means to be either, both or to be more than the sum of these two entities.
Professional identity matters but it’s contextual. A singular definition casts us in two-dimensional stereotype, ignoring the richness of our many and evolving roles, cumulative experiences, skills and knowledge. I faced this dilemma on entering the Teacher-Artist Partnership programme in 2014. With an Education Centre network nomination, I was obliged to enlist as a teacher but yearned to sign the artist’s register. On introducing myself to the group, I claimed my artist identity, the only teacher to do so. After all, my teacher-self existed so my artist-self could be; the teacher supporting the artist, the artist sustaining the teacher.
Owning my dual identity felt bold but until did, I would never walk into a school as an artist. I’ve learned much on this journey, not least that there are many teachers in and beyond TAP who feel similarly. Some TAP-trained teachers are graduates of art/arts colleges. Others are skilled arts practitioners. Moreover, several TAP artists are former teachers and more possess intuitive teaching abilities, relishing engagement with children. August’s blog will further explore concepts of ‘teacher’ and ‘artist’, and the guiding and creative impulses we all possess. Meantime, for those reading, conscious of echoes of ‘the other drum’ in the recesses of their hearts, take comfort. There’s a teacher and an artist in all of us!
Mother Tongues
Language Explorers facilitator training and work opportunity.
Do you have experience developing/delivering creative experiences to children? Or are you an artist? Are you fluent in another language other than English? Are you passionate about making a difference?
Mother Tongues‘ is currently training individuals to enter a paid panel of facilitators to draw from when delivering workshops across the country as part of their flagship programme ‘Language Explorers’.
Mother Tongues’ envision a society that embraces different cultures and languages. Their mission is to curate multilingual creative experiences where artists and communities connect across languages and cultures. Language Explorers is Mother Tongues’ flagship programme for children aged 3 to 6. Language Explorers provides a child-centred, interactive and engaging experience for all children – monolingual, bilingual and plurilingual.
Who should register?
Developed to be equal parts practical and inspirational, this new training is designed for artists or creative people with a passion for working with children and who have experience in developing and/or delivering creative experiences to children.
Training
This training combines online and in-person elements. It will run over 8 weeks with an estimated overall time commitment of 40 hours. Self-directed learning is an important element of this training.
Mother Tongues is an equal opportunity employer.
We encourage applications from individuals of a variety of backgrounds and levels of experience.
Music Generation & Arts Council of Ireland
Deadline: 5 August 2022
The Music Generation National Development Office invites quotations, from consultants, researchers or organisations, for the completion of an evaluation of the Music Generation – Arts Council partnership. It is anticipated that the evaluation will identify learnings from the partnership and will provide recommendations for the future. The evaluation will assist Music Generation in its planning and development for the future and will assist the Arts Council in planning future potential partnerships and investments in this sector.
Queries
All queries will be responded to by email only.
Please email all queries to: info@musicgeneration.ie where they will be forwarded to the relevant person for clarification.
The latest date for receipt of queries is Friday 29th July 2022.
Closing Date
The closing date for receipt of tender submissions is 17:00 (Dublin time) on Friday 5th August 2022.
Music Generation is Ireland’s National Music Education Programme that transforms the lives of children and young people through access to high-quality, subsidised performance music education. Initiated by Music Network, Music Generation is co-funded by U2, The Ireland Funds, the Department of Education, and Local Music Education Partnerships (LMEPs) and is supported by the Arts Council as a programme partner.
The Arts Council /An Chomhairle Ealaíon is the Irish government agency for developing the arts. The Arts Council works in partnership with artists, arts organisations, public policy makers and others to build a central place for the arts in Irish life. The Arts Council is guided by its Strategy “Making Great Art Work”.
For further information on the Arts Council, please visit www.artscouncil.ie
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council
Deadline: 15 August 2022
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, in partnership with Blackrock Education Centre, is looking for six creative practitioners in a variety of artforms to work with children and teachers in the classroom setting. The main purpose of the programme is to facilitate a professional Creative Practitioner to collaborate with a primary school class and teacher to explore creativity in the classroom setting through various artforms.
Overview of dlr’s Primary Arts Programme
dlr’s Primary Arts Programme was initiated in 1994. dlr Arts Office has partnered with Blackrock Education Centre since 2008 to deliver the countywide programme. dlR Arts Office recognise the importance of life-long learning and the positive impact that early intervention may have in addressing education inequality. Through the partnership with Blackrock Education Centre, dlr Arts Office works to ensure that children have access to cultural education regardless of circumstances. The main purpose of the programme is to facilitate a professional Creative Practitioner to collaborate with a primary school class and teacher to explore creativity in the classroom setting through various art forms. A Creative Practitioner is a professional facilitator with an artform background, for example, a Dancer, a Visual Artist, a Writer or a Musician.
The timeline for engagement of the creative practitioners is October 2022 – May 2023. Upon agreement between both parties, this may be extended from October 2023 – May 2024.
Arts in Education Portal Deadline: Friday 26 August 2022
Artists, teachers, academics and arts education professionals… Do you want to be part of the seventh annual National Arts in Education Portal Day?
The National Arts in Education Portal Day will take place at TU Dublin, School of Art and Design on Saturday, 5 November 2022 in partnership with the School of Art and Design (formerly the School of Creative Arts) and the Erasmus+ International Teacher-Artist Partnership (I-TAP-PD) PD Project. The event aims to bring together members of the arts in education and creative practise community from all across Ireland, to share, learn, talk, network, get inspired and continue interrogating best practice in the field.
The Arts in Education Portal Editorial Committee invites proposals from organisations or individuals who want to give dynamic and inspiring presentations or workshops that can offer sharing of skills, practical approaches, new insights and critical thinking across the field, from a range of perspectives.
This year, the Portal Day will have a special focus on ‘Seldom Heard Voices’. The Committee particularly want to profile projects this year that represent children from diverse communities and children who are seldom heard.
The Portal Editorial Committee are delighted to also partner this year with the Erasmus+ International Teacher-Artist Partnership (I-TAP-PD) PD Project, an exciting trans-European project which focuses on enabling teachers and artists to jointly develop their understanding, expertise and creativity in ‘arts in education’ work with children and young people in education, community and arts settings. The Erasmus+ I-TAP-PD multiplier event at the National Portal Day will share outcomes and learning from the programme to date.
Do you have a workshop or presentation that you would like to be included in the programme for this day? If so, please send us your proposal.
The deadline for submission of proposals has been extended to 5pm Friday 26 August 2022.
The Portal team have had an exciting few months on the road visiting the recipients of the 2022 Portal Documentation Awards.
‘Music Makes Me Happy’ Creative Cluster
In May and early June we visited three Limerick based schools who have been collaborating as part of a Creative Cluster Project under the theme ‘Music Makes Me Happy’. The focus of the two year project has been to create more opportunities for the pupils of all three schools to experience music; to learn an instrument, listen to live music, perform and explore music through creative collaboration.
In this, the second year of the project the students and teachers from all three schools have been continuing to collaborate with local musician Mike Hogan in learning the ukulele. On our visit to St Patrick’s Boys National School, the 5th class pupils and their class teacher Mr Murray shared with us some of the songs they have been working on for a group performance at the end of the school year.
Ukulele Player at St Brigid’s National School – ‘Music Makes Me Happy’ Creative Cluster Project
In St Brigid’s National School and St Patrick’s Girls National School the students have been delving deeper in their exploration of the cluster theme through the BLAST initiative. On our visit to St. Patrick’s Girls NS we met visual artist Chelsea Canavan who has been collaborating with the 5th class students and their class teacher Ms Farrell in the creation of a large scale artwork that will become part of the school’s new building. Taking inspiration from music the pupils have been designing patterns based on the honeycomb shape and fretwork patterns found on the end of a concertina instrument. During our visit the children were creating prints using stamps they had made, exploring different shapes and combinations.
At St Brigid’s NS, class teacher Ms Nihill and the 5th class pupils have been collaborating with composer Fiona Linnane in the c0-creation of a musical composition inspired by the cluster theme. During our visit the class were writing lyrics to add to melodies they had created and were starting to put the elements of the song together. For the song the children used a combination of instruments including the ukulele’s the class had been using for their sessions with Mike Hogan.
‘Finding the Common Thread’ International Teacher Artist Partnership Project
St Kilian’s National School, County Cavan is situated in a state-of-the-art school where its beautiful design makes you feel like you are outdoors when indoors, surrounded by nature wherever you look. This influence of nature was evident when visiting Breeda’s classroom. Artist Vera McEvoy, class teacher Breeda Kenny and the students have been exploring a local bog using art, textiles and many other means.
On the first day of our visit, the children were developing lace pieces based on flowers found in the bog. Each child had created an intricate sewn piece which re-imagined tiny plants which they discovered on trips to the bog. It was amazing to see how engrossed the children were in their needle work. The intimate nature of the work seemed to draw out different conversations amongst the children, giving them time and space to think and talk in an unstructured way.
Exploring the bog – ‘Finding the Common Thread’ International Teacher Artist Partnership Project – St Kilian’s National School, County Cavan
On the second day, we had a magical visit to the bog. Vera and the students set up a clothes line where they pegged on their lace pieces, letting them flutter in the wind. We were introduced to the various plants that had inspired their lace works – and were amazed by how tiny but complex they were. The students performed a song, using their voices and bodies to create ripples across the bog.
Over the summer months the Portal team will be working on editing the documentation footage captured during the school visits. We look forward to sharing the Documentation video’s for both project’s in the Autumn. Stay tuned!
Kids’ Own Publishing Partnership Deadline 13 July 2022
Kids’ Own, the current Arts in Education Portal Mangers are delighted to invite applications for the role of Project Manager for the Arts in Education Portal (part-time).
Reporting to the Kids’ Own CEO, the Project Manager will work very closely with other members of the Kids’ Own team and the Arts in Education Portal Editorial Committee to manage the Arts In Education Portal. Kids’ Own are the current managers of the Arts in Education Portal on behalf of the Portal Editorial Committee.
This is a very exciting opportunity for a dynamic community-minded individual with excellent digital skills and event management skills combined to lead the management of the Arts in Education Portal as it enters into a new phase of strategic development.
The specifications of the role are set out below.
Key Responsibilities
The Project Manager for the Arts in Education Portal will be responsible for managing all aspects of the Arts in Education Portal, including but not limited to:
Ongoing management of all aspects of the Arts in Education Portal website including regular content updates of project features, guest blogs, critical essays, videos, and resources.
Liaise with, and report regularly to, the Portal Editorial Committee; and attend and lead quarterly meetings.
Liaison with the Portal web developers to ensure the site is fully maintained and up to date with the latest software.
Implementation of AiE Portal Digital Marketing Strategy, including web, SEO/SEM, email marketing, social media and digital advertising.
Manage content across all platforms including email and social media in collaboration with Kids’ Own’s Digital Marketing Officer.
Managing metrics such as Google Analytics and Webmaster Tools.
Leading on website and social media channel optimisation for SEO as well as usability.
Providing editorial, creative and technical support to team members and content contributors.
Measuring, reporting and recommending on the performance of all activities both online and off.
Creating and implementing editorial calendars in collaboration with content contributors.
Delivering effective, cohesive, and engaging brand messaging.
Development of and implantation of aspects of the annual Portal Commissioning Plan.
Coordination of all Portal events, particularly the annual National Arts in Education Portal Day and Spring Regional Day, including pre-event planning, audience engagement, organising guest speakers and management of all event logistics.
Collaborating with the broader Kids’ Own team to ensure that the AiE Portal activities and content aligns with the ethos and remit of the Portal.
Briefing and managing third-party suppliers, freelancers, videographers and designers to ensure on-time delivery of assets.
Manage project budgets, in collaboration with the Creative Director and Finance Officer.
The successful applicant will have:
A third level qualification in the field of journalism, communications, marketing or equivalent experience.
A minimum of 4 years’ experience in a digital marketing with a portfolio of visual and written content.\
An excellent understanding of the Arts in Education sector and collaborative arts practice.
High-level, versatile writing abilities with strong attention to detail and editorial experience.
Proficiency in designing, managing and delivering broad, multi-angle projects.
Proven track record in creating and publishing online and offline content.
Proficiency with popular content management systems.
Adept at SEO best practices.
In-depth knowledge of various social media platforms, best practices, and website analytics.
Experience in event management ideally both online and offline.
Desirable:
Experience in working with non-profit or charitable organisations.
Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
Excellent organisational and time-management skills.
The ability to work well as part of a small team.
Highly creative with excellent analytical abilities.
Ability to travel when required for meetings, events etc. Full drivers licence preferable.
Terms of contract:
This is a part-time post (3 days p/week). An initial contract of 9 months will be offered, subject to extension. There will be a probationary period of 6 weeks.
Arts In Health & Education, MTU Crawford College of Art & Design are presently recruiting for their September course intake across the department. Choose from a number of innovative post-graduate, level 9 courses centred around the power of the Arts in supporting wellbeing, personal development and changemaking.
All courses take place at the CCAD Grand Parade campus in Cork City.
Arts & Engagement is a new two-year, part-time, 90 credit MA programme combining a number of CCAD’s Special Purpose Awards. Through research, reflection, group and practical work, participants will explore different ways of learning, investigating the transformational power of the arts in personal and societal activation or regulation through a broad scope of contemporary methodologies.
Through elective modules in year one, opportunities will be provided to broaden skill sets through Socially Engaged Theatre, Eco-Arts Practice or Art Therapy. In the second year, opportunity will be given for students to develop their ongoing arts practice informed by, and in relation to, one of two strands of engagement – Health & Wellbeing or Global Citizenship Education.
Creativity & Change is a part-time, 20 credit certificate at level 9 about creativity and its power to ignite empathy, passion and learning about our interconnected and interdependent world. Supported by Irish Aid, Department of Justice, it is about imagining more humane, just and viable ways to live in the world and to connect with how we think, live, and act in the world. This course explores how we can utilise the arts to live as connected global citizens, becoming part of the changes we want to see. It will be of interest to artists, activists, youth & community educators, volunteers and all those who are interested in collaboration and the transformative power of art.
This programme is offered as an elective within the MA Arts and Engagement. Participants on the course who are not already taking it as an elective within the MA can apply and progress to the MA Arts & Engagement, with 20 credits of the programme already completed.
Amplifying Voices Scholarships: We have a number of funded places available for those who have faced barriers to education in Ireland. See more information on the course application page.
Arts & Wellbeing is a new part-time. 20 credit Certificate at level 9. The course will be delivered through lectures and experiential workshops and provide participants with theory and approaches to arts and wellbeing that could be applied in a range of different contexts, making it attractive to teachers, therapists, arts in health practitioners, youth and community workers or artists looking to broaden the scope of their practice.
This programme is offered as an elective within the MA Arts and Engagement. Participants on the course who are not already taking it as an elective within the MA can apply and progress to the MA Arts & Engagement, with 20 credits of the programme already completed.
Eco Arts Practice is a 10 credit, level 9 certificate. Through experiential learning, this course provides an opportunity to explore Eco Arts Practice theory and application within a group setting. The aim of the course is to provide participants with approaches to Eco Art Practice that could be applied in a range of different contexts, making it attractive to teachers, therapists, youth and community workers or artists looking to broaden the scope of their practice. Participants will explore nature and the environment within an art context, from ethical use of materials, to eco literacy through to the natural environment as a classroom, a therapeutic space and a material that can be worked with.
This programme is offered as an elective within the MA Arts and Engagement. Participants on the course who are not already taking it as an elective within the MA can apply and progress to the MA Arts & Engagement, with 10 credits of the programme already completed.
Crooked House Theatre Company are delighted to invite applications from youth work organisations and schools in County Kildare to participate in a new drama and film making project ‘Adúntas’. Providing eight free programmes for young people, the project will focus on maintaining wellbeing and developing emotional resilience after COVID-19.
Through ‘Adúntas’ eight young people will also receive training in youth drama facilitation.
“We recognise the importance of allowing our young people to process the experience of Covid-19 in their own way and at their own pace”, Oguzhan Sahin, Outreach Manager with Crooked House.
This project is funded by the RTE Toy Show Appeal Grants for 2022 by the Community Foundation for Ireland. for more information about the RTE Toy Show Appeal go to www.rte.ie/eile/toy-show-appeal/.
About Crooked House Theatre Company
Crooked House is a theatre-making organisation established in 1993 in Newbridge in County Kildare, Ireland. We make theatre with, for and by young people from the ages of 11 to 24. Participation in all our activities is free and open to anyone. Young people can join our weekly workshops in Newbridge anytime. Visit www.kildareyouththeatre.com to find workshops for your age group. Our work is inspired by tolerance, equality, social justice, compassion, and empathy. We aim to create theatre that is ambitious, challenging, aesthetically engaging, and relevant to our audiences.
This month in Branar we are focusing on preparing for the live presentation of YOU’LL SEE…
In previous blogs, we have spoken about creating the film based on our adaptation of Ulysses for children and now, the next phase is for us to create a live theatre version.
We are back in the rehearsal room and must make some adjustments to the piece with the knowledge that we will have a live audience in front of us. In the film version, we were able to use the camera to dictate exactly what the audience would see through framing. However, with the live version, we have to consider the pacing, the clarity of the delivery and the visuals of the piece from the audience’s point of view. We also need to add elements such as lighting and sound cues, and everything that makes theatre different from other forms of presentation. This is challenging to do, but this is the art form we are most experienced in.
We have new members of the team now. Michael joins us as our technician and Debbie as our stage manager. The work becomes about supporting the performance and ensuring that what the audience sees is excellent every time. Helen Gregg who adapted the text with me is the performer and she now has to consider the audience as they watch the piece and ensure that they are following what she’s doing as well as being entertained by the piece.
The live performance will be longer than the film as we allow for pauses, moments to linger a little and hopefully laughter. We work on ensuring that the narrative makes sense by itself. We work on the pace to ensure that the audience has something interesting to follow at all times, whether that is the soundscape, the visuals, or Helen’s performance.
As I write this, we are preparing to present the show for the first time at the Cork Midsummer Festival for an audience of children and their adults. We are excited, nervous, and hopeful that all of our work over the past few months will pay off and that the audience will enjoy the fruits of our labor. We hope that they will leave entertained and knowing a little bit more about Ulysses, written 100 years ago by James Joyce.
The Ark Dates: 15 – 19 August
Join the team at The Ark, Dublin and artist Jole Bortoli for this hugely popular hands-on, creative course focusing on a visual arts approach to exploring narrative, literacy and other subjects.
This is a five-day Department of Education EPV-approved summer course for teachers. Suitable for all levels of experience.
The aim of the course is to enable participants to start the new school year with an enhanced toolbox of skills and knowledge, in order to effectively deliver the visual arts curriculum in the classroom. Participants will be engaged ‘hands-on’ throughout this course so learning will be through doing. Working in teams and individually, you will cover a range of curriculum strands including drawing, painting, print, 3D construction, fabric, and fibre.
A strong emphasis will be on building skills and confidence. The group will also explore how visual art can be used to engage with aspects of the English, SPHE, History and Maths curriculum, as well as to promote visual literacy approaches. School self-evaluation exercises will be incorporated as an integral part of the course. Time will also be given for individual reflection and learning and group discussion.
This course will appeal to teachers of all levels of experience and will be facilitated by the visual arts and education specialist and founder of Art to Heart, Jole Bortoli. This is a continuing professional development opportunity not to be missed!
Tickets: €100/€90 (For ArkEd Members)
Dates & Time: Five day course, 15-19 August at 10am-3pm (with breaks) each day
In Association with the School of Arts, Education & Movement, DCU
The Ballet Ireland CPD course for Primary School Teachers and Education Professionals provides participants with a secure understanding of how to teach dance, using simple, clear methods, easy steps and straightforward dance vocabularies.
Teachers are introduced to the fundamental aspects of dance education, including:
Class structure
An understanding of anatomy in relation to dance
How music is used, composed, and selected for dance
How dance relates to drama and narrative expression
The course is based on workshop programmes which have been in operation since 2005, developed in collaboration with ten national schools in the greater Dublin area. All material covered in the summer course is suitable for primary school children of all ages, and for children with diverse abilities and experiences.
The Ballet Ireland educational approach for primary school teachers offers an interdisciplinary approach to teaching dance, music, and drama, and emphasises the potential for integrating curricular learning through dance.
The initial course is a week in length; each day comprises 2 two-hour workshops and an additional session, up to an hour, for discussion and feedback with the participants, totalling 25 hours. The programme employs specialists in several complementary areas, providing workshops in dance, anatomy, music, and mime.
Participants are supported with comprehensive course notes and access to specialised musical content online. Optional follow up days are held during midterm breaks in autumn and spring (at DanceHouse, Dublin), and ongoing support is available through closed social media groups.
“It helped me to understand the benefits dance can offer a child’s whole development, in terms of physical development, gross and fine motor skills, overall co-ordination, concentration and memory skills and social-emotional development. Dance can hugely benefit a child holistically and understanding this made me feel more confident that teaching dance wasn’t simply a ‘fun’ or frivolous’ treat lesson for a class, but a worthwhile endeavour”
The week will be led by Stephen Brennan, Education Officer at Ballet Ireland, supported by Hayley Cunningham, former Ballet Ireland dancer, Stott Pilates instructor, qualified ballet teacher and a member of the Ballet Ireland educational team.
Focused workshops will be led by Nolwenn Collett, composer and musician trained at the Paris Conservatoire, and specialist in dance accompaniment, and Deirdre McKenna, a Musculoskeletal & Dance Physiotherapist specialising in sports and dance training and injury prevention.
Creative Schools is delighted to announce two exciting opportunities for artists, creative practitioners and individuals working in organisations in the arts and cultural sector.
1. Creative Associate Services for Alternative Settings
Creative Schools seeks to engage up to four Creative Associates, with relevant experience, to support the delivery of a project for schools in alternative settings from autumn 2022 for up to two years. This project will focus on schools from particular types of educational contexts that have not yet participated in the Creative Schools initiative.
2. Creative Associate Services
Creative Schools seeks to engage a number of Creative Associates, with relevant experience, to work with schools in Mayo from autumn 2022 for up to one year.
Individuals or organisations that wish to nominate an individual may apply for these opportunities by 12.00 hours (local time) on Thursday 7, July, 2022.
Baboró International Arts Festival for Children Deadline: 29 July 2022
Baboró is looking for children who will be starting 4th class in September 2022 to join their Children’s Panel to ensure their voices are included in their planning and decision making.
The Children’s Panel will play an important role in shaping Baboró’s work to make all children feel welcome, heard and represented at Baboró and in our community. The children will be guided through their experience of the festival and creative workshops throughout the year by Baboró artist in residence, Maisie Lee. Their perspectives and voice will inform how they present their annual festival and year round work with schools and communities.
Members of the Children’s Panel will attend their festival in October where they will watch performances and visit exhibitions; together meet artists and performers and learn about their creative process; meet the people who create the festival and share their ideas with them; workshop and express their opinions and perspectives of their festival experience.
Members will also meet once a month to take part in workshops and arts activities, attend creative events, meet new friends and have fun!
Branar and the Museum of Literature Ireland (MoLI) Date: Bloomsday Thursday, 16 June 2022
MoLI is asking young people from 2nd to 6th class to tell us all about a day in their life, this Bloomsday, on Thursday, 16 June. And teachers, it’s a schoolday – so they need your help!
As a follow-on activity from watching Branar’s wonderful You’ll See… film, we want to capture the diversity of lived experiences of young people from around the island of Ireland and put their voice and perspective at the heart of this day.
This is a simple and fun exercise that links imagination and biography, giving us a sense of what their days are like. Schools from across the country are taking part, and the submissions will be presented as an online archive later this year.
The closing date for submissions is Friday, 8 July 2022.
Earlier this month, teachers, artists and arts in eduction professionals gathered together – in-person and on-online – at the beautiful surroundings of the Kildare Education Support Centre. This was an opportunity to share experience, gather new ideas and network with colleagues. This event, the sixth of our annual Portal Regional Days, showcased arts in education and creative practice in the Mid-East. This year’s gathering was particularly special as it was the first in-person event in two years and provided a wonderful opportunity to catchup with members of the community, some of whom had only met virtually.
The morning of sharing practice began with visual artist Penelope Monaghan in conversation with Deirdre Rogers, Visual Arts Learning & Engagement Coordinator at the Solstice Arts Centre who shared their experience and learnings from the BLAST project with Stackallen National School, Co. Meath. As part of the presentation, Deirdre brought the audience on a Visual Thinking Strategy (VTS) journey of the painting ‘Three Space Unfolding’ by Lesley-Ann O’Connell, sharing a taste of how she uses VTS techniques in exhibition visits with schools.
“That’s so true, for me art and creative activities if you want to call it a subject is the only subject that can teach every other subject”, Deirdre Rogers
The morning continued with a thought-provoking panel discussion chaired by teacher and Teacher–Artist Partnership (TAP) Lead Facilitator Jennifer Buggie with speakers Michelle Furlong, Portal Committee member and Creative Schools Manager with the Arts Council of Ireland; Dr Triona Stokes from the Froebel Department of Primary and Early Childhood Education, Maynooth University and Mark Ball, Theatre-maker and Artistic Director of Super Paua. The panel explored the question ‘How do we ensure the voice of the child is heard?’. They shared insights into how, in their own practices, they consider the child’s voice and other practical ways to open opportunities for the child’s voice in the classroom or during a creative engagement.
Do we other children by calling them children? That old concept of not being fully a person in terms of traditional forms of education. But I really do think by using those terms ‘young people’, young people who are fully themselves… as Caitríona Ní Chullota used to say always, they are fully themselves in every moment of their existence. – Jennifer Buggie
In the afternoon, attendees where invited to take part in practical creative workshops. Photographer Brian Cregan shared some practical tools and tips on using smartphone’s and tablet’s for photography with in-person attendees. They explored how smartphones and tablets can be a key tool in documenting creative engagement.
Creative Workshop: ‘Smartphone and Tablet Photography Skills’ with photographer Brian Cregan
Online, artist Helen Flanaghan invited participants to explore their own connections to land, place and nature and to consider – what we stand to lose in the context of the climate crisis in the creative workshop titled ‘What is left and what left to lose?’. Through discussion, participants were invited on a journey of co-creation creating a piece collaborative writing which was then burnt in a fire pit at the end of the session.
Creative Workshop: What is left and what left to lose? with artist and writer Helen Flanaghan
“Lets try it and lets fail beautifully together”, Mark Ball, Artistic Director Super Paua
Thank you to everyone who joined us on the day. For those who missed the mornings discussions the live stream is available to watch back on the Portal’s Vimeo Channel here.
My Bloomsday
Schools engagement project
This month at Branar, we have been focusing our attention on the engagement element of ‘You’ll see…’, our adaptation of Ulysses by James Joyce, for children age 7+. This engagement from children was at the forefront of the creation of You’ll See. Ulysses tells the story of one day in one city and this inspired us to ask the children of Ireland to tell us the story of one day in their lives.
We have been working in conjunction with our colleagues in the Museum of Literature Ireland (MoLI) in Dublin to devise an engagement program that will allow children to respond to the video while also sharing their thoughts on what it’s like to be a child in 2022, 100 years after Ulysses was published.
We have a created a response template pack that is loosely based on some of the main questions or thoughts that are in the key episodes of Ulysses. The template pack consists of six prompts for the children to respond to. These prompts were created by Branar and MoLI after examining the school curriculum and deciding what prompts would allow the children who respond to be as creative as possible in their answers. The children are asked to respond to these prompts in their own way, be it through creative writing, or drawing images in response to the prompt questions. Our hopes are that it will be a creative process that gives us an insight into the life of children in 2022. The children will be able to engage with these packs as a class activity facilitated by the teacher after they’ve watched the You’ll See… video.
What is really exciting about this process is that the documents the children will create will be collected by the MoLI Museum and archived over the Summer. We decided that the archive should be created in a way that encourages engagement from children all over Ireland. We aim to do this by using technologies used by children on a daily basis to host the archived materials. This should hopefully allow children from all over the country to engage with each other’s responses.
Creative Schools Deadline: 17.30, 16 June 2022
The Arts Council are delighted to announce that applications have opened for schools to apply for the Creative Schools 2022/ 2023 programme.
Creative Schools 2022 welcomes applications from schools and Youthreach centres across the country who would like to join the programme. The deadline has been extended to 17.30, 16 June 2022.
The purpose of Scoileanna Ildánacha/Creative Schools is to support schools and Youthreach centres to put the arts and creativity at the heart of children’s and young people’s lives. Participating schools/centres will take part in a guided journey over two years to develop a Creative Schools Plan unique to each school, and begin to implement it. Key supports offered by this award include up to nine days per year of expert support and advice from a Creative Associate assigned to each school/centre, and a €4,000 grant towards activities and projects arising.
All applications to the Arts Council are made through the Arts Council’s online services system. Schools and Youthreach centres interested in applying to Scoileanna Ildánacha/Creative Schools 2022 can register an account on the Arts Council’s online services system here.
All Department of Education-recognised primary and post-primary schools and Youthreach centres that have not already participated in a previous round of Creative Schools are invited to apply.
Online information clinics for schools and Youthreach centres about how to apply for Creative Schools 2022
The Arts Council will be holding online information clinics in May about the Creative Schools programme and how to apply for 2022. The clinics are for representatives of Primary and Post Primary Schools, Special Schools and Youthreach Centres who are interested in participating in Scoileanna Ildánacha/Creative Schools for the academic years 2022/2023 and 2023/2024.
The online information clinics will take place as follows:
Wednesday 18 May 2022 at 16.00-17.00 – English language – Book a ticket here
Thursday 19 May 2022 at 16.00-17.00 – Irish language – Book a ticket here
The application deadline for Creative Schools has been extended to 17.30 on 16 June 2022. The reason for the new deadline is to facilitate schools at this busy time to complete their applications successfully.
BLAST Arts-in-Education Residencies Deadline: 30 September 2022
Minister for Education Norma Foley invites primary and post-primary schools to apply for the arts-in-education initiative, BLAST 2022.
Minister Foley is delighted to confirm that BLAST – Bringing Live Arts to Students and Teachers – will be running in 2022 for the second time. The 2022 programme will enable over 400 new arts-in-education residencies in schools over the course of the year.
The aim of BLAST is to provide pupils in schools all over the country with the time and the space to work with a professional artist on creative, imaginative and fun projects.
These innovative classes are designed and developed between the artist, teacher and the school under the coordination of the Education Support Centres in Ireland (ESCI) network of 21 full-time education support centres.
Minister Foley said:
“I am extremely proud to announce launch BLAST 2022, which builds on the great success of the BLAST 2021 Programme.
“When I launched BLAST last year, I had hoped that it would open up the minds and the hearts of our children by providing new and creative collaborative experiences and opportunities for our children and young people and for our schools. The evidence over the past year has shown that school communities have embraced BLAST beyond our expectations.
“In 2021, BLAST enabled over 480 new arts in education residencies in over 480 schools, ensuring over 12,000 students could benefit from this experience along with teachers and schools. Some of the trained artists available to schools covered topics such as multimedia, fine art, mosaics, stained glass sculpture/animation and performance art.
“BLAST has shown that school is a fantastic environment for children to have new and different experiences, to make new friends, to be creative and importantly to have fun while learning.
“I am delighted also to launch today the new BLAST logo, following a nationwide competition. The winning logo was chosen by a panel of judges including Louis Walsh, and Brenda Dermody of TU Dublin.
“The winning entry is both creative and practical, and does an incredible job of bringing different aspects of the alerts to life, in line with the spirit of BLAST. Well done to Lily Fleming from sixth class in Bunscoil Rinn An Chabhlaigh, Rushbrooke, Cobh, Co Cork.
“Lily will receive a go-pro camera, and their logo has now been adopted as the official logo for the BLAST programme. I hope they enjoy seeing it proudly adorn all BLAST activity in future!”
The winning entry was selected from over 1,411 entries from primary and post-primary schools all over Ireland. 5 runners-up were highly commended by the judges for their entries. All entrants will receive a BLAST certificate.
The runners-up were:
Tayla–Jae Morcombe, Mercy Mounthawk Secondary School, Mouthhawk, Tralee, Co Kerry
Louise Corry Galvin, St. Joseph’s secondary school, Spanish Point, Co Clare
Szymon Krzyzanowski, Wexford CBS, Thomas St, Co Wexford
Grace Hilliard, Coláiste Eoin, Hacketstown, Co Carlow
Julia Bartecka, Holy Family Secondary School, Newbridge Co Kildare
Applications will open on 25 May 2022. The closing date is 30 September 2022.
This initiative will be supported by the ESCI education centre network, Teacher Artist Partnership CPD programme, Arts in Junior Cycle, NAPD Creative Engagement Programme and the Arts in Education Portal.
The Ark are excited to present this really popular engaging arts summer course focusing on the two curriculum areas of Drama and Music.
This is a five day Department of Education and Skills and EPV-approved summer course for teachers.
Working with two outstanding creative practitioners, you will enjoy a week of experiential learning and development. Your confidence and skills in both music and drama will increase through highly participative and inspiring course content.
Using themes drawn from SPHE, English and other subjects, participants will explore a variety of imaginative approaches to integrated curriculum delivery. Teachers of all levels of experience will be able to fully engage in this rich week of professional development.
Course content and highlights will include:
Developing confidence and skills to deliver all aspects of the primary school music and drama curricula
Using music and drama to imaginatively respond to themes and concepts in other subjects
Working in teams and individually to bring themes to life through a range of creative approaches
Vocal development: both musical and dramatic voice use
Imaginative approaches to literacy and empathy, using both music and drama
Applying creative, reflective and evaluative practices used by musicians and theatre practitioners to teachers’ individual professional practices and to school self-evaluation.
Cost – €100/€90 (For ArkEd Members)
Dates & Times – Five day course, 4-8 June @ 10am – 3pm (with breaks) each day
Taking place on Saturday, 11th June, young people can enjoy 450+ free creative events across the country.
Catherine Martin TD, Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, has announced details of Cruinniú na nÓg 2022, a day of free creative activity for young people.
At the launch of Cruinniú na nÓg 2022 at Killruddery House and Gardens in County Wicklow, Minister Martin said:
“Since 2018, Cruinniú na nÓg has become a key date in Ireland’s cultural calendar. It has provided wonderful opportunities for Ireland’s 1.2 million children and young people to try something new like circus skills, animation, perform at live music gigs, explore contemporary dance, showcase new work through youth theatre and so much more. All events are free.
This year the Cruinniú na nÓg team are delighted that most of the events will be live and in person. Alongside the events planned by strategic partners – Dance Ireland, Garageland, Irish Street Arts, Circus and Spectacle Network (ISACS), Nenagh Children’s Film Festival, Youth Theatre Ireland and the Historic Houses of Ireland – the programme has more than 450 events programmed by local authorities in venues around the country. The Cruinniú na nÓg team are so thrilled that the restrictions of the last two years are behind us and that this year everyone can join together to be creative, express themselves and have fun.
Going live Saturday 11th June 2022
The Creative Ireland Programme and its strategic partners have developed a number of creative projects, all planned to go live on Saturday 11th June 2022.
This exciting spread of events include:
Pop-Up Dance is a Dance Ireland project which aims to connect with young people who want to dance. There will be twelve pop-up performances around the country, developed by local youth dance companies to reflect their own communities and experiences.
Garageland is back! And this year they are going live with concerts in Dublin, Meath, Donegal, Waterford, Tipperary, Kerry, Wicklow, Cavan and Monaghan. Running alongside these live concerts will be Galaxyz, a dedicated online TV channel which will live stream the concerts, screen pre-recorded performances and host industry chats.
Irish Street Arts, Circus and Spectacle Network (ISACS) will host open days for young people who want to try their hand at circus skills and street spectacle at their dedicated venues in Cloughjordan, Cork, Dublin and Galway. For those that can’t be there on the day, there will be a full range of online tutorials available and 5,000 juggling balls will be given away so that young people can develop their circus skills at home.
Historic Houses of Ireland invites everyone to four of their gorgeous properties. Activities will include aerial acrobatics at Killruddery House and Gardens in Wicklow and a forest school a Kilmokea House in Wexford. Birr Castle will focus on astronomy and biodiversity and Enniscoe in Mayo will have a full programme of events in their historic gardens.
Nenagh Children’s Film Festival will run from 10-12 June with Crúinniu na nÓg at the heart of it. In an exciting development, the festival will collaborate with Foróige, Digital Animation Production TUS and the National Talent Academy for Animation to encourage young people to create and participate.
Highlights will include screenings of a commissioned animation dedicated to young audiences and 10 film shorts created in participating schools.
Youth Theatre Ireland will host introductory theatre workshops throughout the country.
This is Art 2022: Creative Ireland and RTÉ’s wonderful art competition for young people has returned, and the winning entries will be announced on 11th June 2022.
TG4 with support from the Gaeltacht division of the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, will produce Cruthaím 33 which will champion the talents of 33 children and young people from every county in the country as well as a representative of our young diaspora. Also included in the programme will be four films made by transition year students from Gaelscoileanna around the country.
Teacher-Artist Partnership (TAP) Dates: 4 July – 8 July 2022
Teacher-Artist Partnership (TAP) Programme invites teachers to register for their Face-to-Face CPD this summer. The Teacher Artist Partnership Residency programme 2022 – 2023 will be available to eight participating schools in all 21 full-time Education Support Centres. Only schools whose teachers participated in the summer course 2022 will be eligible for a residency.
The Teacher-Artist Partnership (TAP) CPD and Residency Programme is a unique Department of Education led initiative for supporting and enhancing arts and creativity in education in primary schools. It is funded and supported under the Creative Ireland Programme – Creative Youth. The initiative includes CPD Summer Courses and subsequent funded Artist in Residency opportunities in which TAP trained teachers and artists and the children work together in partnership during the following academic year. For more on TAP see: edcentretralee.ie/27-teacher-artist-partnership.html
Dates: 4 July – 8 July 2022
Register on your local full-time Education Support Centre’s website. Find your local Education Support Centre here: esci.ie/
Barnstorm Theatre Company Dates: 10am & 12pm, 25 May – 10 June 2022
Barnstorm Theatre Company are delighted to invite primary schools in Kilkenny to Swansong. This performance is a heartfelt and comic exploration of a once in a lifetime encounter between two strangers. This new play for audiences aged 9+ by Shane O’Reilly playfully and sensitively engages with the mythical notion of the swansong; a final gesture or performance.
Schools attending a performance can book two workshops in their school, a session on visual literacy in advance of the performance and a second workshop on critical analysis in the days following their visit to the theatre. There is limited availability and will be provided on a ‘first-come’ basis. A resource pack will be provided to participating teachers. The pack will provide a focus for exploration and discussion of themes raised through the play. There is a special school group ticket rate of €10 with teachers attending for free.
This video resource explores 4 different questions: Why is the Teacher-Artist relationship important, why is it important to document your projects, what is the value of the arts in the classroom and lastly, what does a child-led process look like? The four videos feature the Teacher – Artist pairs who participated in the TAP Special Initiative Project which took place over 2021.
These videos form part of a wider programme facilitated by Kids’ Own Publishing Partnership. Participants took part in a 5-session online documentation training programme. These in-depth workshops covered topics such as what is creative documentation, digital tools for creative collaboration and documentation, documenting as part of your process, presenting your creative self and work and lastly, editing and curating your work.
The Teacher-Artist pairs also took part in 6 mentoring sessions, choosing a mentor that best suited their project from a curated panel. During these mentoring sessions, the pairs got the chance to delve deep into their practice together, offering a space for reflection. The final element of the Special Initiative will consist of a digital publication sharing the learnings of this documentation training programme.
The Teacher-Artist Partnership (TAP) CPD and Residency Programme is a unique Department of Education led initiative for supporting and enhancing arts and creativity in education in primary schools. It is funded and supported under the Creative Ireland Programme – Creative Youth. The initiative includes CPD Summer Courses and subsequent funded Artist in Residency opportunities in which TAP trained teachers and artists and the children work together in partnership during the following academic year. For more on TAP see: edcentretralee.ie/27-teacher-artist-partnership.html
TAP Face-to-Face 2022 runs from Monday 4th July – Friday 8th July. The Teacher Artist Partnership Residency programme 2022 – 2023 will be available to eight participating schools in all 21 full-time Education Support Centres. Only schools whose teachers participated in the summer course 2022 will be eligible for a residency.
Register on your local full-time Education Support Centre’s website. See link to find your local Education Support Centre https://esci.ie/
Ulysses, Ulysses 2.2
This month in Branar we have been working on adapting Ulysses by James Joyce for children aged 7 to 12. This is a challenging project, but equally rewarding as we get to engage with the amazing text that Joyce wrote 100 years ago. We had to explore ways in which we could adapt that text to make it interesting and suitable for younger audiences.
The MOLI museum, Landmark Productions and ANU Productions created a yearlong celebration of the 100th anniversary of the printing of Ulysses, Ulysses 2.2. They commissioned 18 contemporary artists to respond to various episodes of the book using different art forms.
Obviously, Ulysses wasn’t written for young audiences and there is a lot of content, plots and subplots that are not really suitable for children. But there’s also a lot of magic in it, in its content, language and in the story, one city in one day, the 16th of June 1904.
We made the decision to follow Stephen Dedalus and Leopold Bloom, (the main characters) on their journey through the city during this summer’s day. They are two very different characters; one is sad mostly and thinks in poetry the other happier and thinks in short sharp thoughts. This allows the audience to clearly identify them as we travel through the day switching from character to character.
After reading the book I decided on the images that would best represent the action for each of the episodes, then working alongside my colleague and friend Maeve Clancy, paper artist, we decided on what those images would look like, and Maeve created a pop-up book version of Ulysses. The pop-ups are animated by performer Helen Gregg, who worked with me in the adaptation of the piece.
The pop-up book allows us to create new scenes quickly but also adds an element of magic and an element of surprise that will allow the children to really engage with the story and with the people within that story. There are 39 pop up images and two for each of the of the episodes, none of the pop ups work in the same way so there’s loads of visual content for the children to follow.
The text of the story is delivered brilliantly by Helen Gregg. Michael Chang, our composer, created a score that would complement all these elements. Adrian ferry, sound designer added a sound to the world and together with James Ryan who filmed it and we have created a film version of this pop-up story that will be available to schools nationwide they will be able to watch it and engage with the story and ultimately understand that Ulysses is a story about many many different characters in one city in one day.
The show is an invitation is to children two created their own story of their day on the 16th of June 1922 Bloomsday. All of these stories will be gathered by the MOLI museum and then they will be archived and the children will be able to access their stories online later in this year.
Kids’ Own Publishing Partnership Deadline: 3 May 2022
Kids’ Own are seeking to appoint an Operations Manager and Project Manager to join their team in Sligo. See details below:
Operations Manager
Kids’ Own is now seeking to appoint an Operations Manager to support the smooth running of all of our operational activities.
Job Description: Reporting directly to the CEO, the Operations Manager’s duties will include, but not be limited to, the following:
Governance Code compliance: Monitoring and supporting updates to, and implementation of, policies and procedures, in line with Charities Governance Code.
Company Secretary duties.
Management and monitoring of operational risk.
Responsible for data storage and management of all company databases.
Top-level administrative and filing duties.
Management of company calendar.
HR supports: Overseeing updates to the company staff handbook, filing of staff contracts and organising relevant training for staff members and associate artists.
Building oversight and maintenance.
Managing stock: Responsible for book storage, postage of book orders and other dissemination initiatives.
Publishing duties: Registering ISBNs, recording titles with Nielsen, sourcing print quotes—in collaboration with CD/CEO.
Some accountancy supports, where required.
Support company development, where required.
Terms: This is a part-time post, 3.5 days p/week. Fixed-term contract of one year, with a view to extension.
Kids’ Own has an exciting opportunity for an experienced individual to lead on the ongoing delivery of our collaborative initiatives with children and young people.
The Project Manager will report to the CEO and will work closely with our small team to support the delivery of our strategic aims through our projects and programmes with children and young people.
Key Responsibilities The project manager’s duties will include, but not be limited to:
Plan and manage a diverse range of projects on an ongoing basis, in line with Kids’ Own strategic objectives.\
Co-ordinate and oversee all practical elements of project management, including:Scheduling planning and review meetings.
Appointing and contracting artists.
Working with partners to identify participant groups; or open recruitment.
Organising project details: dates, venue, materials and documentation methods.
Organising launch events for published outputs.
Issuing consent forms to participants in line with Kids’ Own’s Child Protection Policy.
Ensuring safeguarding procedures are strictly adhered to.
Responsibility for evaluation, and processing of outputs.
Draw on expertise and knowledge to support decision-making in relation to projects.
Work collaboratively with project artists, teachers and partners to ensure the smooth and timely running of projects.
Develop and maintain effective relationships with key partners and funders.
Support grant-writing for project income and submit activity reports to funders.
Manage project budgets, in collaboration with the Creative Director and Finance Officer.
Support marketing and publicity activities related to specific projects.
Terms: This is a part-time post, 3 days p/week. Fixed-term contract of one year, with a view to extension.
Applications:
Candidates are requested to send a detailed CV and cover letter to:
Jo Holmwood, Creative Director of Kids’ Own, jo@kidsown.ie by Tuesday 3rd May at 5pm.
Class Dance! Dates: 24 & 31 May, 7 & 14 June
Gain skills and confidence in putting dance ideas into practice with the children you work with. Join this new series of online workshops hosted by dance artist and teacher, Lisa Cliffe.
‘Class Dance’ is an online creative professional development programme for primary teachers and practitioners of all forms of dance working with children from ages 6 to 12. Together, participants will explore and share ways of engaging children creatively in dance. Perhaps you have an idea you would like to develop or you are looking for new inspiration? The four sessions are your opportunity to move, gain skills, celebrate creativity through dance and connect with your peers across the country. Working in small groups, participants will discover new approaches and build confidence in planning and delivering creative tasks and dance sessions.
The series is devised and facilitated by experienced dance artist and qualified primary school teacher Lisa Cliffe. Participants need to commit to all four online sessions, 7pm to 8:45pm on Tuesdays: 24th & 31st May, and 7th & 14th June. The closing date for registration of interest is May 19. Please note that places are limited. The research and development of this series of workshops has been funded through the Arts Council of Ireland.
Calling all primary & preschool teachers! Join The Ark team for a cup of tea and learn more about their classroom resources and our Summer CPD courses.
The Ark are delighted to be able to welcome you back! This will be an informative and relaxed chat with like-minded teachers and the Ark team. There will be a short presentation by The Ark team highlighting the classroom packs and resources available which have been designed to complement the primary school curriculum. You will also get to hear about their exciting Teacher CPD Summer Courses on offer in-person at The Ark this year.
You’ll have plenty of time to chat and catch up with colleagues and The Ark team.
This event is free to attend but we do ask that you register your attendance.
Solstice Arts Centre Dates: Thursday 26 May, 9:30am – 11am or 11:30am – 1pm
Solstice Arts Centre invites 1st – 6th class primary school students to this hands-on workshop which will focus on the contrasting painted artworks in their current exhibition ‘Golden Fleece: 21 Years’. Artist Claire Halpin will begin with a Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) tour of the gallery to engage students in peer-to-peer conversation on the multiple perspectives and themes explored by the exhibiting artists. Students will then have the opportunity to respond and engage in a range of artistic and creative techniques, including 2d and 3d drawing, layering and collage.
This multimedia approach to image making will be inspired by the aspects of everyday urban and domestic environments depicted in the works of Kathy Tynan, the controlled brushwork and cropping of his subject matter seen in Marcel Vidal’s triptych, the atmospheric paintings by Paul Hallahan, focusing on how we relate and interact with nature or the subtle depictions based on gender, class, and identity within Irish history in an artwork by artist Jennifer Trouton.
Curricular links made during this workshop will include oral and visual literacy, visual art appreciation, drawing, collage, colour, history, SESE, SPHE as well as problem solving and collaboration.
Dates: Thursday 26 May, 9:30am – 11am or 11:30am – 1pm
National Museum of Ireland – Country Life Dates: 1 May to 30 June 2022
The Irish Architecture Foundation and the National Museum of Ireland invite you to Architects in Schools Exhibition. This is a national exhibition created by Transition Year students, teachers and architects responding to themes of Community, Sustainability and Home.
This exhibition features 2D drawings and 3D models and were made in workshops by young people, in collaboration with architects and teachers. The exhibits are displayed in different locations throughout the Museum. An exhibition map is available to guide you on this exhibition trail. There are a number of objects in the Irish Folklife collection that link to the exhibition themes so keep an eye out for them!
The National Museum of Ireland is facilitating Student Response Workshops in response to the Architects in Schools Exhibition. These school visits are an opportunity for students participating in Architects in Schools to meet each other and share their views and ideas. As part of their visit, they will participate in a workshop facilitated by an architect.
Solstice Arts Centre invites schools to explore artworks from over 40 artists and craftspeople in their current exhibition, ‘Golden Fleece: 21 Years’, using Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) to expand students’ thoughts on ‘what’s going on in these artworks’. Guided by Deirdre, our learning and engagement coordinator, students will be encouraged to engage in peer to peer discussion, and have the opportunity to focus and reflect on multiple perspectives, enhancing their engagement and enjoyment of learning through art. To conclude, students will learn about the artist or craftsperson who created the works, and may even be inspired to create artworks of their own!
Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) is a research-based teaching methodology VTS encourages oral and visual literacy, problem solving and positive collaborative interactions among peers. Based on the work of cognitive psychologist, Abigail Housen and veteran museum educator Philip Yenawine, VTS supports learner-centred thinking and feeling when looking at art objects.
Date & Time: Continues throughout the exhibition until 4 June 2022, various dates available (duration: 60 mins)
Ages: Primary 2nd – 6th class & Post Primary (all ages)
Celebrate the beauty of Spring through this interactive dance workshop with The Ark’s John Coolahan Early Years Artist in Residence Monica Muñoz.
Meet Blossom, she is delighted that finally spring has arrived. Join her in a sensory movement adventure around a spring day: Hopping, skipping around flowers, leaping and jumping over rivers, meeting caterpillars and butterflies and touching the most perfect sky!
This delightful interactive dance workshop invites little ones and their grown-ups to enjoy imagining and moving together. So if you’re a parent, grandparent, uncle, aunty, godparent or carer, come along with a 2 to 4 year old and join in the fun.
Dept of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media Deadline: 12 May 2022
The Dept of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media has launched a new and pioneering pilot scheme to support artists and creative arts workers. The Basic Income for the Arts pilot scheme will examine, over a 3 year period, the impact of a basic income on artists and creative arts workers. Payments of €325 per week will be made to 2,000 eligible artists and creative arts workers who will be selected at random and invited to take part.
The overarching objective of the scheme is to address the earnings instability that can be associated with the intermittent, periodic, and often project-based nature of work in the arts. The scheme will research the impact on artists and creative arts workers creative practice of providing the security of a basic income, thereby reducing income precarity.
Its intention is to research the impact a basic income would have on artists and creatives work patterns by providing the opportunity to focus on their practice, and to minimise the loss of skills from the arts as a result of the pandemic and to contribute to the sectors gradual regrowth post pandemic.
The delivery of the pilot is a key priority for Minister Catherine Martin, Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, to underpin the recovery in the arts and culture sector and provide much needed certainty to the artists and creatives who choose to avail of the pilot scheme.
The pilot scheme will be open to eligible artists and creative arts sector workers.
The Portal Team are delighted to announce the second of the two recipients of the 2022 Arts in Education Portal Documentation Award. We are very excited to be working with each recipient in the coming months to document their projects. These projects will be showcased on the portal as the documentation progresses.
About the recipients…. Project title: ‘Finding the Common Thread’ International Teacher Artist Partnership Project
This project “Finding the Common Thread” is an International Teacher Artist Partnership (I-TAP) residency project between teacher Breeda Kenny and visual artist Vera McEvoy in collaboration with the 6th class pupils of St Kilian’s National School, Mullagh, Co Cavan.
This project will integrate aspects of the SESE Curriculum with the Arts Curriculum. This will be done by developing an innovative way of combining the pupils learning about the local bog environment with learning traditional lace making. This project will reinforce the work covered in the Primary Curriculum in the areas of English, Science, History and Geography. The processes that will be employed will include looking at the heritage of lace-making in the area and learning the particular stitches and techniques synonymous with Carrickmacross Lace. The pupils will be afforded opportunities to design patterns for their lace pieces based on their visit to the bog and their exploration of flora and fauna in this unique environment. Kinaesthetic and enquiry-based approaches will be used throughout the project to encourage critical thinking and innovation but more importantly to develop the pupils’ own individual creativity. The voice of the child will be paramount throughout the project.
The Portal Documentation Award will be an exciting opportunity for the pupils to create a record of their learning journey within the Arts curriculum through the creation of “Bog Books” incorporating sample lace pieces and the pupils own reflections on the process.
Artist: Vera McEvoy
Vera McEvoy is a Kildare based visual artist, educator and graduate of the National College of Art and Design, Dublin. Vera is a multidisciplinary artist working in collaborative and participatory art projects. She aspires to encourage more creativity in all ages, providing opportunities to explore, experiment and create using various art processes, techniques and materials. She is a lecturer in Visual Art Education, Froebel Dept. of Primary and Early Childhood Education, Maynooth University. Since 2019 she has been a member of the Helium Artist panel and a Creative Associate with the Creative Schools programme.
‘My partnership with Breeda has been of great benefit to my professional practice and development and to me personally. I am excited as I look forward to expanding our partnership as part of the Arts in Education Portal Documentation Award,’ Vera. See more of Vera’s work at www.veramcevoy.com
Teacher: Breeda Kenny
Breeda Kenny is Deputy Principal in St Kilian’s N.S., Mullagh, Co.Cavan. She currently teaches 6th Class. She is a graduate from Mary Immaculate College of Education. Breeda has always been interested in the arts, in particular Music. She has been responsible for the delivery of summer courses in this area in Monaghan Education Centre in the past. She has worked with Vera McEvoy since 2016 on the Teacher – Artist Partnership (TAP) course.
Breeda completed a M.Sc in Education and Training in DCU in 2013. The title of her dissertation was “How can I demonstrate the importance of the Creative Arts in my practice as a primary school teacher through the medium of video?” As part of her role as Deputy Principal, she is currently responsible for the development of the creative arts in St Kilian’s.
Arts in Education Portal
Date: Saturday, 7th May 2022
The Arts in Education Portal’s regional tour continues this spring with our first in-person event in 2 years! On Saturday, 7th May join us and our hosts at Kildare Education Support Centre for a series of discussions and creative workshops sharing experience and best practice from the sector in the Mid-East.
The programme for the day includes a presentation with artist Penelope Monaghan and Deirdre Rogers, Visual Arts Learning & Engagement Coordinator at Solstice Arts Centre sharing their experience on the recent BLAST project with Stackallen National School, Co.Meath, along with a panel discussion chaired by Jennifer Buggie, Teacher and Teacher-Artist Partnership (TAP) Lead Facilitator exploring the question ‘How do we ensure the voice of the child is heard?’ with panel speakers Dr Triona Stokes from the Froebel Department of Primary and Early Childhood Education, Maynooth University; Michelle Furlong, Portal Committee member and Creative Schools Manager with the Arts Council of Ireland and Mark Ball, Theatre-maker and Artistic Director of Super Paua.
In the afternoon join Kildare based photographer Brian Cregan for a hands-on practical session to explore composition, framing, apps and editing techniques to learn and improve photography skills using smartphones and tablets.
The morning discussions will be live streamed to ensure accessibility for those who cannot travel to the event in-person. In the afternoon for those joining us online a virtual creative workshop ‘What is left and what left to lose?’ will explore the Ardee Bog in County Louth and connections to land, place and nature with artist and writer Helen Flanagan on zoom.
Please note: ISL Interpretation will be available at the venue and online.
11:00am — Project Presentation ‘Creative Connections’: Visual Artist, Penelope Monaghan in conversation with Deirdre Rogers, Visual Arts Learning & Engagement Coordinator Solstice Arts Centre sharing their experience on the recent BLAST project with Stackallen National School, Co.Meath
11:45am— Panel Discussion: Dr Triona Stokes, Educator and Drama Practitioner with the Froebel Department of Primary and Early Childhood Education , Maynooth University; Michelle Furlong, Teacher and Creative Schools Manager with the Arts Council of Ireland; and theatre-maker, Mark Ball Artistic Director of Super Paua in conversation with Chair Jennifer Buggie, Teacher and Teacher-Artist Partnership Lead Facilitator.
1:00.pm — Q & A: whole panel of presenters
1:15pm —Lunch & networking
2.00pm — Hands-On Creative Workshops
In-person Creative Workshop: ‘Smartphone and Tablet Photography Skills’with photographer Brian Cregan
Virtual Creative Workshop: ‘What is left and what left to lose?’ with artist and writer Helen Flanagan. Separate booking is required for this workshop as capacity is limited – Book here.
Backstage Theatre Date: 11am & 1pm, Friday 20 May 2022
Backstage Theatre invites primary schools to Lúminaria, a theatre show for ages 6+. With an array of wonderful characters played by three amazing actors, colourful puppets and original music, Lúminaria brings the audience on a whimsical journey into the unknown.
There is an emergency in the village of Lúminaria and only Lúna can save them. Join Lúna on an adventure into the sky as she tries to find the light to protect her mother and the villagers from darkness. As Lúna faces her deepest fears, we learn about courage, love and finding light in the darkest of moments.
Writer Fionnuala Gygax & Director Maisie Lee carried out a number of workshops with two local Longford schools in Lúminaria’s development stage, incorporating the childrens’ feedback into this imaginative show.
Hawk’s Well Theatre Dates: Monday 25 or Tuesday 26 April 2022
Hawk’s Well Theatre is bringing Super Paua to Sligo to deliver three different in-person workshops in local primary and secondary schools. Super Paua is an Irish artist-led collective whose workshop programmes encourage young people to question what they know and how they’ve come to know it, creating space for them to harness their creative ideas and to come together to connect in a new way.
There are three workshops: ARTificial; Is Peace Possible? Zine Workshop; and Getting Lost- Ag Dul Ar Strae – Multilingual/Super Paua Stories Workshops.
ARTificial
This art and science workshop explores artificial intelligence, machine learning and fake news. Using practical, creative, and discussion based activities, Super Paua explore with the young people the impacts that technology and fake news have, and could have on our world and future.
Is Peace Possible? Zine Workshop
In 1957, Kathleen Lonsdale wrote her book Is Peace Possible? Kathleen was a pioneering chemist, crystallographer and activist who was extremely aware of the social and political impacts science can have. In this zine workshop, participants will develop your artistic and storytelling skills to create your own zines based on the question Lonsdale poses in the title of her book. What would peace look like to you? What do young people, scientists, artists and citizens need to engage with to make peace a possibility?
Getting Lost- Ag Dul Ar Strae
In this workshop, you will be playing with idioms and proverbs to create stories together, and to celebrate different languages (Irish, English and the other languages in your class!). Participants will use drama, images and conversation to create imaginative stories from unique poetic phrases in our native languages, chosen by the children. This workshop is based on Lara ar Strae from Scéalta Super Paua, a bilingual podcast for children.
We are delighted to be celebrating our 21st year of making work for children this year. We have the great privilege as arts to be allowed to create arts experiences for young citizens aged 0- 12 years. This privilege comes with a great responsibility also, because the day we meet a new audience member could be their first ever experience of the arts and it also could be their last.
Therefore, we must ensure that each and every artistic encounter we have with children is excellent, because we believe every child should have the best childhood possible and that excellent art made especially for them should be part of it.
We insist on calling our audience young citizen because as citizens they have the same rights as adults and therefore are entitled to every opportunity that an adult is entitled to.
“State parties shall respect and promote the right of the child to participate fully in cultural and artistic life and shall encourage the provision of appropriate and equal opportunities for cultural, artistic, recreational and leisure activity.”
The importance of arts and culture for children cannot be understated and it is this belief that is the core of what we do at Branar.
We love stories, and we promise to create stories that children can enjoy. Branar was founded 2 April 2001, with the aim of creating arts experiences for children so that they and their imagination may thrive. Over the years, we have created over 22 shows, working with an ensemble of exceptional artists and creative partners including The Ark, Baboró, NIE (England), Starcatchers (Scotland), and many leading Irish arts centres and festivals.
This year we have also launched Meitheal, our new support initiative for artists creating work for young audiences across the performing arts disciplines. With this initiative, we aim to help independent artists create exciting new work for young audiences.
Over the next few blog posts, we will be giving some behind the scenes sneak peaks into one of the projects the team will be working on in the coming months.
The Portal Team are delighted to announce the first of the two recipients of the 2022 Arts in Education Portal Documentation Award. We are very excited to be working with each recipient in the coming months to document their projects. These projects will be showcased on the portal as the documentation progresses.
About the recipients…. Project Title: ‘Music Makes Me Happy’ BLAST Project
This project began as a Creative Clusters Project between St Brigid’s National School, St Patrick’s Girls National School and St Patrick’s Boys National School in Limerick.
As part of the project, we engaged with the school self- Evaluation process and identified music as an area for improvement in all three schools in the cluster. We agreed that we would like to create more opportunities for our pupils to learn an instrument, listen to live music and perform. We connected with local musical groups such as Comhaltas, The BUG’s ukulele group, St John’s Brass and Reed Band and local musicians. We designed a programme of work for the year to include opportunities for the children to learn ukulele, tin whistle whilst also bringing live musicians to our schools. We also set up after school ukulele clubs for both pupils and staff. This was led by Robert Moloney, a teacher in St Brigid’s National School.
We worked collaboratively to identify a theme for the project. The overarching theme of the project is ‘Music Makes me Happy’. The focus of the project is on participation and enabling as many children as possible to actively engage with the project. Pupils were involved in the early stages of planning through our Student Council.
Pupil voice will be key to the BLAST project. This will be achieved in very real terms with pupils in 5th class composing a Music Makes Me Happy inspired anthem in conjunction with Fiona Linnane, our BLAST composer. A staff ukulele group has also been established between the cluster to ensure the longevity of the project can be sustained through teacher CPD. Wellbeing has been an added bonus with staff being inspired by the project and creating an overall sense of excitement and fun.
Creative Cluster Artists
The Creative Cluster project currently engages with two musicians namely Paula O’Regan, a connection made through Comhaltas and Mike Hogan, a connection made through The BUGS ukulele group. These musicians visit the three schools weekly to teach tin whistle and ukulele.
BLAST Artist: Fiona Linnane
Composer Fiona Linnane will be working with St Brigid’s National School as the association BLAST artist.
Fiona Linnane is a composer based in County Limerick. Fiona is a Teacher – Artist Partnership Programme trained Lead Artist and has been involved in Artist in Schools schemes for almost 20 years. Her workshops are enthusiastic, energetic and fun and aim to give students a new perspective on sound, music and composition.
Fiona was awarded the Limerick City and County Council Individual Arts Bursary in 2018 and 2019, for work in the field of opera and Art song. She is a recipient of the Arts Council of Ireland Music Bursary Award 2020 and has been commissioned by Opera Workshop supported by the Arts Council of Ireland Commissions Award 2020.
Fiona will be working on the composition aspect of the music curriculum with the pupils in Mrs Sinead Nihill’s 5th class to create a ‘Music Makes Me Happy’ inspired anthem. All of the pupils will be incorporated into the composition process in various ways including our ukulele and tin whistle classes as well as our Peace Proms group.
Teacher: Avril Cross
Avril Crosse is a primary school teacher in St Brigid’s National School, Singland, Limerick. She graduated from Mary Immaculate College in 2013 after completing a Bachelor or Education with a specialism in Gaeilge and has recently completed a Masters of Education in Educational Leadership and Management. Avril has always been interested in the creative arts and bringing learning to life; she tries to incorporate fun and playful learning experiences in the classroom including that of music. Avril is part of the staff ukulele group and can play the tin whistle and piano.
BLAST Artist: Chelsea Canavan
Chelsea Canavan is a Limerick based multidisciplinary artist interested in exploring ecological and naturalised belonging. Looking at invasive and naturalised plants as a way to challenge constructed narratives around globalised society within landscapes and nationalism. Chelsea received the Arts Council Agility Award 2021 to explore a practice drawn from kinships with invasive species through hyper-connected thinking similar to that of Anna Tsing, Timothy Morton, and Deleuze and Guarttari’s ‘Rhizome’ theory.
Chelsea is also involved in the Creative Schools Programme, Teacher-Artist Partnership Programme and BLAST Schools’ Project.
Chelsea Canavan will be working with St Patrick’s GNS as their associated BLAST artist.
Teacher & Creative Coordinator: Evelyn Hartigan
Evelyn Hartigan has been a teacher in a primary school setting since 1999. She has a keen interest in the Arts, and feels that exposing children to art in its many genres is a very important part of the curriculum. Currently teaching in SET and use various art forms weekly as a source of well-being for children with additional needs. Evelyn completed the Teacher-Artist Partnership project in 2019 which involved working with an artist where 2nd class learned all about the Ilen ship and signal flags. They designed and created their own flags, one which made it to a school in Madeira and another hangs in Limerick City Hall. Evelyn am currently involved in coordinating on both Creative Cluster and Blast projects at St Patrick’s Girls National School.
Teacher: Clare Farrell
Clare Farrell is the current fifth class teacher and Deputy Principal in St. Patrick’s Girls National School in Limerick. Clare have been teaching there since she graduated in 1999. She have always been interested in Art and using all strands of the art curriculum to enhance and promote, not only, creative thinking and expression in each student but also a love and appreciation for art in the world around us. “Allowing students to experience area of the curriculum permits opportunities for pride in their work, not limited by how well or not they can draw, write, or even complete mathematical equations. Art also allows the students exposure to personal expression and choice in a way that no other subject really does. Freedom of expression of personal choice and acceptance of difference of opinion is activity encouraged and developed in the looking and responding aspect of the curriculum. Having a real artist in the classroom encouraging and inspiring their ideas and work is an opportunity that cannot be underestimated”.
Highlanes Gallery Dates: April – Nov 2022
Highlanes Gallery are offering both primary and post-primary school programmes running from April – November 2022 that engage your students with art & ideas.
The primary school programme involves 4 free sessions where teachers will explore art with your class, looking, thinking and making, focusing on Highlanes’ current exhibitions.
Facilitated by artist Claire Halpin, you and your class will visit Highlanes Gallery in-person in Session 1 to view the exhibition where Claire will use Visual Thinking Strategies methodology to activate reflection and discussion. Session 2 and 3 are practical and involve Claire visiting your classroom where you and your class group will work with ideas and materials liked with the exhibition. Session 4 concludes with a reflection and discussion session back in the gallery and with the other class groups (2) who will also have taken part in the programme.
Recent Acquisitions (Summer)
Wed 11th May Gallery Visit
Wed 18th May Classroom Session
Wed 25th May Classroom Session
Wed 1st June Gallery Feedback Session
Brian Fay – The Most Recent Forever (Winter)
Wed 12th Oct Gallery Visit
Wed 19th Oct Classroom Session
Wed 26th Oct Classroom Session
Wed 9th Nov Gallery Feedback Session
Also on offer are post-primary guided tours of Highlanes’ current exhibition ‘We are here’. This exhibition which was co-curated by a group of artist-art teachers and lecturers continues until 16th April. The guided tours will focus on the Leaving Cert Curriculum and/or other approaches that are of interest to your students.
Dates: April – Nov 2022
Both programmes plus materials are free to teachers and their students. To book your place, or get more information, please email Simon Colfer at info@highlanes.ie
RTÉ and Creative Ireland Programme Deadline: 1 May 2022
Calling all artists of all abilities – This Is Art! Competition is back. RTÉ and Creative Ireland Programme are inviting artists aged 18 and under who live anywhere on the island of Ireland to create and submit an original piece of visual art with the theme ‘This Is Extraordinary’.
Snap or scan a digital version of the artwork and upload it, together with a brief artist statement, to an online art gallery where it will be shown for for generations to come.
There are five categories: Age 7 and under, age 8 – 11, age 12 – 15, age 16 – 18 and a group category. A prize fund of more than €10,000 will be awarded across the different categories for further education and art related vouchers. The competition aims to promote artistic practice among young people and encourage and support creativity, originality and self-expression. All visual art disciplines are welcomed.
Explore how to use your creativity and inspire young audiences with dance artist Takeshi Matsumoto. The Ark and Dublin Dance Festival present a dance workshop for professionals interested in working with young audiences.
Join Takeshi Matsumoto for a workshop exploring a multi-disciplinary practice in working with and making performances for children and young audiences.
Combining contemporary dance, somatics, meditation and dance movement therapy practice, participants are invited to reconnect with their own senses, creativity and playfulness through dancing, drawing, reflecting and sharing.
This workshop is suitable for professional dancers and dance students interested in creating work for young audiences.
National Gallery of Ireland Date: 4-5pm, 11 May 2022
National Gallery of Ireland invites teachers to an online CPD for Teachers: Mindfulness & Art. Join Maria Broderick, gallery tour guide and primary-school teacher, for a practical workshop that will equip you with tools and ideas for including mindfulness in the classroom.
The session will support teachers using the National Gallery of Ireland’s schools resource Art & Mindfulness, and will include peer learning via group work to enable you to develop cross-curricular creative strategies.
This is an online event via Zoom. A link will be sent via email to all ticketholders before the event. Booking closes an hour before the event is scheduled to begin.
The Minister for Education Norma Foley TD invites primary and post-primary schools across Ireland to apply for Creative Clusters, an initiative taking place as part of Creative Ireland and under the Schools Excellence Fund. The Department of Education’s budget for Creative Clusters in 2022 is €595,000.
Under this scheme to support schools to build capacity in creativity, schools in each cluster will enjoy access to a specialist facilitator, artist or creative expertise in whatever their chosen area of interest or theme might be. These resources will help the schools to build a project of learning and activities tailor-made for their students. As part of this funding allocation, a cluster may receive up to €15,000 funding to help bring their plans and ideas to fruition in 2022-2024.
Minister Foley said:
“This is a wonderful opportunity for schools to work together on a project of their choice. Schools are given complete freedom to design and develop their own project, with support from a local facilitator and their local education centre. I hope that this exciting initiative will help schools to further enhance creativity in their classrooms. It is important that our children are enabled to express themselves and learn to adapt and collaborate. ‘Creative Clusters’ gives students of all ages the opportunity to develop these essential skills, enjoy and explore artistic and creative expression.”
To date, the Creative Clusters initiative has seen schools around the country work together to develop creative projects and collaborate on new ideas based on their local experience and unique perspective. The Schools Excellence Fund of the Department of Education sets out to encourage and recognise excellence and innovation in our schools. This initiative will help deliver on the Creative Youth pillar of Creative Ireland, which sets out a commitment that every child in Ireland has practical access to tuition, experience and participation in music, drama, arts and coding.
Application Deadline: 13 May 2022
Each Creative Cluster will receive grant funding of €3,000 per school over a two-year period to implement their project in the 2022–2024 school years (e.g. a cluster of 3 schools would receive €9,000 over two years while a cluster of 5 schools would receive €15,000 over two years). Clusters will receive 50% of the total grant funding in Year 1, with the second 50% being provided in Year 2. In addition, but separate to the grant funding, all successful clusters are further supported with: A fully paid Creative Cluster Facilitator; paid Teacher Substitution to attend training and meetings; room hire, travel & subsistence.
Schools can apply as part of a cluster which may be an existing network of schools.
A school nearing the end of year 2 of an existing Creative Cluster can reapply to be in a new cluster where the other schools in the new cluster have not participated before.
Schools nearing the end of 2 years with Creative Schools are eligible to apply.
The local Teacher Education Support Centre will have a key role in identifying and supporting a Creative Cluster for their local area.
A total of 21 Creative Clusters will be selected nationally – One successful Creative Cluster per Education Support Centre.
Applications should be sent to the local full-time Teacher Education Support Centre (list at Appendix 1 of Guidelines document on DoE website) or use this link Appendix 1.
Creative Clusters is an initiative of the Department of Education, led by and in partnership with the 21 full-time Teacher Education Centres (Education Support Centres Ireland – ESCI) and funded through the Schools Excellence Fund.
Cork City Libraries and Ó Bhéal Date: Wednesday 4 May 2022
Cork City Libraries and Ó Bhéal are delighted to announce the 18th edition of The Unfinished Book of Poetry (2022) features new poetry from transition-year writers representing five Cork schools. This edition will be launched at Cork City Library, Grand Parade, at 12pm, Wednesday 4th May 2022. All are welcome to attend and listen to these young writers read from their work.
Each year these student writers undergo a series of workshops led by established poets, over nine sessions. The workshops take place between November and March and the book is then launched by the Lord Mayor of Cork each year.
Since 2005 over thirty writers have provided workshops for Transition Year students from over twenty Cork schools, with almost 700 young writers find their way into print. Ó Bhéal has been curating the project since 2012. To find out more about this project, see www.obheal.ie/blog/the-unfinished-book-of-poetry/
The Arts Council’s Creative Schools Initiative Date: 9 – 13 May, 2022
Where does wondering happen in schools? When do students explore ‘What if’ questions? How is inspiration and imagination expressed? Creativity is developing and flourishing in all school environments. The Arts Council of Ireland is delighted to announce Creative Schools Week. This week provides a space in the calendar to recognise schools as centres of creativity, highlight those areas where creativity is at work, and give students an opportunity to share their creative exploits.
‘Creativity Lives Here’ is the theme for this year’s celebration. It presents an opportunity for school communities to pause and reflect on where creativity is evident in every class, in every department and in the experience of every student. The week is a time to focus on celebrating this creativity, perhaps adding to the experiences of students in the form of events or workshops and providing a platform to show how creativity lives in each school.
The Creative Schools online programmes from the 2021 celebration provide a great snapshot of creative activities and events in a variety of school settings and age groups. These episodes are available to watch on www.artscouncil.ie/creative-schools/celebration-2021/
Date: 9 – 13 May, 2022
Creative Schools Week is open to every school. Schools will receive a brochure with lots of ideas and ways to become involved in the celebration. Creative Schools will send some updates in the weeks leading up to May 9th with further ideas for activities and information about how your schools can celebrate. To further information or to get involved, please contact creativeschools@artscouncil.ie
The Ark Date: 12 March 2022
The Ark are delighted to announce this CPD workshop for teachers, were you will learn a range of easy, accessible skills which delve into the world of fabrics, textiles and the ways in which you can bring your learning into your classroom.
During this workshop, experienced arts educator and artist Carrie Lynam will discuss the building blocks needed for the delivery of the Fabric & Fibre and Construction strands of the visual arts curriculum. This workshop focuses on understanding the materials and tools needed for success and learning techniques that transfer to a busy classroom.
Often within the hustle and bustle of the classroom, the design process and preparation can become overlooked and focus can often lie on the finished products. This workshop will allow you to take the time to rediscover the importance of design research, experimentation and the creative process.
Attendees will explore the design process, discussing research, gathering stimuli, ideas for open ended experimentation with materials and the planning stages of creating an artwork. In this hands-on workshop participants will create their own unique samples to support in-classroom delivery.
Arts in Education Portal Events Date: Saturday, 7th May 2022
The Portal Team is delighted to invite teachers, artists and anyone with an interest in arts in education to save the date and join us for our first in-person event in two years! The Portal Spring Regional Day will take place on Saturday, 7th May 2022 at the Kildare Education Support Centre, showcasing arts in education projects and creative practice in the Mid-East.
We invite regional audiences to connect with us during a series of events, where practitioners can learn more about the Portal and what it offers, tell us about their work, connect with the community at regional level, share practice and find out what opportunities or events are available in their local area. We welcome teachers, artists, arts managers and anyone with an interest in arts in education to join us for this free event.
This event will be live streamed to ensure accessibility and an online creative workshop will be available for our audience joining online.
Stay tuned for the full schedule and booking details which will be announced in the coming weeks. Pre booking will be essential for both in-person and online attendance.
Graffiti Theatre Company Online workshop
Graffiti Theatre Company are delighted to present The Voyage, a new interactive theatre workshop for Primary classes (8+) and their teachers. This participatory well-being workshop offers an opportunity to reflect on the year gone by, and equips students and teachers with skills they may need for future change and transition.
Designed and developed by Graffiti’s Creative Learning team in consultation with educational psychotherapist Marie Delaney, The Voyage offers:
A pre-workshop discussion with a Creative Learning Team Member
Resource activities in preparation for the workshop
An interactive workshop for the class group, delivered online by Graffiti Theatre Creative Learning facilitators
Follow up resources for additional teacher-lead workshops
This workshop has been designed during Covid restrictions to address some of the anxiety and well being issues faced by young people associated with the pandemic. This workshop has been designed to be delivered virtually, and will continue to be offered online when restrictions are lifted.
To celebrate 25 years of World Book Day on March 3rd, Draíocht invites primary schools to this fun workshop which brings books to life.
Using themes of well-loved and known fairy-tales as a starting point, these workshops introduce students to the wonderful world of books through imaginative storytelling and fun collective group games. The workshops will explore ways of engaging the imagination, of thinking creatively, seeing, listening and expressing yourself through theatre games. Pupils will work together towards a common goal of creating a short performance based on stories they already know and giving them the opportunity to experience the creation of something from nothing!
The programme is offered on a first come first served basis and is restricted to schools within the Dublin 15 area. Cost per day €120. All materials are provided. Subject to artist availability, this subsidised workshop price is limited to two days per school.
Dates: 1-31 March 2022
Workshops can take place from 1-31 March 2022 on a date of your choosing. Closing date for Bookings is 11 March 2022. For further details please see www.draiocht.ie/whats-on/bringing-books-to-life
National Print Museum Ongoing
The National Print Museum offer a fun and interactive Mini Printer and Storytelling Workshop for pre-school/early Montessori groups. These workshops are most suitable for children aged from 3 – 5 years old.
The workshop takes place in the Museum’s Education Area, which is prepared for the children before their arrival. Children first join a storyteller who, using props and involving the children throughout, will read a fun and engaging story from the Museum’s Junior Library. The aim is that all stories are linked in some way to printing, books, museums or libraries.
Once the storytelling session is complete, children will don a mini apron and using crayons and ink stampers decorate their very own printer’s hat. Children are free to move around the Education Area to choose the items with which to decorate their hat. Once complete children become qualified mini printers!
How to book
The workshop is 45 minutes in duration and can accommodate up to 24 children. There must be a minimum of 10 children in the group and the National Print Museum require at least 1 adult per 4 children visiting. The cost per child is €2.00 and all leaders/ teachers go free. To make a booking for a pre-school visit please see www.nationalprintmuseum.ie/education/schools/preschool/ or contact the Education Officer education@nationalprintmuseum.ie.
Minister Martin announces government decision to extend Creative Ireland, the culture and wellbeing programme that transforms people, places and communities through creativity. Committed to the vision that everyone should have the chance to realise their creative potential to the full, the innovative all-of-government culture and wellbeing programme will be extended, in principle, for five more years until 2027.
In 2017, Creative Ireland was launched as an all-of-government culture and wellbeing programme committed to the vision that every person should have the opportunity to realise their full creative potential. Established as a legacy initiative of the Ireland 2016 Centenary Programme, it is the only programme of its kind in the world.
The founding vision of the programme is that creativity must be at the heart of public policy and that participation in cultural and creative activity promotes the wellbeing of the individual, the community and the nation at large. Creative Ireland collaborates across government and with arts, community and voluntary organisations to deploy creativity as a strategy for wellbeing, social cohesion and economic success.
Alongside its very successful Creative Youth initiative, the programme’s Creative Communities partnership with the 31 local authorities, and their delivery of over 5,700 creative projects to date, has been key to enabling community-led nationwide engagement.
Minister Martin said:
“I warmly welcome the Government’s decision to implement the all-of-government Creative Ireland Programme for another five years, and to work with me in the coming months to develop its framework. This programme has been innovative and effective in delivering the opportunity for people to explore their creative potential. Key initiatives such as Cruinniú na nÓg and Creative Schools have become embedded in the country’s cultural infrastructure. New projects that respond to contemporary social issues such as climate action and loneliness have emerged. With the support of my Cabinet colleagues, I look forward to developing a Creative Ireland Programme that will continue to enhance people’s lives in the coming years.”
The Government’s decision in principle will be for the Creative Ireland Programme to continue for a further five years, encompassing the period 2023-2027, and to focus on the following areas:
I. Creative Youth;
II. Creative Communities;
III. Creative Industries;
IV. Creative Health and Wellbeing; and
V. Creative Climate Action and Sustainability.
It is anticipated that a final framework of Clár Éire Ildánach/Creative Ireland Programme 2023-2027 will be brought to Government for its final agreement in Autumn 2022 prior to its publication, launch and implementation on an all-of-government basis.
Mayo County Council Arts Service & Kids’ Own Publishing Primary school resource
A Splash of Blue is a Schools Exhibition and classroom resource available on loan from Mayo County Council Arts Service to primary schools in County Mayo. The artworks in the exhibition are part of the Mayo County Council Collection and are by artists from or living in Mayo, or who had an exhibition in the county.
A Splash of Blue is an initiative of Mayo County Council Arts Service in collaboration with Kids’ Own Publishing and was developed to make the collection accessible to schools and show children how to explore artworks through looking, thinking, talking and responding in creative ways such as art, writing, music and more.
The collection and accompanying resource A Splash of Blue is available now to tour to schools in County Mayo. This booklet is jam packed with children’s thoughts and ideas on how to engage with the artworks in a fun way while they are at your school. So now you can become a creative explorer too and use this booklet to support you on your journey of discovery of the Schools Exhibition.
If you would like your school to become a creative explorer and to use ‘A Splash of Blue’ to support you on your journey of discovery of the Schools Exhibition, simply email mayoarts@mayococo.ie or call 09490 64666 to arrange a tour of the collection to your school.
Solstice Arts Centre Dates: 10:00 – 11:30 & 13:00-14:30, 16 February 2022
Solstice Arts Centre invites 1st – 6th class students to a guided tour and creative workshop using their latest exhibition ‘There is a forest in my backyard but my house is built from trees grown far away’ as a starting point.
Seeing architecture as a collaboration between humans and the environment, as co-organisms, WE ARE HERE will question if the structures we build can mimic how bees form their hives, a tree generates rings with each year, or a forest continually regenerates itself as a home for other organisms. Can a building be alive, breathing, growing, responsive, rather than something static and monumental? And what could this mean for the wellbeing of the people who use them and the wellbeing of our planet?
Following a tour of the exhibition, artist Anne Cradden will lead students through processes of experimentation with raw wood and plant products such as branches and twigs, as well as materials processed from wood and plants such as cardboard, paper, pulp forms, charcoal, MDF, wood chips and hessian. Thinking of building as a continually ongoing process rather than something with a predefined start and a final product, students will see what forms make-up their ideas before considering how humans can best use these structures. This workshop will touch on a broad range of cross-curricular topics including design, construction, mathematics, language, literacy, SESE, sustainability and co-operation.
Dates: 10:00 – 11:30 & 13:00-14:30, 16 February 2022
Creativity and Change, Crawford College of Art & Design Various dates
Creativity and Change Deep Dives are an opportunity for inspirational, intensive and in depth creative engagement over two days. Delivered by facilitators with specific expertise and experience, the programme is designed around the identified gaps and expressed interests of practitioners. Each creative workshop is a deep dive into a specific method that can be used to explore change-making, global citizenship and social justice.
These masterclasses explore a wide range of creative methods of storytelling, visual communication, podcasting, street art, drama and more. Masterclasses include:
1. The Story of Self with Clare Mulvany: Craft a compelling leadership story for social change
Sat 12th and Sun 13th of March
Cost €60
2. Visual Facilitation for Global Citizenship Education with Eimear Mc Nally
Sat 26th and Sun 27th March
Cost €60
3. Art + Activism = Artivism with Helen O Keeffe & Claire Coughlan
Sat 2nd and Sun 3rd April
Cost €60
4. Podcasting with Ainle ó Cairealláin from Rebel Matters Podcast
Sat 9th and Sun 10th April
Cost €60
5. Theatre of the Oppressed & Forum Theatre with Julian Boal
(Yes! That Boal!)
Friday 22nd, Saturday 23rd & Sunday 24th April
Cost €150
Tipperary County Council Arts Office Deadline: Friday 18 February 2022
Applications are now open for Tipperary Arts Office‘s Artist in Primary School Scheme 2022. The scheme provides funding to a professional artist of any discipline to work in a school for 50 hours on a project designed collaboratively between the school and the artist. The scheme provides opportunities for children to access and to engage with an artist and the language of creativity at an early age; and for schools and teachers to work collaboratively across curriculum areas.
Projects funded in 2022 must take place within the following timeframes: March – June 2022 or September–December 2022. This scheme is open to applications from all primary schools in Tipperary. Please note that schools that have been successful in their application for the scheme in 2020 and 2021 are ineligible to apply under the 2022 scheme. Artists must be Garda Vetted by the Arts Office before projects can commence.
The scheme is open to art projects in all art forms including visual arts, music, dance, drama, literature, film, photography, architecture and new media.
Now it’s your turn! Here is a new toolkit to get you started
I am sure that by now, after reading previous blogs, you are ready to embark on a multilingual journey!
In this last blog I would like to share with you some practical tools and ideas that you can use and adapt to your environment.
Multilingualism in your day to day practice
If you are interested in shifting towards a multilingual approach, you will find many ideas for whole school approaches in One school, Many Languages, an interactive repository of resources, from blogs, to lesson plans, videos and podcasts, as well as articles based on the latest research and best practice from around Europe.
As we approach International Mother Language Day, we can all get creative and imagine new ways to celebrate multilingualism with our children and our community. International Mother Language Day is a celebration marked by UNESCO on 21st February to highlight the importance of cultural and linguistic diversity for sustainable societies to foster tolerance and respect for others. All over Ireland, people are now getting ready to mark the day on 21st February, and using this toolkit you can get involved too!
Here is a list of ideas shared by teachers on how to create a special celebration around multilingualism. Of course, these can work any time of the year, and you could turn some of these into regular events!
A storytelling session where parents/grandparents tell stories in their mother tongue
A podcast showcasing everyone’s language
A blog to highlight the importance of International Mother Language Day
An activity to reflect on words that are difficult to pronounce or on the pronunciation of names
An activity around idioms or metaphors from around the world
A child-led survey of languages spoken in the school
Translating school signage in all the languages of the children
A multilingual mural with words in many languages
A video or written piece where children tell a story about their language, where it comes from, facts and figure
I hope that these blogs have brought you to think in a new way about languages and multilingualism!
Read the previous blogs in this commissioned series by Dr Francesca La Morgia here.
Chester Beatty
Online resource
The Chester Beatty Learning and Education Department has collaborated with the Junior Cycle Religious Education Team and co-produced a number of learning resources for the RE curriculum, using artworks from their multi-faith collections as a starting point.
Teachers of the Junior Cycle RE curriculum attended an onsite CPD in March 2020 exploring how to work with the Chester Beatty multi-faith collections. Participants learned about key faiths with an object based handling session (OBL) looking at every day faith-based objects.
The Chester Beatty launched an updated website in December 2021. It features a new School’s page chesterbeatty.ie/learning/schools-page/ including a tailor-made section for the Junior Cycle Religious Education Curriculum. Teachers and students can learn about various aspects of the new curriculum through the incredible Islamic, East Asian and European collections with particular focus on key areas including developing knowledge, understanding, skills, attitudes and values to enable young people to come to an understanding of religion and its relevance to life, relationships, society and the wider world. The course is built around three interconnecting strands: Expressing Beliefs, Exploring Questions and Living our Values.
The Playhouse Deadline: 5pm, Thursday 3 February 2022
The Playhouse is seeking an Education Officer. The Education Officer will work with the Head of Engagement and the wider Engagement Team to support learning and participation work in formal and informal settings and in the organisation’s role as an Open College Network Centre.
This is a part time role (2.5 days per week) in which you will help to ensure that The Playhouse develop pathways for people of all ages and abilities to engage in creative learning and participation.
The ideal candidate will be someone passionate about the value of education and motivated by engaging people in the learning that matters to them. You will understand and believe in a cultural democracy, in the value of the arts as part of our everyday lives and as a force for good in the world.
The National Gallery of Ireland Deadline: 18 February 2022
Following a successful programme in 2021, the National Gallery of Ireland is delighted to bring art to classrooms across the country again this year with Your Gallery at School, an innovative education initiative.
Your Gallery at Schoolaims to break down the barriers that prevent engagement with the arts through holistic programming that ensures children transition to adulthood equipped with the life-changing benefits of art. They also aim to build in students a sense of ownership of their National Gallery so they have a positive place to turn to in adulthood. Engagement occurs in three key strands: learning through and about art, wellbeing, and creative careers.
Over the course of 2022–23, they will work with schools who would not usually be able to visit the Gallery. Participating schools will be selected via an open application process.
Selected schools will not have visited the Gallery in the past three years and will be from one or more of three key groups:
DEIS schools to address socio-economic barriers to accessing culture.
Boys’ schools to address the gender barrier to accessing culture.
Schools geographically far away (over 2 hours away from Dublin) to address the geographic barrier to accessing culture.
There will be two windows of opportunity for primary and post-primary schools to apply, giving schools the option to choose what time of year suits them best to take part:
Round 1 applications accepted 24 January–18 February 2022 (workshops take place March–October 2022)
Round 2 applications accepted 29 August–15 September 2022 (workshops take place November 2022–June 2023)
The deadline to apply for Round 1 is 18 February 2022.
Or contact Catherine O’Donnell on 087 6436310 or codonnell@ngi.ie
Bell Table Date: 12pm, 23 February 2022
Bell Table invites primary schools to ‘Science Magic Show’. Triple award-winning Irish comedian & scientist, Donal Vaughan, brings his hugely popular science and comedy show to Belltable this February. In Science Magic Show, using only things you find around the house, Donal will perform amazing tricks to show how magical science can be. Want to see a potato rocket launcher? Or conjure dragons breath? How about a vomiting unicorn? Of course you do.
Ticket price per student is €8. Book your school via box office only.
Ireland’s National School Photography Awards Deadline: 12am, 9 May 2022
The INSPA’s are once again open to all Primary Schools in the Republic of Ireland. INSPA is a national children’s photography competition and Positive Primaries Programme which introduces Creative Well-being into the lives of primary schools by engaging with the magic and art of photography.
This year’s theme ‘Me, Myself, and I’ is looking for images that explore ‘Self-Portraits’ in new and imaginative ways. Therefore, INSPA reminds schools that a ‘Self-Portrait’ is not necessarily a ‘Selfie’ and can incorporate many different things such as, objects, activities, and environments.
To help you along the way, INSPA have developed a 5 step Positive Primaries Programme which includes a series of free Creative Wellbeing Activities, all designed by professional artists and qualified mental health first-aiders. These will help you integrate the camera into your school-day and allow the children to explore Creative Wellbeing in their own unique ways. Once you activate your school account, you will be able to upload your school activities, share ideas and engage with other Positive Primaries as they prepare to enter the awards.
The INSPA’s are having a massive impact in classrooms nationwide, helping to boost the well-being of students by simply integrating the camera into your school day. Participating in the awards helps your students increase their Confidence, Resilience, Connection, Kindness and Readiness. It also gives a platform for teachers to creatively explore their wider curriculum, allowing students from all backgrounds to actively engage with subjects in new and exciting ways.
This year, the awards are offering a range of fantastic prizes for the whole school community including; Weekend breaks away to the Amber Springs Resort Hotel, free Instax cameras and printers, Positive Portrait fundraising days, certificates and of course your schools Positive Primaries Flag. All entries will be judged by a national panel including Joe McKeown (INTO President), Enda Bowe (Photographer for Normal People and winner of the Zurich Portrait Prize), Brian O’Doherty (IPPN President), Fiona Foreman (Author and Teacher-Trainer), Majella McAllister (CEO The Museum of Childhood), and Richard Carr (Artist and Founder of INSPA).
Deadline: 12am, 9 May 2022
For more information and to register, see www.inspa.ie
Linenhall Arts Centre Date: 10:15am, Tuesday 22 February 2022
Linenhall Arts Centre invites your school to ‘Wire, Strings & Other Things’. This music performance encourages you to always be curious. To listen, respond to and communicate through the sounds, music and stories that are all around you – wherever you are and whoever you are with.
Meet Ed, Andrea and James, three totally different people with one thing in common – they are crazy about music and sound. Anything can happen as they find each other and start to invent music together. What stories will they share when, with your help, they explore the magic and mystery of how to compose, perform and improvise?
Perfect for all primary school classes, Wires, Strings and Other Things links in with the Listening and Responding strand units of the Music curriculum. It fosters a sense of excellence in and appreciation of new music. Through storytelling and composing, this show encourages an awareness and sensitivity to the inter-related elements of music and musical understanding. Experiencing this live music performance means children will see and hear outstanding musicians performing brand new music on a range of instruments including the viola, bass clarinet and improvised musical instruments made from a variety of objects.
Solstice Arts Centre are proud to present A-do-le-TA! This highly imaginative piece shows a day in the life of two friends. Joy and Sky are in a world where everything is possible – a tent can be a crab, an umbrella can be a cloud and the moon can sing! Through play, two friends overcome differences and together imagine, create and expand their reality and yours.
Enjoy a screening of the show in your classroom and continue the fun with their colourful and interactive AdoleTA! Play Packs. Each child/teacher will receive their own Play Pack with a link to a short video to watch after the show, where artist Selma Daniel demonstrates some of the fun activities for you to do. The activities include cutting out, sticking, movement and slow dance, all encouraging children to use their fine and gross motor skills.
The performance is based on the importance of play, especially free play during early childhood. It explores the fine line between the contemporary life, where electronic play has a huge role, and the natural instinctive play deep-rooted in human nature. Although digital media and technology have benefits, excessive use of electronic media can have a negative impact on wellbeing and mental health.
Dublin City Council & RHA Gallery Deadline: 12pm, 28 January 2022
Dublin City Council, in collaboration with and curated by RHA Gallery, invites submissions for its 3rd Visual Arts Exhibition Commission to be created for children, schools and families, which will be located in an exhibition room in Ballyfermot Library for 8-12 weeks in the Autumn of 2022. Dublin City Creative Hubs initiative, in collaboration with RHA, seeks to commission an engaging Visual Arts Exhibition for children that will stimulate both their curiosity and imagination and meets the following:
1. Provide children (both within and outside of school contexts) with a quality experience of Visual Arts.
2. Take cognisance of the library setting and the location of Ballyfermot.
3. Be appropriately cognisant of the needs, interests, real or imaginative lives of the target age group attending the Visual Arts Exhibition. (The age group identified can be jointly agreed between the Arts Office and the commission recipient(s) but must be under 12 years of age.
4. Be innovative in its approach and utilise the resources of its surroundings to deliver a quality artistic experience to its audience.
5. As part of the award, the successful candidate(s) will be expected to contribute to and help inform an engaging exhibition education and learning programme.
The Visual Art Exhibition Commission Award of €8500 is for research and delivery of commissioned works for exhibition. Technical support for installation will be provided by the RHA Gallery. A separate budget will be allocated for the associated education and learning programme that will take place with Primary School Children and family audiences across the 8 week term of the exhibition. This may involve additional artists as facilitators.
Mother Tongues Date: 10-12:30, Friday 28 January 2022
Mother Tongues is offering an interactive online course ‘Bridging Language Barriers and Building Connection’. In this masterclass, participants will learn about linguistically and culturally responsive strategies that will help them to bridge language barriers and build connections in their work. During the session, participants will get to draft their own language strategy. This course is designed for individuals working in organisations that provide Artistic and Cultural experiences to the public.
Some of the topics covered will include:
– Understanding the types of language and communication barriers and challenges
– Identifying and addressing relevant language and communication barriers
– Building your own inclusive language and communication action plan
Date: 10-12:30, Friday 28 January 2022
About the training:
The course is delivered via Zoom. Participants will take part in group discussions and will be guided through the steps to build their inclusive language and communication plan. All participants receive a certificate of attendance. Cost: €150.
The Hunt Museum are looking for a self-motivated, collaborative and efficient individual to take on the role of Public Engagement Coordinator for the ‘The Three Muses’ Joint Education programme. They will be required to consolidate, innovate and grow the reach and impact of this visual arts programme which engages primary school aged children from across Limerick with collections at the Hunt Museum, Limerick Museum and Limerick City Gallery of Art.
Are you excited by the unlimited potential the pooling of these collections offers for curriculum linked and creative learning with children? If you have excellent project management, facilitation and administration skills and enjoy working in a busy and creative environment, this role might well suit you. This contract is full time and for two years (subject to funding).
The Public Engagement Coordinator role has three key areas of responsibility:
Programme development and coordination including developing new curriculum linked resources (digital and non-digital), coordination and facilitation of blended learning opportunities with Limerick schools.
Partnership Management, including all related administration.
Promotion of the programme, its resources and results including the preparation and circulation of online publicity materials and networking in the community.
The successful candidate will work across the three partner institutions and with primary schools from across Limerick. A priority area is engaging new schools who have not previously participated in the programme. Given the ongoing challenges presented by Covid 19, the successful candidate will be required to find new ways to deliver online and digital engagement with schools. On this basis, applications from those with excellent IT skills and some knowledge of gamification for learning and open-source learning are particularly welcomed.
The Arts in Education Portal editorial team are pleased to invite applications for a documentation award. Through the award, successful applicants will receive services to the value of €5,000 that will support them in the documentation of a current or upcoming project and a €500 stipend.
The purpose of the award is to support the development of documented outcomes from Arts in Education initiatives in Ireland, which can be shared with the arts in education community and give insights into different processes of engagement. This is part of the Arts in Education Portal Editorial Committee’s commitment to supporting and recognising the value of documentation and reflection as a key component within arts in education initiatives.
Two awards will be offered through this opportunity.
Outcomes of the documentation process will include: a project video, a project feature to be showcased on the Portal’s Projects/Partnerships, and the option of a critical essay, with a view to also presenting the work as part of the Arts in Education Portal National Day in 2022.
The process will involve meetings with the Portal Team and a schedule of up to 3 visits over the course of the project to capture video and photographic documentation and support reflective processes among participants. These visits and meetings can be conducted virtually if required. The portal team will work closely with the recipients to ensure all restrictions and protocols in terms of COVID 19 are adhered to during the process to ensure safety for all involved.
The portal team will edit and produce a project video, and will liaise closely with the project partners to develop the content for the project feature. The critical essay would be sited in the Portal’s Reading Room, and is optional. The author and focus of the essay can be decided by the project organisers in collaboration with the Portal Team.
Criteria
To be considered for this opportunity, projects must:
Have started in autumn 2021 and continuing into 2022, or taking place in 2022. Please note if selected filming of engagement sessions will take place after 21st March 2022.
Have a minimum duration of 8 weeks.
Involve a professional artist working collaboratively within an educational setting (early years, primary or post-primary).
Be underpinned by a strong ethos of collaboration and a commitment to excellence. Focus on the creative process, with children having an active and collaborative role
Additional criteria
Successful applicants will be asked to ensure that relevant permissions/consent have been sought for documentation of participants.
Please ensure your application has been approved by all project partners prior to submission.
How to make a submission:
Background on who you are; your professional practice and your ethos or approach towards Arts in Education.
An overview of the project – who is involved, how did the collaboration come about, what processes or approaches will take place, what is the aim or focus of the process?
A statement of interest, explaining why documentation supports would be of value to this project.
Building and touring the Interactive Museum of Languages for Young Audiences
There is a widespread belief that multilingualism is rare or special and that the norm is speaking only one language. This is far from true. There are more people in the world who speak more than one language than there are monolinguals.
It is often difficult to explain what it is like to have a language inside your mind that is “speaking to you”, that wants to emerge, but that has to stay silent. For years bilingual children in schools have silenced one of their languages (or more) to focus on the language of instruction, and this is something that will speak to Irish speakers all over the country.
This is what made me want to create a visual representation of multiple languages, which are normally invisible and intangible, but are present in our lives.
While this idea of creating a physical piece to increase visibility of languages and act as a starting point for discussion had been floating in my mind for a long time, but it was only a commission from South Dublin County Council Arts Office for Cruinniú na nOg that sparked my interest in pursuing it further. At the time there were several restrictions associated with Covid19, so a touring museum of languages seemed to be the right way to reach children in schools at a time of severe restrictions.
Creating IMLYA
The artist who was ready for the challenge was Tomasz Madajczak, who understood immediately the scope of the project and the potential impact it could have on all children.
Tomasz named his creation IMLYA, the Interactive Museum of Languages for Young Audiences.
Here you can hear Tomasz sharing a message for the children who are about to explore the museum.
In this video Tomasz talks about the different components of the museum.
Touring IMLYA
The museum started touring in May 2021 and has so far reached thousands of children in different parts of Ireland who have engaged with it in their own school, library or arts centre.
Through a collaboration with Wexford library, IMLYA recently visited children in schools across Wexford county and through the skilled facilitation of artist Fernanda Ferrari children created fantastic multilingual books that were then displayed in Wexford library and exhibited for all children, families and other visitors to enjoy. There is something quite magical about IMLYA, and children are immediately drawn to it, they want to touch it and play with it. There is also a very deep connection that children see in some of the pieces, as they remind them of their parents’ languages, of writing systems they see when they visit their family abroad, of sounds that “sound like home”. As an adult, I also am drawn to IMLYA and I see something new every time I look. There is a video of Tomasz himself telling a story in Polish, a poem by film-maker Jijo Sebastian in Malayalam, a fairytale told by artist Fernanda Ferrari in Brazilian Portuguese… so many people have contributed their knowledge, expertise, words and sounds, that IMLYA carries a very special meaning to me and my hope is that it will continue to inspire children around Ireland to be curious about languages and cultures.
Art Movements is a newly commissioned performance by Inma Pavon that will premiere as part of the First Fortnight Festival. The performance will invite an online audience to participate wherever they may be. If you are sitting in your office, at the kitchen table or in your bedroom, you too can join the artists and students from University College Cork in this unique event. A set of instructions, information on the project and further details on the event will be emailed to all participants.
In Autumn 2021, the Glucksman art museum in UCC invited university students to participate in a project that would result in the commissioning of a new artwork for the University Art Collection. The project saw students work with artist Inma Pavon over a series of workshops designed to explore mental health. Together they creatively examined aspects of wellbeing, recovery, awareness, and the challenges facing people today. The workshops included discussions, talks, field trips and practical movement and creative sessions enabling different conversations to emerge. These conversations and the content of the workshops have influenced the artist to create a performance titled Art Movements which will be premiered as part of the First Fortnight Festival in 2022.
The performance will be accompanied by the creation of a set of photographs and film documentation which will be accessioned into the university art collection before being disseminated widely to facilitate further discussions amongst the university community, and wider national and international audiences.
The Irish Film Institute launches its comprehensive 2021/2022 IFI Schools’ Programme. This year’s programme offers screenings in cinema and also online, on the platform IFI@Schools. Choose from brand new titles for Modern Foreign Languages, prescribed English titles, Irish films, and much more!
The ever-popular Modern Foreign Languages strand, encompassing French, German and Spanish are an invaluable way of promoting language and culture. Included in the 2021/2022 German selection is films Cleo, Zu weit Weg, Das freiwillige Jahr, and Nachtwald which are presented in partnership with the Goethe-Institut Irland. Screenings for the French language selection includes Petit Pays, Gagarine, Man Up!, and Fahim in partnership with the French Cultural Service.
If you can’t get to IFI or one of our partner venues, you can stream the majority of the films on the Schools’ Programme 2021-22 on IFI@Schools. For more information about the streaming platform go to ifi.ie/learn/ifischools-about.
Calling creators from underrepresented communities who have passion and curiosity for making theatre for young audiences! Applications open now for LEAP!
LEAP is a four day, paid workshop and community-building project open for creatives from underrepresented, ethnically diverse communities or migrant backgrounds. Facilitated by Moonfish Theatre practitioners, the workshop will encourage participants to share and exchange artistic and creative techniques and tools. Participants will play physical theatre and devising games and explore how to create stories using puppetry, multiple languages, music, and movement.
In partnership with Moonfish Theatre and NUI Galway, the LEAP workshop is a pilot programme and part of Baboró’s EDI strategy aiming to strengthen diversity, equity, and inclusion in the TYA sector.
Join The Ark’s Team for a special January virtual coffee morning focusing on artists’ wellbeing, in partnership with First Fortnight.
At this dark time of year, if you are an artist interested in working with children, grab yourself a soothing hot drink and pop into this relaxed online get-together for informal chats and an opportunity to meet other like-minded artists as well as some of The Ark and First Fortnight teams.
Though life is opening up and live arts are slowly returning, challenges undoubtedly remain. These online coffee mornings have proved supportive for many artists around the country to stay connected over the past while. So The Ark is staying online in order to continue to give artists a chance to connect and meet with others regardless of their location.
The team welcome all artists, whether you are new to work with children or just curious, as well as those of you with more experience working with this unique audience.
Selma Daniel is the guest speaker at this artist’s coffee morning. Selma is an Associate Dance Artist with Solstice Arts Centre and has over 20 years’ experience in dance performance, choreography and education.
This is a free event but advance registration is required.
Taking inspiration from The Ark’s Winter Light exhibition and music show Tracks in the Snow, children will celebrate the magic of winter light and the variety of elements that are part of the natural world during this season.
In wintertime, light takes on a different more intriguing dimension. With frost glittering on trees and gardens, with ice forming beautiful designs on water and the moon creating magical shadows on a white landscape our imagination soars and stories unfold. There is so much to look forward to!
This workshop for primary school 1st – 6th classes is based on a simple 3D activity aimed at creating a shadow scene using a selection of white paper. Children can work on an individual piece or in pairs.
Artist Jole Bortoli will introduce the workshop through the projection of a sample of images on the theme of winter art and narrative for the children to work from and create their own artwork.
Curricular Links
This workshop links with the construction strand and drawing strand of the curriculum, allowing children to create imaginative and complex 3D structures from paper. They will explore shape, tone, line and form as they use paper in different ways to manipulate light and shadow.
Earlier in November, over the course of seven days, more than 250 artists, teachers, and arts in education professionals attended our sixth annual National Arts in Education Portal Day, which this year moved online with a series of virtual events.
Over the seven days, the arts in education community came together to share, learn, talk, be inspired and interrogate best practice in the field. We would like to thank all our guest speakers, artists and all who joined us to engage in the conversation.
Connections, the value of community and relationships, critical thinking and the importance of children and young people being comfortable to make mistakes were all key threads in all discussions across the week. Our keynote speaker professor Adele Diamond, Canada Research Chair Professor of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience at UBC in Vancouver noted;
“The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated. Each part (cognitive, spiritual, social, emotional and physical) is affected by and affects the others. The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is probably to foster all.”
Sound Walk by Patricia Moriarty craeted as part of the creative workshop ‘Exploring the Sound Walk’ from composer Fiona Linnane
Composer Fiona Linnane facilitated a workshop entitled “Exploring the Sound Walk”. Here is the collaborative audio piece created by participants during the workshop.
‘Two Ducks’ by Kathleen. Stop Motion Animation crated as part of the creative workshop ‘Imagine, Play, Shoot’ with artist Ana Colomer.
For those who missed the discussions they will be available to watch back until the end of December on the Arts in Education Portal Facebook page.
Reflections on International Teacher-Artist Partnership (I-TAP-PD) – Presentation Slides
Creative Workshop: When Reality Ends, Imagination Begins – Reference Document
Fís Film Project
Best COVID Movie, most powerful Irish language production and more announced at 16th annual FÍS Film Awards.
IRELAND: Lockdown, Irish language movies, outstanding contributions and achievements in filmmaking have been recognised at this year’s FÍS Film Awards. The renowned event which celebrates the moviemaking abilities of primary school students took place virtually earlier this month (19th November). Pupils from across the country tuned in to the online ceremony which was hosted by RTE’s Sinead Kennedy.
Guest of Honour, Minister for Education, Norma Foley, TD spoke at the awards filmed at the Institute of Art, Design & Technology’s (IADT) National Film School, Dún Laoghaire. Hosted jointly by IADT’s FÍS Office in collaboration with the Professional Development Service for Teachers (PDST TiE). This year’s event was hosted virtually due to COVID, with the ceremony broadcast via www.fisfilmproject.ie. The Aileen MacKeogh Film of the Year Award 2021 went to film titled ‘Son of the Grabber’ made by pupils from St. Hugh’s National School. The County Leitrim 54 pupil, 3 teacher school also received the award for Best Direction for their Irish folklore film. A story, from their parish of Ballinaglera, is about a journey taken in the dead of night and the events surrounding it. It was a unanimous decision by the judging panel to award film of the year to Son of the Grabber.
Some other 2021 winners included:
Gardiner Street Primary School, Dublin – Outstanding Achievement in Filmmaking – Storytelling (Letters from Manresa)
St. Gerard’s Junior School, Co.Wicklow – Award for Best Junior Film (The Party Crasher)
Gaelscoil Shlí, Laois – An Scannán Is Fearr as (Simon & An Sneachta)
Scoil Padraig Naofa Cregmore National School, Co.Galway – Award for Best Covid-19 Film (Covid 19 – 2020 A year of change)
Scoil Riabhach – Award for Curriculum Relevant Films – Science (An Croí)
Shortlisted films throughout Ireland battled it out for the contest with the judging panel shortlisting just 18 films. Counties represented across the award-winning films include Limerick, Donegal, Dublin, Galway, Kerry, Laois, Leitrim, Waterford, Cork, Sligo, Wicklow, Kildare and Tipperary. This year saw a variety of awards up for grabs with accolades for Outstanding Achievement in Film Making for: Costume Design, Sound Track, Adaptation, Special Effects, Best Newcomer, Best Junior, as well as awards for curriculum relevant films that included subject areas such as History, Science and COVID-19. A unique montage of all the award-winning films can be viewed HERE. Each film can be viewed in full at the website fisfilmproject.ie.
The awards ceremony showcased the successes of the FÍS Film Awards project which exposed primary school students and teachers to all aspects of the film-making process. The concept behind FÍS is to help children not only develop essential communication and team working skills, but technological skills to assist them in a digitally driven world. It also aids teachers in developing children’s problem solving and investigative minds and is aligned with the Government’s digital strategy for schools.
This year marked 21 years since the inception of the highly successful FÍS project. To commemorate the occasion, the judging panel introduced a special merit award, to be presented to a school that demonstrated deep learning, imagination, creativity, tenacity and commitment in light of the challenges faced by all schools, pupils and teachers due to the pandemic. The FÍS Film Project 21st Anniversary Special Merit Award went to county Galway school, Scoil Eanna, Ballaun. The school also received the award for Outstanding Achievement in Filmmaking Award for Cinematography for their film ‘Hidden’.
The Ark Dates: 10.15am & 11.45am, 7 & 14 December 2021
The Ark invites you to two Early Years workshops this December.
Little Bird 10.15am & 11.45am, 7 December
In this workshop you’ll hear the tale of a hungry little Robin who needs your help. Learn how to make a special bird feeder for Robin and his friends to hang in your garden or window box. Further details and booking information here
Shadowlands 10.15am & 11.45am, 14 December 2021
Join artist Jane Groves and play in the light and the dark and all the shadows in between. Learn how to make a lantern to light your way. Create bright shiny stars to join our lonely star, and make the night sky dazzle and twinkle all night. Further details and booking information here.
Tickets cost €11.50/€9.50 per child with 20% off for members. These workshops are suitable for 2 – 4 year olds.
National Gallery of Ireland Date: 4pm, 2 February 2022
National Gallery of Ireland are delighted to announced their new online CPD workshop for teachers. Join Jennie Taylor, curator of the Zurich Young Portrait Prize, and Catherine O’Donnell, Education Officer, for a practical workshop, equipping you with tools and ideas for including portraiture in the classroom. The session will support teachers using their schools resource What is a Portrait?, and will include peer learning via group work to enable you to develop cross-curricular creative strategies.
Please note that this is an online CPD workshop via Zoom.
Watergate Theatre Dates: 12pm, 2 December & 7pm, 3 December
‘A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings’ is Gabriel García Márquez’s darkly comic tale, brought to the stage in the Watergate Theatre, Kilkenny. Suitable for children aged 8+, the Watergate Theatre are offering special rates for school audiences.
In a kitchen, in a theatre, two storytellers and their audience find something remarkable — a very old man with enormous wings. The wise neighbour woman tells us he’s an angel. The priest says he’s an imposter. Pilgrims flock to see him, hoping to be healed by him, hoping for a gawp. They leave with something different than what they expected.
Adapted from Gabriel García Márquez’s ‘Un señor muy viejo con unas alas enormes’, Dan Colley and Riverbank Arts Centre bring this classic piece of magical realism to the stage in search of its beautiful, strange, emotional richness.
Exploiting the creative potential of multilingualism
It is widely accepted that if you express yourself through art there is no “right way”, because art is about exploring all creative possibilities, and not necessarily by following a set path. When it comes to language, our unique and incredibly creative form of human expression, we are often brought to believe that the right way is the one that is “conventional” and that we can master this art only by following rules in a very strict way.
In this blog I would like to dispel the myth that in order to engage with languages we need to be experts, and share some reflections based on the ‘Language Explorers’ initiative.
Language is power
As Frantz Fanon stated in Black Skin, White Masks, “A man who has a language consequently possesses the world expressed and implied by that language. What we are getting at becomes plain: mastery of language affords remarkable power.”
Language has always been the repository of cultural traditions, behaviours and beliefs passed down from generation to generation. Most importantly, language has an influence on how we think, how we behave, socialise and reason. Language is power because when we feel that we are not understood, we feel powerless. When we see that our mother tongue is considered less valuable than other languages, we feel inferior.
Language is power because if you possess the linguistic skills of those who have power you are privileged, if you don’t you face discrimination. So how do we shift and revisit this power dynamic?
Who is the expert in the room?
I created ‘Language Explorers‘ to offer children a space to listen to each other’s language stories, to examine the neighbourhood they live in and get to know about languages, sounds and linguistic differences. If I am working with a new group of children, I can’t tell if someone is an Irish speaker and whether the same person can also speak Polish until we get to have that conversation. So, my first step is always based on an initial conversation open to everyone in the group. This often starts with me learning to say each name correctly, a small effort which has always paid off, both with children and parents. The workshops in class vary: we use interactive games, art-making, singing, storytelling, story writing, and more.
The biggest challenge in this work lies in accepting that I don’t know much about other languages, and I have no power to decide what is right or wrong. As described by Phil McCarthy and Annie Asgard in this video, for multilingualism to thrive we need to let children be the experts, and by led by them.
A resource I use is the Mother Tongues podcasts, which carry us straight into the world of multilingual families and offer many points of discussion and reflection. Being in English, they are accessible to all, but they also allow for a short immersion in another language and culture, and the scenarios described will be very familiar to many children. It is quite astonishing to see the reaction of the children when different languages are used or heard in the classroom, and I think this is summed up really clearly in Soraya Sobrevía’s article on her experience.
When talking to older children, I enjoy using George the Poet’s poem Mother Tongue because it goes straight to the heart of the challenge that many young people face. The children’s creative responses to this poem have led us to tears multiple times!
Most of our creative work can become multilingual if we allow languages to emerge from silence. There is no ideal lesson plan, because this is mainly a shift in approach. The task of the person facilitating this work is to accept to be in a state of “not knowing the right answer”, and to make a clear statement that welcomes all languages. It might seem obvious or redundant, but since children are normally not offered this opportunity and sometimes not allowed to use all of their language skills outside of their home, this needs to be a clear statement of intent.
You will need to say that your space welcomes all languages, and to show in your own personal way that you are keen to have multilingual poems and songs, that you would like a bilingual dialogue in your next play, that you will regularly offer a creative space where no language is excluded or marginalised, and where English is not your only priority.
Once you create a space for every language to be unleashed and used as a powerful creative tool, you will notice that children will do the rest, and the change you have brought about will be long lasting.
VISUAL Carlow Dates: October 2021 – January 2022
The VISUAL Carlow invites primary, post-primary and third-level students to The Corona, an animated documentary film, interactive exhibition and series of guided workshops through the gallery, sharing the experiences of young people in their own voices during lockdown.
The Corona foregrounds the experiences of young people aged 3 – 24 in their own voices. The film shows the experience of lockdown from the perspective of children in early years settings, primary schools, afterschool care, young people from Comhairle na nÓg, early school leavers, third level students and children and young people with disabilities.
Schools can book facilitated, guided workshops through the galleries to view The Corona films, engage in facilitated conversation about their experience of the COVID-19 pandemic and contribute their drawings and reflections to the archive of children’s experiences of the pandemic.
If cost is an issue for your school please contact learning@visualcarlow.ie Schools can also come to the gallery any time during opening hours and do a self-guided free visit to the exhibition. Self-guided tours are free but must be booked through boxoffice@visualcarlow.ie or by calling 059 917 2400.
Fighting Words invite submissions from post-primary students for its annual Fighting Words supplement in The Irish Times. They are looking for short pieces of fiction on any theme – as Béarla agus as Gaeilge. Young people may submit one prose submission or two poems for consideration. The maximum word count is 1,500 words.
Fighting Words aim is to help children and young people, and adults who did not have this opportunity as children, to discover and harness the power of their own imaginations and creative writing skills. It is about using the creative practice of writing and storytelling to strengthen children and teenagers – from a wide range of backgrounds – to be resilient, creative and successful shapers of their own lives.
Every year, Fighting Words publishes a magazine of exciting new writing by young people from all over Ireland. While the magazine will be predominantly short fiction, if anyone is working on monologues, scripts, poems, comics etc. they are welcome to be submitted, as are extracts from longer pieces. All work submitted will be considered.
Solstice Arts Centre Dates: Various times and dates available
Solstice Arts Centre invites schools to explore 3 artworks in their Surveyor exhibition from the comfort of their own classroom. Their learning and engagement coordinator Deirdre Rogers, will use Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) to expand students thoughts on ‘what’s going on in these artworks’. Encouraging peer to peer discussion, this is an opportunity for students to focus and reflect on multiple perspectives, enhancing engagement and enjoyment of learning through art. Students will learn about the artists who created the works explored in their VTS discussion, and may even be inspired to create artworks of their own!
These online school tours are free of charge. They are suitable for students from 2nd – 6th class and students of all ages at post-primary level. The tour and conversations can take place during an in-person visit to the gallery or over Zoom. Good classroom internet access is required if you prefer to attend through Zoom.
Dates: Various times and dates available, please enquire with you preferred date & time.
Poetry Ireland Deadline: 5:30pm Friday 31 December 2021
Poetry Ireland are inviting applications from primary and post-primary schools for their Writers in Schools scheme this Autumn 2021. The Writers in Schools scheme part-funds visits by writers and storytellers to primary and post-primary schools in the Republic of Ireland (funded by The Arts Council) and Northern Ireland (funded by Arts Council Northern Ireland).
Writers in Schools visits are available with a range of artists including poets, novelists, storytellers, teen fiction writers, children’s writers and screenwriters. In-person visits are consist of 2–2.5 hours with a selected writer, which can be divided into shorter sessions for different class group. For the duration of the Covid-19 restrictions, Writers in Schools will also be supporting virtual visits by writers. These virtual visits will be one hour in duration and can be split into a maximum of 2 sessions.
Poetry Ireland recommend that schools submit their application as early as possible, as they generally operate on a first-come-first-served basis and unfortunately cannot accommodate every request.
The 6th annual National Arts in Education Portal Day 2021 is a virtual conference from 15 – 21 November. The National Arts in Education Portal Virtual Conference will welcome hundreds of professionals from across the arts, education, arts in education and creative sector, who will attend various online events to share, learn, talk, network, get inspired and interrogate best practice in the field.
The event represents an important landmark in the calendar for educationalists and arts and creativity in education sector professionals with a shared interest in quality and access to best practice arts provision for children and young people. This year the National Arts in Education Portal Day has once again moved online to ensure accessibly for all audience members as per government guidelines.
The Arts in Education Portal – an initiative of the Arts in Education Charter, a cross-governmental policy launched in early 2013 – is the key national digital resource of arts in education and creative practice in Ireland. This annual event is an extension of the Arts in Education Portal with specially commissioned activities and events that are funded by the Department of Education and supported by the Creative Ireland Programme. This is also part of a wider programme of national initiatives that have been developed as a result of the Arts in Education Charter and form part of the Creative Ireland, Creative Youth Pillar I programme, which was launched by Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar T.D. in December 2017.
There will be a broad range of Creative Workshops delivered by artists and creators, Ana Colomer, Fiona Linnane, Daithí Ó Murchú, Sarah Fitzgibbon and Joanna Parkes. These workshops aim to support artists and teachers to explore new ideas, approaches and techniques to support their own professional development through creative practice. The virtual conference will culminate in a closing event with curator, artist, writer and educator Jennie Guy, who will share her reflections on the week’s events and discussions.
The 2021 National Arts in Education Portal Virtual Conference has been organised by the Arts in Education Portal Editorial Committee, who oversee the content management of the Portal on an ongoing basis, in collaboration with the current editors, Kids’ Own Publishing Partnership.
Please note: ISL Interpretation and live captioning will be available for all publicly broadcast events on zoom only booking in advance is required. artsineducationportal.eventbrite.com
Cork International Film Festival Dates: 8 – 11 November 2021
Cork International Film Festival presents five excellent films in this year’s Schools Programme. These specially selected titles are aimed at Leaving Cert students of French, German and Spanish. Presented in association with the Irish Film Institute Education Department, these films will be screened at the Gate Cinemas in Cork, Midleton and Mallow from 8 – 11 November.
Leaving Cert French titles include Gagarine by Fanny Liatard and Jérémy Trouilh, suitable for ages 12 and over; and Petit Pays by Eric Barbier, suitable for ages 15 and over. Leaving Cert German titles include Nachtwald by Andre Hörmann, suitable for ages 15 and over; and Cleo by Erik Schmitt for ages 13 and over. For Leaving Cert Spanish students, the Festival will screen Los Lobos by Samuel Kishi, a Mexican film suitable for ages 12 and over. Tickets are €6 per student and accompanying teachers go free.
Using The Ark’s Winter Light exhibition as inspiration, artist Liselott Olofsson will lead the group on an exploration of the season of winter through the use of visual arts.
This hands-on workshop delivered live through Zoom will encourage teachers to use art as a tool with their class to investigate, learn and discover seasonal changes in nature during wintertime, giving them tools and techniques to recreate a lesson back in the classroom.
The workshop will focus on the drawing, colour and construction strand of the curriculum, creating a 3D wintry diorama scene that reflects the winter activity of woodland plants and animals.
This is an event aimed at primary school teachers or other educators at the primary level.
The Ark invites you to their early years workshop ‘Fallen Forest’ with artist Jane Groves. In the Fallen Forest all the trees have lost their leaves and the branches are bare. But nature is only sleeping: little seeds and big roots are buried deep down within the earth, resting through the cold winter so they’re ready to emerge in spring. Come explore the Fallen Forest with your grown up, discover all the colours and patterns of the forest. Make marks and curious designs with the fallen leaves, create your own squiggly roots and come dig for hidden seed treasure!
Artist Jane Groves loves to connect people, places, and landscapes and specialises in working with young people, inspired by her own observations of nature and informed in part by many children’s lack of interaction with and vocabulary about the natural world.
Tickets cost €11.50/€9.50 per child with 20% off for members. This workshop is suitable for 2 – 4 year olds.
When my first child started primary school I was very surprised to be invited alongside all the other parents to spend 15 minutes every week in the class to read together in small groups. It was the first time I walked into a classroom of 4 and 5 year olds where more than 10 different languages were spoken. Each parent was very comfortable speaking to their children in Urdu, Arabic, Chinese, French and Italian, and all the children were quickly accustomed to this immersive sound experience.
For years I studied the development of language in the early years, visited homes to test and assess children, but only when I saw my own children growing up in their dual Italian and Irish cultural and linguistic identity I realised the important role the school community would play in developing their confidence in who they are.
This sparked my interest in developing Mother Tongues with the goal of supporting parents and teachers in making the most of the linguistic and cultural diversity that is already present in our children’s lives. Culturally responsive teaching means making an active choice to leverage each child’s cultural capital to benefit everyone’s learning experience. It shifts the populistic narrative of cultural diversity as a challenge and turns children and families into funds of knowledge, with their lived experiences becoming an integral part of the curriculum and informing the teacher’s approach.
As in the classroom, I think a shift in the conversations and approaches to cultural diversity needs to change in our society, with a stronger emphasis on each individual’s lived experiences as unique and valuable in creating the common space we share.
This is why the work of Mother Tongues takes so many forms in order to enact change inside and outside of the classroom.
In this series of blogs I will take you through some key projects developed by Mother Tongues to achieve our mission and vision, to examine how arts in education can be instrumental in building a culturally responsive environment.
Music Generation Deadline: 12 noon, 8 November 2021
Kilkenny and Carlow Education and Training Board (KCETB) invite applications for the position of Music Generation Development Officer in Kilkenny. This post is a five year fixed term contract. As the lead partner for Kilkenny Local Music Education Partnership, KCETB seeks to employ a Music Generation Development Officer to implement its plans for the provision of performance music education for children and young people in Co. Kilkenny.
Branar Téatar do Pháistí Dates: 29 November – 10 December 2021
Branar, in association with Town Hall Theatre, are delighted to present a new film version of their acclaimed production of How to Catch a Star by Oliver Jeffers. Partnering with 24 venues across Ireland, all schools will have the opportunity to experience this unique and well-loved story.
Based on the beloved book, this film will be available to stream to classrooms throughout the country for a limited period. Schools can book to receive access to the filmed production for a full week and receive access to a dedicated online educational resource pack for pre- and post-engagement.
This adaptation combines an original score by Colm Mac Con Iomaire, puppetry by Grace Kiely and Neasa Ní Chuanaigh, directed by Marc Mac Lochlainn with design by Maeve Clancy. Branar’s signature storytelling creates a show which reminds us all to follow our dreams.
Are you an experienced art in education practitioner with good knowledge of the primary school curriculum and established skills and expertise in ceramics and clay? If yes, you really should check out this exciting opportunity.
The Three Muses Joint Education Programme, which comprises the Hunt Museum, Limerick Museum and Limerick City Gallery of Art, are looking for suitably qualified and experienced individuals or teams to design, trial and evaluate teaching resources for the Clay Through the Ages digital teachers pack which they will also deliver. Teaching resources include lesson plans on Clay Through the Ages objects/artworks and instructional videos which will assist teachers to plan and deliver clay based creative activities in the classroom inspired by Clay Through the Ages collections.
Clay Through the Ages is a new primary schools workshop programme currently being developed by The Three Muses. It will be offered to local schools next year. The digital teachers pack is an important component of this programme because it will be used by teachers to prepare their pupils for participation in the workshop but also to extend its learning potential. In addition, the digital teachers pack should also work as a standalone resource for teachers who are not able to bring their pupils to this workshop but want to deliver a scheme of learning on clay.
“I am delighted to welcome a further 188 schools as our latest Creative Schools – the largest intake of schools in a single year since the establishment of the programme in 2018. This increased intake of schools, in line with the commitment made in the Programme for Government to expand the initiative, will enable even greater numbers of our youngest citizens to discover and develop new skills and talents that enhance their development and growth, and add to the richness of their overall learning experience through increased engagement with cultural creativity.”
Announcing the creation of 21 new Creative Clusters, Minister Foley said:
“Now more than ever, it is important that our students are supported to develop their creativity and given flexibility to express themselves in a variety of exciting new ways. Today I am delighted to announce the 81 schools that are coming together to form 21 new Creative Clusters. I would like to welcome these new schools into this Schools Excellence Fund initiative, and I look forward to seeing how these exciting projects develop over the coming two years. This year has seen a very significant level of interest from schools applying to participate in the 2021 Creative Clusters initiative across the country. I am hoping to increase the number of Creative Clusters in the 2022 intake.
“In addition, the new BLAST initiative I announced earlier this year will also provide opportunities for schools to collaborate with established artists, supporting our children and young people to collaborate and engage in creative and critical thinking – all crucial skills for their futures. Applications for BLAST closed recently and I look forward to finalising the details of this exciting programme in the coming weeks.”
“The Arts Council is thrilled to welcome the wide range of schools and Youthreach centres across the country that are joining the Creative Schools programme for the period 2021-2023. These schools will participate in a guided journey to establish a Creative Schools Plan bespoke to each and every one of them. This creative and democratic process gives primacy to children and young people’s voices in creativity planning in their schools. It supports teachers in their work to embed creativity in the curriculum, and facilitates schools and centres to develop vibrant relationships with the arts and cultural sectors. This will help sustain artistic and creative practice for schools beyond their participation in the programme, and will help ensure that artistic expression is in abundance for years to come throughout the country.”
In addition to Creative Schools and Creative Clusters, the Creative Ireland Programme continues to support a wide range of both school- and community-based initiatives to enable greater participation by children and young people in all forms of creative activities.
Minister Martin added:
“Our ongoing commitment to Creative Schools and Creative Clusters has meant that in just three years almost 1,000 schools have been given the opportunity to engage with arts, culture and creativity in new ways, helping to enrich the learning experience of thousands of children and young people. Together with our continued investment in an array of community-based initiatives and projects, made possible by the Creative Ireland Programme, young people are being provided with evermore opportunities to engage in creative activities – not only as a support to their learning and development, but also for the sheer enjoyment and hopefully to develop a lifelong love of arts, culture and creativity.”
Kids’ Own Publishing Partnership Deadline: 5pm Monday 1 November 2021
Kids’ Own Publishing Partnership seeks an experienced individual to lead on the delivery of their collaborative projects with children from late November 2021 to mid–June 2022. They are a national children’s arts organisation and publishing house, whose mission is to create opportunities for children to collaborate with artists, and to publish and promote the artwork and insights that emerge from these encounters.
The Project Manager will have a base at the office of Kids’ Own Sligo town, but will work both remotely and on-site. Some travel may be required as part of this role. The Project Manager will report to the CEO, and will work closely with our small team to support the delivery of our strategic aims. The role is a full-time post, based on a fixed-term contract to cover maternity leave.
Salary is pro-rata, based on an annual remuneration of €32,000.
Imagine Arts Festival Dates: 15 – 24 October 2021 Imagine Arts Festival is a unique celebration of the arts in Waterford City. Now in its 20th year Imagine features live performances, exhibitions and interactive performances for people of all ages, including dance, film, visual art, theatre, spoken word and literature, as well as classical, contemporary and traditional music.
Below are some highlights for children and young people:
Theatre: The Little Robber Girl
18 – 22 October
A limited audio drama series for children with accompanying posted pack, written and directed by Deirdre Dwyer. The school’s ticket includes a digital teacher’s pack with curriculum-related activities. Join Mattie, her little dog Arthur, and her new friend Finn as they go in search of Mattie’s missing Mammy…and return with much more than buried treasure. Let the listening adventure begin!
School’s Ticket – €50 (limited edition; includes a digital teacher’s pack with curriculum-related activities)
Multimedia art: Creative Cluster exhibition 15 – 24 October
Under the theme of ‘Horizons’, five Post-Primary Schools in Waterford, supported by Creative Ireland, have come together to form an innovative ‘creative cluster’ aimed at student participation in the arts. This exhibition will feature creative writing, photography and visual art from the Transition Year students of 2020/2021 of Abbey Community College, Ardscoil na Mara, De La Salle College, Our Lady of Mercy School and St Angela’s Secondary School.
Workshops: Body Percussion workshop for 8 – 10 year olds 23 October
Join Karen from Mini Musos in this FUN and engaging body percussion workshop that uses the body as the instrument to create interesting and creative sounds, through pulse and rhythmic coordination. The workshop will engage memory & sequencing skills as well as promote the use of music as a means of encouraging well-being especially in todays ‘new’ world. By the end of the session the children should be able to perform a short body percussive piece for their friends and families!
Leaflings with Niamh Sharkey and Owen Churcher
24 October
A Field Guide to Leaflings, a family event with former Laureate no nÓg Niamh Sharkey and Owen Churcher. Welcome to the world of Leaflings, the secret guardians of the trees. Among the branches and roots of some of our planet’s most important inhabitants, live the leaflings. These tiny creatures protect trees and help manage their interactions, their cycles and tell their stories.
Bualadh Bos Children’s Festival Dates: 3 – 16 October 2021
Limerick’s only arts festival dedicated to children, all on your doorstep!
Lime Tree Theatre, Belltable are delighted to announce the return of their annual Bualadh Bos Children’s Festival this October. From the 3rd to the 16th of October an exciting programme of live and online events will be presented for families and schools.
The team hope the festival will bring some joy after a very difficult year for children and families. The programme offers a wide variety of events for all age groups, from our smallest citizens right through to our older primary school children.
One of the highlights this year is the Family Day at Belltable on Saturday 9th October to encourage family audiences back into the venue in a safe manner. Best-selling children’s author Dave Rudden will kick off the day with a 40 minute talk, it will no doubt fire up the creative juices of every child attending. Families can also pick up a Modernist Trail map by OpenHouse Limerick and explore the city with fresh eyes for an hour or two. The Bualadh Bos Human Library “drop-in” event will take place in the Belltable Hub throughout the afternoon. Children of all age groups are invited to come with questions about music, dance, writing and illustrations for four professional artists working in these areas every day. Cartoon Saloon’s screening of Wolfwalkers will complete a fantastic family day out. The Belltable Café will feed and water everyone with an appetizing family-friendly menu throughout the day so everyone can stay in the building for the full immersive arts experience.
Outside of the Family Day the festival presents a gorgeous theatre show by Barnstorm Theatre Company Alice and the Wolf, Riverbank Arts Centre presents A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings for families.
For schools they present Glór’s The Wild Atlantic Tales in Belltable and also host streamed events into schools with Music Generation’s Messin’ In The Musical Metaverse, White: The Film and Potato Needs a Bath. One streamed family show to watch out for is Hansel and Gretel complete with songs from Frozen and The Greatest Showman by Verdant Productions. This show is great fun and can be enjoyed from the comfort of your own couch. For the real smallies there is a beautiful show by Anna Newell called I AM BABA and the Bualadh Bos On Tour programme presents a show by Manchán Mangan called Arán agus Im for 5th & 6th class pupils. There is guaranteed something for everyone.
Despite ongoing challenges due to the pandemic the festival team has rallied to present the best possible programme this October. They hope families and schools in Limerick city and county will engage and join in the fun. In order for children to engage all we need is you. The team encourage all grown-ups to have a look at the programme here and book in advance due to limited capacities for many events.
Irish Architecture Foundation Dates: 15 – 17 October 2021
Open House Dublin returns from 15-17 October with an exciting mix of over 100 FREE events happening across the city and online! This year the IAF are delighted to bring Open House back on-site, with limited building tours making a triumphant comeback! See the city from a new perspective with Open House outdoor tours by boat, bus or bike! The digital programme allows fans of Open House to bring their festival home, with films, virtual tours, live streamed events, the Open House Journal and Open House Junior events all available to enjoy from the comfort of home.
The Open House Junior programme includes workshops and activities both in person and online for junior enthusiasts. Highlights include:
Architrek: A colourful series of specially designed architecture activity sheets for families, full of observation games, sketching and quizzes that guide you along selected routes around Dublin and Dun Loaghaire.
Building Stories: A competition to build a 3D model of your favourite building! This is a nationwide competition designed for families with children aged 5-12. Entries accepted until 30th October.
Digital Design Challenge: Use your creativity and digital skills to design your very own ‘Social Space’. This is a nationwide design competition for children and young people aged 7-18. Entries accepted until 30th October.
Baboró International Arts Festival for Children Dates: 4 – 17 October 2021
Baboró International Arts Festival for Children are delighted to launch their Digital Delegate Pass. With a Digital Delegate Pass you will have access to a variety of talks and online work created by some of the finest makers of children’s art and theatre and a series of talks with artists, sector and academic leaders. For their 25th festival, Baboró will be celebrating the rights of the child with a strand of events and performances dedicated to giving children a platform for their voice to be heard, a space for expression and, of course, a festival experience to be enjoyed with family and friends.
For the duration of the festival, Digital Delegates will have access to:
Six Digital Talks
Exploring ‘Mapping’: a map on the aesthetics of performing arts for early years
Bringing the Rights of the Child into View
Reflecting on RISE and Looking Towards Galway 2020 Legacy
Music Generation Deadline: 5pm Tuesday 5 October 2021
Music Generation is seeking to recruit a Quality Support & Development Manager as it builds towards its aim of nationwide expansion by 2022. This is an exciting job opportunity for a skilled professional with expertise in and a demonstrable track record of delivering results and achievement in music, education development and management. Reporting to the Head of Quality, Support and Development, the successful candidate will join a growing team focused on providing strategic support for the implementation of its Quality Strategy with its network of Local Music Education Partnerships.
Music Generation is Ireland’s National Music Education Programme which helps children and young people access performance music education in their local area. Music Generation has been successfully established in 25 cities and counties in Ireland. It has created some 67,000 opportunities for children and young people to engage in music tuition annually.
This position will be offered initially as an 18 month fixed-term contract commencing in January 2022. The Music Generation National Development Office is located in Dublin city centre; this job may be performed onsite or through a hybrid working arrangement.
We went outside straight away to do some artwork. Tunde gave us a clipboard with two sheets of paper and explained what to do. Firstly we had to draw a bird’s eye view map of the school yard. Secondly we worked in pairs to use a view finder to find an interesting spot to draw. This was tricky as if you were holding the view finder you had to be still, our yard is quite big so it was hard to choose which area to map.
While we were outside, the portal filming crew called us in pairs to a quiet area to do an interview. We were asked questions like
“What was your favourite part?”
“What do you think art is?”
“What was hard about the artwork?”
“Can you tell us about Tunde?”
The interview’s were fun to do but at first it was a little awkward. It was our first time being interviewed so we were a little nervous but we really enjoyed talking about all the work we did this year.
Plaster
We collected materials outside to use to make prints. We collected things like sticks, leaves, flowers, feathers, twigs, grass ETC to put in. We mixed flour, hot water and cold water to make a plaster mixture. We all had a turn stirring the mixture. We poured the mixture into containers. We placed the materials we gathered outside into the containers and we left them to dry. We wanted this plaster to set and go hard so we could use it as a plate for printing, however, when we came back to class after the weekend, our plaster had stunk up the whole class. Unfortunately our plaster had not worked. We think we may have overfilled the containers or maybe used too much liquid. They never hardened and we couldn’t use them. If we were to try this again, next time we could; make the mixture differently and pour less into the containers, or use clay or plaster of paris instead.
Bridges
Our task was to make a bridge that connected or combined something in nature with something man-made. We were given a few materials to construct our bridges with – blue paper, skewers, straws and masking tape. We worked in small groups to make our bridges. We found it tricky to find a place to make our bridge as we had to find somewhere outside that had nature and man-made items. We enjoyed this activity as the materials were easy to use and we enjoyed being out in the sunshine working with our friends.
Recording our reflections
In class, we made a scrapbook to talk about the lessons we did with Tunde and Ms. Hourigan. We stuck in pictures from our lessons, art we made during our virtual, we wrote recounts about our sessions and we were able to write our thoughts and feelings about art in here also.
By Artur, Sochi, Katie and Renata
St. Mary’s Secondary School, Ballina, Co. Mayo Deadline: 19 November 2021
St. Mary’s Secondary School, Ballina, Co. Mayo, invites proposals for the commission of an Artwork / Artworks to be funded under the Per Cent for Art Scheme in connection with their new school building. Artists / Architects / Designers are invited to tender for the project in a two-stage process.
Proposals are welcome from both individuals and collectives, and from those working across a range of disciplines and a broad scope of creative approaches. The school are interested in physical artwork(s) that integrate into and enhance the public spaces of the school, within the building and / or on the extensive exterior grounds. They welcome proposals that have an interactive and / or engaging element and that are vibrant and innovative in design / approach. They envisage that within the budget, a public art project that results in one or multiple physical artworks may be commissioned by an individual or a collective.
Budget
The value of the commission is €43,500 including VAT and taxes.
Stage One Deadline
Friday November 19th 2021 at 12:00pm
Brief
This is a two-stage open competition. Proposals will be short-listed for development in Stage Two. A fee of €300 will be paid to short-listed artists for further development of their proposal. Please read the brief for further details about the commission, location and school community. The brief, site maps, and a virtual tour of the new building are available on the school website: stmarysballina.ie/Page/New-School-Development/372/Index.html
Site Visit
Wednesday October 13th 2021 at 2:30pm. Places will be limited. Please book your place by Friday October 8th at 12:00pm by contacting the Curator, Yvonne Cullivan, at percentforart@stmarysballina.ie
Deadline for Queries
Friday November 12th 2021 at 12:00pm. All queries should be directed to the Curator.
The National Gallery of Ireland Date: Wednesday 24 November 2021, 4 – 5.30pm
The National Gallery of Ireland is delighted to announce a Teachers’ CPD workshop in photography. Join photographer Brian Cregan and Education Officer Catherine O’Donnell for a practical workshop, equipping you with tools and ideas for photography in the classroom. The session will support teachers using their schools resource Medium, Materiality and Magic: Photography at the Gallery. It will also include peer learning via group work to enable you to develop cross-curricular creative strategies.
The National Gallery of Ireland’s Teachers’ CPD programme is designed to support teaching and learning through and about art, via collaborative networking.
The National Gallery of Ireland Deadline: 5pm, 17 Sept 2021
National Gallery of Ireland is thrilled to announce Your Gallery at School, along with the return of lots of new programmes, resources and opportunities, including the return of onsite school visits, digital sessions and teacher CPD. They are inviting post-primary schools to apply to participate in Your Gallery at School, a new holistic outreach programme that brings the Gallery directly to schools. This project builds on the success of the Gallery’s established schools programme and develops new content and partnerships outside of the Gallery walls.
Your Gallery at School aims to break down the barriers that prevent engagement with the arts through holistic programming that ensures children transition to adulthood equipped with the life-changing benefits of art. It also aims to build in students a sense of ownership of the Gallery, giving they a positive place to turn to in adulthood. Engagement occurs in three key strands: learning through and about art, wellbeing, and creative careers.
How to apply
Download and complete the short application form and email it to tours@ngi.ie. Please note that only schools who have not visited the National Gallery of Ireland in the past three years are eligible to apply. They will let you know if your application has been successful by Monday 4 October.
Crawford College of Art & Design Deadline extended
The Arts in Group Facilitation Certificate (Level 8, 10 credits) at Crawford College of Art & Design focuses on the practical skills of planning and running creative workshops with groups in a range of non—formal contexts. Participants learn these skills through experiential learning processes, taking part in visual arts, drama, dance and music workshops and reflecting on the experience. The focus is on acknowledging the individual within learning, recognising the importance of play and the need for learning to be engaging. There is a strong emphasis on engaging with diversity and learning to adapt a range of arts approaches to meet the varying needs within a group.
The programme will be delivered through blended learning, involving face to face experiential learning and online learning. The face to face learning is being designed to maximise the potential of creative learning in outdoor environments. Crawford College of Art & Design are adapting to Covid—19 restriction and see the potential of learning in outdoor environments for participants in the programme and for those participants may work with in the future. They are inviting participants to join them with a bicycle to access outdoor learning environments.
The course will provide skills face to face in working in physical workshops, classes, centres as well as facilitation creative engagement online.
The sixteenth edition of Culture Night will take place on Friday 17 September 2021. Culture Night / Oíche Chultúir celebrates all that makes up the richness and diversity of culture in Ireland today, connecting people to cultural activities locally and nationally and aims to open up pathways to ongoing engagement. Doors are opened late and special and unique events are specifically programmed at participating locations. All activities are free of charge, thanks to the continued support of the Arts Council and Local Authorities across the island of Ireland.
Here are a selection of family friendly events taking place for Culture Night:
Cork: Pitch’d Circus and Street Arts Festival
Time: 6pm – 10pm
The event is a space for friends to catch up, stand awestruck at acrobats flipping and tumbling, or even a place to scratch your head at some silly walkabout characters. Features pop-up performances of Tumble Circus’ “Cycle Circus” and Tom Campbell’s “Rubbish Performance”.
Dublin Interactive Museum of Languages for Children
Time: 4pm – 8pm
Visit Mother Tongues’ touring Interactive Museum of Languages for Young Audiences in Rua Red. Since 2017, Mother Languages has promoted multilingualism in Ireland. Through artwork, sculptures, and spaces, the exhibit creatively encourages children to interact with different letters and alphabets across languages. This fun, immersive experience promotes both creativity and linguistic/cultural diversity.
Online Sundown Circus
Event Times: 7.30, 9.30, 10.30
Erebidae Circus preforms an intimate and enchanting circus show with Irish mythology, original music, fire dancing and aerial circus spectacle. They will have three special online performances about three ancient fires: The Fire of the Hearth, The Fire of the Forge, and The Fire of Inspiration.
Zoom Book Clinic with Children’s Books Ireland and Hodges Figgis
Time: 4pm – 6pm
Are you a young reader? Looking for a new series to delve into? Feeling uninspired by your bookshelves at home? Then pop into the virtual Children’s Books Ireland Book Clinic with Hodges Figgis! Chat to the Book Doctor, consult on your favourite reads and leave with a prescription for your next book, as well as a 10% off book voucher.
Live Online Workshop for Teens: Kabuki Actors
Time: 6pm – 7pm
Inspired by the Kabuki theatre, join the Chester Beatty Library and create your very own puppet dressed to dance and entertain. Bring your theatrical creature to life with glamorous costume and heavy make-up of the Kabuki world.
Date: Friday 17 September 2021
See culturenight.ie for more information on events and activities in your local area.
We are delighted to announce the dates of the sixth annual National Arts in Education Portal Day. This year, it will be moving online with a series of virtual events taking place over a week in November – Monday 15th to Sunday 21st.
The Portal Team are excited to welcome guest speaker Professor Adele Diamond, Canada Research Chair Professor of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience at The University of British Columbia, Vancouver. Professor Adele Diamond will open the conference on Monday 15th November.
Adele Diamond is the Canada Research Chair Professor of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience at UBC in Vancouver.
Professor Diamond’s specialty is executive functions (e.g., self-control, problem-solving, mentally playing with ideas, thinking outside the box). She offers a markedly different perspective from traditional medical practice in hypothesizing that treating physical health, without also addressing social and emotional health is less efficient or effective. Adele offers a markedly different perspective from mainstream education in hypothesizing that focusing exclusively on training cognitive skills is less efficient, and ultimately less successful, than also addressing emotional, social, spiritual, and physical needs. She has championed the roles of music, dance, storytelling, and play in improving executive functions and academic and mental health outcomes. When not working, Adele loves to be with her 4-year-old granddaughter and to hike, play tennis, and especially dance.
View Dr. Diamond’s TEDx talk on the power of Executive Function and its impact on learning below:
The full line-up of the conference will be announced shortly. It includes a series of ‘in-conversation’ sessions with artists, teachers and practitioners from across the sector, bringing discussion and critical thinking to a range of topics. It also features series of online processed based creative workshops and a closing event.
These events bring together members of the arts in education community from all across Ireland, to share, learn, talk, network, get inspired, and continue interrogating best practice in the field.
Full programme details for the day will be announced shortly. For enquiries please contact events@artsineducation.ie.
Cork County Library and Arts Service Deadline: Midnight 29 August 2021
Cork County Library and Arts Service is inviting visual artists, designers and craftspeople to apply for role of facilitators for Frameworks, its 2021 – 2022 Art Collection in Schools Scheme. Six primary schools across County Cork will be participating in the scheme.
The purpose of Frameworks is to:
Make visual art available for primary school children to view and engage with in their own schools.
Foster a sense of appreciation and understanding for visual art.
Support the primary school curriculum.
Provide the school with the opportunity to engage with a visual artist, designer or craftsperson.
Cork County Council has a substantial collection of visual art. This civic collection includes works in various media including, painting, drawing, print, photography, video and small scale 3—dimensional work. These artworks were created by emerging and established artists, many of who are living and working in Cork county.
Facilitators will engage with a primary school class for four 2-hour sessions, working with five artworks from the Cork County Collection as their starting point. The artworks will be installed in schools for the academic year 2021— 2022. The art facilitators will create and deliver an engagement plan specific to the artworks and context of the class. This plan should take into consideration the age of the class and other contexts such as geographic, historic or environmental factors.
Deadline: Midnight 29 August 2021
Artists will be paid a fee for these engagements, plus travel costs. A materials budget will be made available to each participating
school.
The Ark and Dublin Theatre Festival Dates: 1 – 10 October, 2021
The Ark and Dublin Theatre Festival present a new show by The Ark Artist-in-Residence, Shaun Dunne. This children’s theatre piece offers a window into one child’s experience of the first lockdown of 2020.
Kyla is throwing a party on her street. Not just any party. It’s a graduation ceremony. It’ll be mad to see the kids from her old class again after so long. Summer 2020 was literally endless.
Now that they’re all in first year, Kyla wants to get the old gang back together. She’s made caps, she has gowns, and she’s even prepared a speech. But there’s one visitor she’s not expecting…
As Kyla attempts to mark an important milestone in her young life, can she and her mother learn to understand each other and bridge the divide left by lockdown?
Informed by collaborative work with The Ark Children’s Council and featuring choreography by the multi-award winning Junk Ensemble, What Did I Miss? is a story of both childhood and parenthood, about growing up, no matter what age you are.
Kids’ Own Publishing Partnership Deadline: Friday 3 September, 2021
Kids’ Own is seeking an Education Advisor to develop and expand their links with teachers, schools, and academics in teaching and learning over a nine-month period from October 2021. The Education Advisor is a brand new fixed-term role that aims to support Kids’ Own by building new audiences through outreach to schools. The Advisor will also build on the increased interest of teachers, academics, and educational bodies in their work. They will develop new connections with all of the above to ensure Kids’ Own’s work remains linked with sectoral developments.
The Education Advisor will primarily:
1) build links between Kids’ Own and schools, teachers, and teacher training colleges
2) conduct focus groups to understand the links between our books and the current and incoming primary school curriculum
3) make connections with governmental educational bodies
4) advocate for the use of Kids’ Own books within the classroom to demonstrate the value of greater representation of children’s voices and lived experience within the curriculum and the books children encounter in school.
Qualifications and experience needed:
A strong interest in arts in education
A qualification in education or equivalent experience
Up-to-date knowledge of primary education in Ireland
Experience of working with schools, teachers, and primary school student groups
Experience with self-directed projects
Full, clean driving license and access to own transport
Interest in and strong commitment to advocating for children’s voices and rights. Previous experience in this area would be desirable.
Deadline: Friday 3rd September, 2021
To apply, please send a detailed cover letter expressing your interest and suitability for the role, along with a CV to staff@kidsown.ie. Please include a document that outlines ideas you have for how you may approach this role. This should include a breakdown of costings according to the fee that is being offered. There is a set fee of €10,000 offered for this role to take place between October 2021 and July 2022. This is primarily to cover the Education Advisor’s fee, but must also cover any other anticipated expenses, e.g. travel costs, materials etc.
The Dublin Fringe Festival takes place this September with live events in venues across Dublin and online nationwide. Their programme features an outdoor visual art in Dublin 8 and secret locations city-wide, as well as live open-air performances at Dublin Castle and Grand Canal Dock. They will be hosting music and comedy gigs back in beloved venues. Whilst bringing cutting edge interdisciplinary performances to stages in The Abbey Theatre, Project Arts Centre, Smock Alley, Chapel Royal and Draíocht Blanchardstown – as well as events online.
Some of the highlights for children and young people include:
Dublin 8, Yer Lookin’ Great 11-26 September Free
Emmalene Blake is an internationally recognised street artist based in Dublin. This September, she will create a new mural on Swift’s Alley, inspired by the ideas of children from that neighbourhood. Cities change and grow to suit the people who live in them. The artist asked children from local schools to tell her what makes Dublin 8 great. Children also shared the positive changes in the area that have made life better for them and their friends.
The Veiled Ones Dates: 7pm on 10, 11, 12 & 13 Sept; 4pm on 10 & 13 Sept; 12 noon on 11 & 12 Sept Tickets: €12/€8
Junk Ensemble present a dance theatre production for young audiences. This show explores witches, transformations and the powerful relationship between a grandparent and grandchild. The audience are invited on an intriguing journey through intricately designed rooms with a cast of internationally acclaimed dancers, young performers and live musicians.
We looked at different types of leaves common to Ireland on the board. We chose a leaf we liked and drew it on a card. We had to make sure that they were bigger than our hand.
We stuck foam and corrugated cardboard onto our leaf. We had to make sure that none of the pieces were touching as we wanted mosaic design. This leaf would become a plate for printing. We used a screw to dot texture onto our leaves by leaving marks in the foam.
We used view finders to find an interesting view in our nature booklets. We drew what we seen in our view finder on to a piece of card and we enlarged it. After this Tunde called us up one by one to choose materials to stick onto our picture. Some of the materials used were wool, foam, string, piece of a woolly jumper, thread, netted paper, hessian, lace, matchsticks, grease proof paper and many other things. Next we used PVA glue to stick our materials to the plate.
Printing
Our first printing session happened during our first day filming for the Arts in Education Portal as a part of the documentation award. We were very nervous at first but we soon grew confidence and we can’t wait to see ourselves on the video! Here’s what we did!
We used acetate, a roller, red yellow and blue block print ink to make orange on our acetate. We rolled the ink onto the leaf. We got another sheet of paper and placed it on the leaf plate. We gently rubbed the back of the paper in a circular motion to make sure the print transferred. We carefully removed the page and then ta-dah! Like magic, the print has appeared on the page.
We repeated this three times on white, green, and blue paper. We repeated this process using yellow and blue ink on our second plate (nature plate) to make two more prints. We hung our prints on a clothes line in the classroom to draw. It took our prints around a week to dry and our plates are still inky a month later.
We drew a leaf onto green or yellow paper and cut it out. We folded the leaf into quarters and we cut out three triangles on each edge. We opened our leaf to find a diamond pattern inside. We used blu tack to stick our leaves onto a massive, long piece of card. We used pouches made from hessian, cloth and thread, bubble wrap and Styrofoam sponges to create prints on the card using block ink.
Everyone in the class worked on this piece together. This was our teacher’s favourite piece that we made because everyone worked together. We left our piece to dry over the weekend, and when it was dry we removed it the leaves and we were amazed to discover the blank spaces they had left behind.
We really enjoyed using the printing ink and rollers. We liked the way we were able to use plates that we had made ourselves in previous sessions. It was great to have lots of artwork made from the same plate. We enjoyed removing the page from the plate as it was very satisfying to watch the ink appearing on the page.
By Seán, Pippa, Tyra and Ryan
Baboró International Arts Festival for Children October 4 — 17, 2021
For their 25th Arts Festival for Children, Baboró will be celebrating the rights of the child, inspired by the UN Convention on the Rights of The Child. The arts festival will have strands of events and performances dedicated to giving children a platform for their voice to be heard, a space for expression and, of course, a festival experience to be enjoyed with family and friends.
Two Baboró commissions, a co-commission and a touring exhibition, will be central to these celebrations and part of the festival programme in October. The full programme and box office will be announced at the end of August.
Artists, teachers, academics and arts education professionals… Do you want to be part of the sixth annual National Arts in Education Portal Day Conference?
The sixth National Arts in Education Portal Day will move online again this year with a series of virtual events taking place across a week in November. The conference aims to bring together members of the arts in education and creative practice community from all across Ireland, to share, learn, talk, network, get inspired and continue interrogating best practice in the field.
The Arts in Education Portal Editorial Committee invites proposals from organisations or individuals who want to share practical approaches, new skills, new insights, open conversation and offer critical thinking from across the field.
This year, the Portal Committee is looking for the following:
‘In Conversation’ Series
Submissions for ‘in conversation’ style online sessions. We invite proposals that seek to explore or interrogate particular aspects of arts-in-education practice and/or that unpick common terminologies through a practice-based lens:
i.e. What do we really mean when we talk about ‘collaboration’?
How do we measure or understand ‘high-quality’?
What does listening to, or giving a platform to, the child’s voice really mean?
What does a child-led process look like?
Where does arts-in-education practice fall short? Who is left behind?
Proposals should clearly demonstrate an innovative approach to online delivery, ideally with dynamic presentation methods which stimulate audience conversation. Please note the committee will be selecting two ‘in conversation’ sessions for the conference.
Creative Workshop Series
Submissions for the facilitation of two online creative workshops over two days (one per day). The workshops should be focused and process-based, aiming to support both artists and teachers to explore new ideas, approaches or techniques to support their own professional development through creative practice.
The workshops will take place over a weekend (Saturday & Sunday) with the delivery of two 90 minute sessions with the same group of participants.
Creative Workshop ‘Sensing to Action’ with artist Kate Wilson as part of the 2020 National Arts in Education Portal Day Virtual Conference
Would like to be included in the programme for this day? If so, please send us your proposal.
Please ensure your proposal includes the following:
Detailed background on presenters and professional experience in the sector;
Some visual examples of work (no more than 5) relevant to the proposal;
Outline of why you think this presentation/workshop is important to bring to the arts-in-education community.
Practical details of how the presentation/workshop will be delivered in the online context.
The Committee will prioritise submissions from people from diverse communities, including but not limited to people of colour, those from ethnic minority backgrounds, migrant communities and those with disabilities.
The deadline for submission of proposals is 5pm Friday 27th August 2021.
National Portal Day Virtual Conference Proposal Form 2021
Crawford College of Art and Design
Extending the artist’s practice, grounding it in a social context. Looking at engagement through the intersection between the senses, society and the arts.
Crawford College of Art and Design CIT are delighted to announce a new Masters in Arts and Engagement. A 2 year part time course that prepares graduates to develop a professional practice in arts rich engagement with individual, group, and broader societal contexts. Participants on this Masters programme will develop an understanding of the role of the arts within learning, changemaking and the development of culture.
Employment Opportunities:
Arts in Health/Social Care programmes
Arts programming Production Manager/Developer
Outreach Education programmes
Artist Engaged in Community Issues
Professional Artist
Gallery/Museum Education
Youth work
Community Education
Second Chance Learning
Community Development Officer
MA Arts and Engagement
The course will run part-time, one day a week, plus 2 day block monthly for elective module. Applications are welcomed from graduates of arts (visual arts/theatre or music) or social sciences interested in:
Developing their own arts practice in relation to others
Developing arts-based processes to incorporate into existing work place
Developing arts engagement facilitation skills
This Masters programme builds on a number of existing Special Purpose Awards all centred on learning through expressive meaning-making: Arts based facilitation training, creativity and change-making and art therapy. These programmes educate through and activate different modes of communication, promote learning through experiential and reflective practice, and engage with other perspectives and diverse intelligences.
Participants on the Masters will develop an understanding of the role of the arts within learning and engagement and will develop the skills to apply this to a range of contexts. Core modules over the two-year programme relate to the arts in engaged practices which recognise neurodiversity, equality, social justice, power and autonomy. Through research, reflection, group and practical work participants will explore different ways of learning, investigating the transformational power of the arts in personal and societal regulation through a broad scope of contemporary methodologies.
Through elective modules in year one, opportunities will be provided to broaden skill sets through Socially Engaged Theatre, Eco-Arts Practice or Art Therapy. In the second year, opportunity will be given for students to develop their ongoing arts practice informed by, and in relation to, one of two strands of engagement – Health & Wellbeing or Global Citizenship.
Duration: Part time over two years (1 day a week + 2-day block monthly for elective module) Course Fee: EU Applicants: €6,000
The Glucksman has released a series of online art toolkits suitable for primary and secondary students. Organised around key themes, their free art toolkits enable you to explore works in the UCC Art Collection. Whether you are an educator, activist, student or individual art lover, these online toolkits are full of ideas and information to support you and your community.
The toolkits focus on the work of Irish artists Fiona Kelly, Deirdre Breen and The Project Twins. Fiona Kelly’s work has a strong environmental interest and
focuses on ideas of urban sprawl and its impact on the Irish landscape and its traditions. Deirdre Breen is a printmaker and designer who makes screen
prints characterized by flat abstract motifs and geometric compositions. The Project Twins, a Cork based collaborative art duo, create bold and playful graphics which explore ideas of absurdity, identity and the mundane.
Based in Cork, The Glucksman is a leading museum nationally and internationally for creative learning and access to the visual arts. For more information about the toolkit, get email education@glucksman.org.
Ireland’s National School Photography Awards Finalist Mini Expo now online
Ireland’s National School Photography Awards (INSPA) are delighted to launch their Finalist Mini-Expo online. The theme for this year’s National School Photography Awards was Accessible Places | Safer Spaces. A national panel of judges have made the selections from a wide range of entries from primary schools around Ireland. The exhibition is open until October 2021 at INSPA’s online gallery.
The INSPA team would like to take this opportunity to congratulate every primary school who participated in the 2020/21 National School Photography Awards. Through photography, INSPA introduces creative wellbeing into the lives of primary schools, while building a future generation of people who are confident, resilient, connected, kind and ready. This programme provides an inclusive model for children of all backgrounds and abilities to get involved.
The awards are free and offer a range of fantastic prizes including experiences at the Amber Springs Hotel for principals, teachers, pupils and families, cameras for winners and schools, framed photographs, certificates, photo fundraising days and national recognition as a Positive Primary School. To date, INSPA has seen over 450 primary schools register and take their first step on their Positive Primaries Journey.
If your school would like to begin its own journey and participate in the 2021/22 awards, you can register your school at the INSPA website.
The Ark Dates: 5 Aug 2021, 14 Aug 2021 and more
The Ark, Dublin are hosting a series of art workshops for Early Years this summer.
Workshop 1: Box Baby
Thursday 5 August, 10.15am. €10/€8.50* per child.
In this early years workshop, little ones and their grown-ups can explore, make and play together using old cardboard boxes and packaging to create something new.
Workshop 2: Natural Creators of Magical Sounds
Saturday 14 August, 10.15am. €10/€8.50* per child.
This Early Years workshop will focus on ‘found sounds’ made from everyday stuff you can find around the house and outside in nature. The workshop invites little ones’ natural openness and curiosity through a series of delightful composing, improvising, listening and play activities.
Dates: 5 Aug 2021, 14 Aug 2021 and more
For more information or to book these Early Years art workshops, see ark.ie/events. For safety reasons, a parent or grown-up should be present in the room throughout the session, and if necessary be available to assist your child.
The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon Deadline: 5:30pm, 19 August 2021
The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon has opened applications for their Young People, Children and Education Project Award 2022 (YPCE). The purpose of the YPCE Project Award is to support artists to develop and deliver ambitious and original projects with and for children and young people. Projects may be interdisciplinary or focused on a specific artform. The maximum award is for €80,000.
This award has four strands. You should choose the strand that is most suitable for your project proposal. You may only apply to one strand:
Strand 1: Early Childhood Project Award – Ambitious and original projects that engage children aged 0–6 in the arts.
Strand 2: Childhood Project Award – Ambitious and original projects that engage children aged 7–12 in the arts.
Strand 3: Transitions Project Award – Ambitious and original projects that enable children and young people to engage in the arts. This may involve transitioning into or out of secondary education, between Junior and Senior Cycle (Transition Year), or into further education or the field of work.
Strand 4: Connections Project Award – Projects that connect young artists and recent graduates aged 18+ with established arts organisations and arts infrastructure in Ireland.
The Centre for Continuing Education in Art and Design at NCAD (CEAD)
The Centre for Continuing Education in Art and Design at NCAD provides opportunities for part time study leading to a qualification at University Certificate (NFQL7) and Higher Diploma (NFQL8). Each of the certificate programmes carries 30 ects. On completion students can progress to the two year part-time Higher Diploma in Art to achieve a further 90 ects and will be eligible to apply for Advanced Entry to up to the final year of the NCAD full-time undergraduate BA programme in Fine Art, Design or Visual Culture.
CEAD offers credit and non-credit options for adults who choose to study part-time. In an era of lifelong learning, CEAD aims to provide a diverse programme of courses, which offer flexible, quality learning opportunities, that enable access, and support progression and transfer for students who wish to further their visual arts education. Applicants to an accredited course must be 23 years or over.
You can choose from a range of part time evening University Certificate programmes:
VAP Certificate A/C modules
The University Certificate in Visual Arts Practice offers flexibility and variety and can be completed in 1 – 3 years. Alternatively individual modules may be taken in a non-credit (audit) capacity. Applications opening soon.
D+VI Certificate
The University Certificate in Drawing and Visual Investigation signals a departure in the provision of visual arts education and the role of CEAD in creating opportunities for lifelong learning. This one year programme is for mature students who are interested in participating in a challenging learning opportunity in visual arts education.
P+DI Certificate
The University Certificate in Photography and Digital Imaging is a one year part-time programme offering students an opportunity to extend their visual vocabulary and explore the creative possibilities of photography within contemporary visual art and design practice. Applications now open.
CEAD- Higher Diploma in Art
The two year part-time Higher Diploma in Art provides mature students interested in establishing a personal direction in their art practice an opportunity to attend a flexible programme leading, on completion, students will be eligible to apply for Advanced Entry to up to the final year of the NCAD full-time undergraduate BA programme in Fine Art, Design or Visual Culture.
Are you a creative young person who loves drama, music, dance or art? If you are going into 4th or 5th Class in September then this could be right up your street!
The Ark Children’s Council is a dynamic and enriching year long experience exploring active citizenship through engagement with the arts as well as amplifying the voice of the child within The Ark, making sure that your voices are included in The Ark’s decision making.
Applications are now open for children who would like to join The Children’s Council 2021/2022. This Council term will run from October 2021 until June 2022 with at least one key event per month where attendance will be required. Sessions will commence remotely via Zoom in October with in-person sessions at The Ark in Temple Bar from November 2022 onwards, subject to government guidelines.
Please note that The Ark Children’s Council is strictly for children who will be going into 4th or 5th class in September 2021.
Applications should be submitted by 5pm on Friday 6 August 2021.
Irish Architecture Foundation (IAF) Deadline: Friday, 6 August 2021
The Irish Architecture Foundation invites applications from architects and architectural graduates to participate in the 2021/22 Architects in Schools initiative. Starting in September 2021, it is a great opportunity to gain CPD points while sharing your knowledge of architecture with young people and teachers in a fun and engaging way.
You will work directly with students in their school, supporting them as they learn how to explore, research, design and communicate their ideas about architecture and the built environment. You will also collaborate with students and teachers to select work for the annual Architects in Schools exhibition in the Museum of Country Life, Mayo, in May 2022.
There are two programme options for schools. Architects can work across a combination of these options if working with a number of schools:
Programme A: (Full)
20 hours work in total (8 hours preparation, 12 hours delivery) for a fee of €1000 (incl. VAT), on a schedule agreed between you and your assigned school.
Programme B: (Introductory)
4 hours work in total (1 hour preparation, 3 hours delivery) for a fee of €200 (incl. VAT), on a schedule agreed between you and your assigned school.
If you have good communication skills and are looking for exciting ways to expand your practice, we would love to hear from you!
On our first face to face session with our artist, we had a discussion about nature and mainly the bog. We learned about sphagnum moss. Sphagnum moss is good for the environment as it gives us oxygen. From this discussion on our project became focused on nature
Tunde gave us a booklet which we would add to throughout the project. In this booklet, we drew our favourite nature place or thing. Many of the children drew woods, forests, trees, rivers, campsites and waterfalls. In this session we encountered our first difficulty by not being allowed to use rubbers. This was tricky as if you made a mistake you couldn’t rub out, so you would have to draw over it or turn it into something different.
After we drew our nature places, we wrote 3 words to describe this nature place.
We had a discussion about nature in danger. Sadly we were able to think of lots of places and things in nature which were in danger or in trouble.
Some of our ideas were:
Deforestation: cutting down trees.
Overfishing: which is exactly like its name.
Pollution: which is when you litter in the environment.
Forest fires: especially the recent Australian forest fires
Hunting animals for food and sports
We drew a picture of nature in danger in our booklet. We then chose and wrote three words describing our drawings.
We made nature in danger posters. We used our persuasive writing skills to try and convince people to save our nature places and things.
We liked making our nature booklets as we got to choose what we drew. It was fun to colour and draw in the booklets.
Post by Caoimhe, Igor and Fabian
Coole Music & Arts Until 26th July 2021
Coole Music & Arts have launched the Carolan’s Rambles Sound Walk, a unique geolocated audio experience along the banks of the Gort River Walk. This audio experience is the creative outcome of Coole Music and Arts’ music school, where musician Sinead Hayes worked with children and teens via Zoom. In this project, the participants explored the life of Turlough Carolan – a composer and musician who preformed across Connaught, Clare and south Ulster in the 1700s – creating artwork, stories, poems and original music compositions over the past three months.
The free ‘Geo-located Sound Walk’ is the first one in Ireland to use this newly launched sonic maps software, is available until 26th July 2021 along the River Walk in Gort (entrance beside Aldi). Bring headphones and a smart phone and hold your camera over the QR code on the Carolan’s Rambles poster or download the App through www.coole-music.com.
Dublin City Council Arts Service Throughout summer 2021
Over seven weeks of Summer, Dublin City Arts Office and Libraries are delighted to present Inside Out – a feast of free online and outdoor workshops and performances for children and families. Events are free but booking is required through Eventbrite.
Summer Programme includes:
Underwater Moves: Early Years Dance workshops with Monica Munoz
Dates: 27th July, 28th July or 29th July, 10.15 – 10.45 or 11.45 – 12.15
The Storybook Treasure Trail: Performance based, interactive, outdoor family friendly adventure with the Gaiety School of Acting
Dates: 24th July, 7th August, 14th August, 11-11.45am, 12.45-1.30pm or 2.30-3.15pm
CuriousB: A pop-up festival site that you and your family will dream up, design and play in with ReCreate.
Dates: 4th August, 11th August, 10.15 – 11.00 & 12:00 – 12: 45
Events are free but booking is required. Capacity is limited to ensure that this is a good experience for children. To book workshops, see here: www.dublincity.ie/events.
The beginning…
Our project started in March during lockdown. We met our artist Tunde for the first time online. We did two sessions on video call on Google Classroom. Tunde showed us examples of her work and we came up with some ideas of what we might like to do in our project.
We completed our first art task at home. We drew a map of a place when we were at home. Some children drew real maps and some drew imaginary maps. Some ideas include : A map of school, A fairytale map, Memory map of a holiday in Czech, Inside a house, Japan, France, A layout of a ship.
When we got back to school we continued our project in person. We looked at real maps of counties, towns, places, countries. We looked at different symbols on the maps and tried to figure out what they represented. We listed all of our findings on the board.
We drew a map showing our journeys from home to school. We taped a long strip of white paper to our desk. The paper was cash register roll normally used for receipts. We had to draw everything we saw on our way to school. We choose three colours and we only coloured the things on the map which contained those colours. We recorded the sounds that we heard on our journey to school on our map by drawing symbols. We did the same thing for our other senses, what we smelled, touched and tasted.
We enjoyed using lots and lots of long receipt paper. We loved adding our senses to the map as this was something we had not done before. We found this tricky at the beginning because we had to try and remember what we experienced each time but we figured it out.
Post By Noelle, Megan and Linards
Centre for Continuing Education Dates: 19 July – 9 August
The Centre for Continuing Education at NCAD offers a range of short summer courses in art and design for adults and school leavers (16+) who want to explore their creative potential, learn new skills, or develop an on-going practice.
Summer courses are at different levels; there are introductory courses suitable for beginners, or for those considering returning to or progressing within higher education. If you want to learn something new you can choose beginners courses, and if you have established an arts practice and want to continue to expand and explore your options you can choose advanced courses.
Portfolio preparation courses are suitable for students considering applying to third level undergraduate art and design courses and wish to complete a portfolio in preparation.
Where students are interested in applying to the accredited part-time autumn options or want to progress within art and design they can consider taking one or more summer workshops as a way of developing skills and knowledge in a subject area.
Places on summer short courses are allocated on a first come first served basis. If a course is over-subscribed it is possible to join a wait list for cancellations.
National Museum of Ireland Deadline: 30th July 2021
The Education Department of the National Museum of Ireland is looking for artists working in visual arts, design, drama, film, storytelling, architecture, craft and/or other arts disciplines with experience of designing and delivering workshops to meet the learning styles and needs of a range of audiences, including adults, schools and intergenerational groups such as families.
While currently prioritising online engagement programmes, the National Museum of Ireland are inviting facilitators who are interested in creating both online content and in facilitating onsite programmes. Those eligible will have experience in the delivery of digital-based content in a virtual capacity and should be comfortable operating digital based equipment and programmes.
Facilitators and artists who register their interest in working with the Museum may be invited to work with them, at one or more of its four sites, and/or to create one or more short videos or participate in the Museum’s public engagement programmes through live online or onsite workshops or talks.
Despite the fact that scientific developments permeate and enrich the lives of young people on a daily, or even hourly basis, studies across Europe are identifying pockets of this demographic that are struggling to relate to and engage with the science curriculum in the classroom. According to Science Foundation Ireland’s 2015 Science Barometer report, young women from less affluent backgrounds are less inclined to identify with science education at second level. This has a direct impact on the number of students from this demographic advancing to third level and ultimately working within the field.
Drilling down further into the statistics, researchers have found that young women from a cultural minority background or who identify as LGBTQIAP+ are even less likely to develop a positive scientific identity, meaning a far reduced number of people from these societal groups tend to aspire to careers in science.
With the aim to address these gaps in science engagement, The Gaiety School of Acting has teamed up with partners from Ireland, Finland, Poland and Holland to investigate ways in which performance, and specifically comedy improvisation, can be utilised by science educators to impact on their students in a new and dynamic way. The three year I-Stem project, supported by the Erasmus Plus fund, began on September 1st 2020.
In its first publication ‘Creative Methods in Science Teaching – Ways Forward!’ an e-book resource for teachers, STEM subjects are related to arts. Use of arts in education tell us something about society: our educational systems and its angles of entry are creating the scientists of tomorrow. The combination of arts and science gives us a better starting point to develop our full potential which is needed when creating something new.
This publication presents research and best practices of using arts as a means of improving pedagogy and classroom practice in STEM education. In these pages “STEAM” represents STEM plus the arts–humanities, language arts, dance, drama, music, visual arts, design and new media. It draws on theoretical understandings of arts in STEM disciplines to illustrate how researchers and practitioners are using creative initiatives to promote inclusive teaching approaches.
The e-book is aimed at post-primary school teachers who are currently using arts within their teaching practice or have an interest in doing so in the future. Examples of STEAM teaching in Poland, the Netherlands, Ireland and Finland are given. It is not intended to provide a fully comprehensive exploration of all aspects of arts in STEM disciplines. The I-Stem Project acknowledges the necessary limitations of this resource, but trusts that it will serve its purpose of guiding you through the main relevant concepts, and that it will give you insights and inspiration for your teaching.
Music Generation Clare Deadline: 12noon, 9 July 2021
Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board invites applications for the five year, fixed-term position of Music Generation Development Officer in Co Clare. The Music Generation Development Officer will be responsible for managing a programme of performance music education on behalf of County Clare Local Music Education Partnership.
The successful candidate will have a broad understanding of the diversity of effective, contemporary approaches across the diversity of performance music education – and will have the skills and experience to develop a programme that responds to the specific needs of children and young people.
Music Generation Clare is part of Music Generation – Ireland’s national music education programme, which is co-funded by U2, The Ireland Funds, the Department of Education and Local Music Education Partnerships.
Deadline: 12noon, 9th July 2021
Application form and full job description are available at www.lcetb.ie/mgce/ Completed application forms should be emailed to recruitment@lcetb.ie. Please indicate in the subject line of your e-mail “Ref Number 21/12″.
Visual Artists’ Ireland Dates: Ongoing
VAI is updating their research into the real impact and experience of the Artists’ Payments Guidelines. They have created a carefully edited questionnaire to capture the information that they need to continue their advocacy work in that area. They want to know about artists working at all levels of experience, and especially to know about artists who may not have generated an income from their practice during 2019 or 2020.
They are also asking organisations questions about their experience of the Guidelines and looking at their realities. They believe that it is important to get both sides of the story, and to understand those who have effectively implemented payment policies as well as those who have yet to do so, as well as the barriers that they may experience in their efforts to support artists.
Visual Artists Ireland is the Representative body for professional visual artists in Ireland.
This July, a group of aspiring composers age 15-18 will have the opportunity to work remotely with professional composers and singers to create their own Choral Postcards—short pieces of music written for four-part choir, in a joint project with Chamber Choir Ireland and the Contemporary Music Centre.
All sessions will be held via Zoom and it is free to participate.
To apply, please send the following to education@chamberchoirireland.com:
1. Any examples of music you’ve written, either for choir or any other instrument/combination of instruments
2. A note outlining your reasons for applying
3. A recommendation from your school music teacher, instrumental/vocal teacher, or choir conductor, outlining your capacity to be involved in a choral composition project with Chamber Choir Ireland
Applications now open for the September intake of Creativity & Change ’21/’22
Creativity & Change’s accredited, Special Purpose Award programme, targets educators, change-makers, activists, artists, youth and community workers, adult educators, volunteers and anyone who is interested in how creative engagement can nurture global citizenship and empathic action around local and global justice themes.
Based at Crawford College of Art & Design, Cork, Creativity & Change is about creativity and its power to ignite empathy, passion and learning about our interconnected and interdependent world. It is about imagining more humane, just and viable ways to live and to connect with how we think, live, and act in the world. This course explores how we can live as connected global citizens becoming part of the changes we want to see.
In 2020/21, Creativity & Change have developed a new pop-up mobile classroom initiative. They have a new cargo e-bike to carry materials and participants are asked to bring bicycles where possible and they travel together to different locations around Cork City and surrounds, applying learning and creatively responding to the outdoor environment. Allowances are made for participants with mobility difficulties.
The course fee is €680. This is a subsidised fee that is made possible by the support of a grant from Irish Aid’s Development Education unit. Places on this programme are offered to suitable applicants on a rolling basis and will close once they reach maximum participant number.
It is advised to apply for the programme as early as possible to avoid disappointment.
Amplifying Voices Scholarships: Creativity & Change are consistently seeking to improve the accessibility of our programme and would love to provide opportunities to those who may have previously experienced barriers to accessing post—graduate education, such as members of minority groups, those in the Direct Provision system, or Travellers. They are now offering a number of free places on the course to those who may not have otherwise been in a position to apply. To apply for a scholarship, see www.creativityandchange.ie/amplifying-voices-scholarships/
BLAST Arts-in-Education Residencies Deadline: 30 September 2021
Arts in Education Residency Initiative in Primary and Post-primary Schools
The Department of Education has developed a new innovative Arts-in-Education BLAST Residency Programme in 2021, which will enable up to 400 new Arts-in-Education Residencies in schools each year.
This initiative aims to support the integration of the principles and key skills outlined in the Arts in Education Charter and the Creative Ireland Programme (2017-2022), Pillar 1 Creative Youth.
The aim of this scheme is to give pupils in schools all over the country the opportunity to work with a professional artist on unique projects, to be originated and planned between the artist, the teacher and the school, under the coordination of the Education Support Centres Ireland ESCI’s network of 21 full-time education centres. This initiative supports children and young people for the future, where skills like the ability to connect and collaborate with others, engage in creative and critical thinking and practice inclusivity at every level, will be paramount to peace, stability, sustainable economic growth and equality.
What is proposed is a unique streamlined process whereby schools apply for an artist on the Online Register of Approved Artists, who are already trained for the new BLAST Arts-in-Education Residency Programme, managed by the local education centre. The education centre will also pay the artist which will further remove the administrative burden on teachers and schools.
How this BLAST Residency initiative will work
The Education Centre:
While the programme will be nationally coordinated by the Arts in Education administrative base located at the Education Centre Tralee, schools will apply for a BLAST Arts-in-Education Residency to the full-time education centre in their area, based on the Online Register of Approved Artists. The Register of Approved Artists in each education centre will be arranged by artist and discipline, include relevant required and approved training experience, examples of previous work and examples of relevant or related experience in an educational and community context.
In excess of 300 artists are currently trained and registered on the Online Register of Approved Artists, managed by the education centre network nationally. All artists will have submitted their Child Safeguarding Best Practice Policy (to include Child Safeguarding Statement) and their Certificate of completion of the Children First Training module to the education centre.
What is proposed is a unique streamlined process when schools apply for an artist under the new BLAST Arts-in-Education Residency Programme. The education centre will also arrange for payment of the artist, which will further remove the administrative burden on teachers and schools.
Garda vetting:
Garda vetting for artists for successful school applications will be organised with the individual artist by the education centre in collaboration with the school. Schools may separately (if they wish) request the artist to apply for Garda vetting specifically to work in their school.
The Artists:
Artists from any artistic discipline, who have been trained in partnership working with schools, will be registered with each of the 21 full-time ESCI centres. Artistic disciplines include visual arts, crafts, music, dance, drama, literature and film. Creative disciplines will be expanded as the residency programme develops over the next number of years.
The artists on the Register of Approved Artists will have been previously trained and have engaged in school residencies under the Teacher-Artist Partnership CPD and Residency initiative or the Arts in Junior Cycle Programme which are both approved and led by the Department of Education.
The School:
The schools must be in the catchment of the local full-time education centre. Schools may submit only one application. Schools should make their own selection of artists on the Approved Register, based on CVs/examples of recent work, training and recommendations. Inclusion of artists on the Approved Register is based on training in the education centre (TAP) in addition to suitability/artistic qualification and has taken place in advance to ensure the selected artist satisfies school policies in relation to engagement of external personnel.
Once a school is approved for the scheme, the school has a commitment to the artist, who will have earmarked that time for the project and could potentially turn down other work at the times scheduled to work with the school.
This initiative encourages:
schools, primary and post-primary, that have not recently had an opportunity to participate in such creative initiatives, to apply
schools supporting inclusion and enhanced arts-in-education engagement with students from disadvantaged backgrounds and students with special educational needs to apply
schools that have a track record in teacher-artist partnership working in the classroom and school to apply
a whole-school commitment to the project, but it is not a requirement that all classes work with the artist
projects should have regard to the relevant school curricula where appropriate and have a focus on process
BLAST Arts-in-Education Residency funding:
The artist’s fee is €1,000 per residency. This is funded by the Department of Education via each education centre. The education centre will pay the artist in accordance with agreed guidelines after the artist and teacher/school evaluations have been submitted and received. In certain instances, this may include the payment of two instalments of €500 with agreement.
The artist will be funded for 20 contact hours, including 6 hours planning/development/review time. Participating schools must pay for materials associated with the project and also for documentation of the project through photographs, for example, and any other costs involved including insurance costs. Funded residencies can be delivered throughout the academic year commencing in September in the year the residency was approved.
Schools must acknowledge the Department of Education and the local education centre in all publicity relating to the project.
Successful applications:
Successful schools will be required to sign a short contract with their local education centre accepting the terms of the BLAST Arts-in-Education Residency Programme prior to the commencement of the residency. Successful residencies should not be started until official written notification to proceed has been received from the education centre and once Garda vetting has been completed and this has been communicated to the school.
It is a specific condition of this residency programme that a teacher works closely and collaborates with the artist to plan the learning experience and is present at all times with the artist while working with students in the school and to enhance further teacher-artist partnership. Schools will be responsible for ensuring the residency complies with Public Health advice relevant at the time of the project.
Evaluation:
The education centre will put in place the necessary evaluation for Arts-in-Education Residencies. This will include a school visit, completion and return of the Teacher/School Feedback Form and the Artist Feedback Form. The second instalment of the artist fee will be paid following the submission of the final reports.
Any images submitted by the school either in reports or on completing the project may be used to promote the scheme through print and other media including social media. It is therefore important that the schools have permission for the use of such images, noting in the consent forms that they will be used for this purpose, and only send images to the education centre once parental consent has been obtained.
Guidelines for application
A note on COVID-19 related Public Health Guidance: Schools should base proposals on the best public health advice and guidance available at the time of application.
a written proposal for the project indicating the aims of the project, the theme, materials, processes, anticipated outcomes, deliverability, number of contact hours and number of classes and pupils that will participate in the project
Please also indicate the planned time-frame schedule and planned method of documentation for the project.
The proposal should demonstrate a whole school commitment to the project. (This does not mean that all children must participate in the project rather that the whole school should be supportive and flexible in facilitating the project).
Applications will open on 4 June 2021. The closing date is 30 September 2021.
This initiative will be supported by the ESCI education centre network, Teacher Artist Partnership CPD programme, Arts in Junior Cycle, NAPD Creative Engagement Programme and the Arts in Education Portal.
The panel will include Blaithin Quinn (Irish Architecture Foundation), Muhammad Achour (Places of ARcture), Frank Monahan (Architecture at the Edge) and students and teachers from Holy Faith and Synge Street secondary schools in Dublin, Ireland, and focus on imaginary public realm projects as part of the Irish Architecture Foundation’s ‘Architects in Schools‘ initiative 2021.
In their collaborative work with the students, Muhammad and Frank focused on care, co-creation, pride, citizen engagement and ownership in the design of public space. How we care for our public realm is always relevant, even more so now as we adapt to life in a post-pandemic world.
‘Architects in Schools’ is supported by the Arts Council of Ireland, Department of Education and Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.
Irish Architecture Foundation Dates: 15 – 30 June 2021
Registration is open for IAF’s International Summer School, a series of live, virtual seminars and workshops exploring the relationship between architecture and media. The Summer School will explore how architecture as culture is mediated, communicated, disseminated, represented, experienced and consumed through the diverse media of filmmaking, podcasting and critical writing.
Events are suitable for post-primary school pupils.
Tuesday 22nd & Friday 25th June – Architecture and Podcasts
Monday 28th & Wednesday 30th June – Architecture and Writing
Attendees can look forward to an exciting lineup of speakers and workshop facilitators including:
Emmett Scanlon (IRL), Matthew Blunderfield (UK), Grace La (USA), Inga Saffron (USA), Mimi Zeiger (USA), Tom Ravenscroft (UK) & Shane O’Toole (IRL).
Kids’ Own Publishing Partnership
Deadline: 5pm, 21 June 2021
Kids’ Own Publishing Partnership are seeking 8 professional artists and writers (4 artists and 4 writers) to join their panel specifically for collaborative book-making and publishing projects with children and young people. Are you an artist or writer with a strong professional practice who is interested in exploring collaborative ways of working with children and young people? Would you like join a panel of experts who will lead on developing new publications for Kids’ Own with groups of children and young people?
Having developed an approach to collaborative publishing with children and young people over two decades, they are inviting applications from people who would like to participate in a 2-day funded training programme and subsequently be part of a panel, from which artist–teacher pairs will be selected to work on future projects.
Kids’ Own invite applications from all over the island of Ireland, and especially welcome applications from diverse communities that are reflective of the communities of children they work with, and of artistic and cultural life in Ireland.
Music Generation Development Officer (Limerick County)
Ref number: 21/11
A Music Generation Development Officer will be appointed by Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board and will be responsible for managing a programme of performance music education on behalf of Limerick County Local Music Education Partnership.
The successful candidate will have a broad understanding of the diversity of effective, contemporary approaches across the diversity of performance music education; and will have the skills and experience to develop a programme that responds to the specific needs of young people in disadvantaged communities.
Music Generation Limerick County is part of Music Generation – Ireland’s national music education programme, which is co-funded by U2, The Ireland Funds, the Department of Education, and Local Music Education Partnerships.
Application form and full particulars are available here. Completed application forms should be returned BY EMAIL ONLY to recruitment@lcetb.ie not later than 12 noon, Tuesday 22 June 2021.
Please indicate in the subject line of your e-mail “Ref Number 21 /11”. Late applications or CVs will not be considered. It is the responsibility of the candidates to ensure that the application form is received at the stated address before the stated deadline. Canvassing will disqualify. Garda Vetting will apply.
Based on the volume of applications received short-listing may apply. Short-listing will take place on the basis of the information provided in the application form. Depending on the qualifications and experience of applicants, short-listing thresholds may be significantly higher than the minimum standards set out.
Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board is an equal opportunities employer.
Earlier this month (May) Catherine Martin TD, Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, announced details of Cruinniú na nÓg 2021, a day of free creative activity for children and young people under the age of 18. Cruinniú na nÓg 2021 is a collaboration between the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, the Creative Ireland Programme, local authorities and RTÉ and is the only event of its kind in the world.
Announcing Cruinniú na nÓg 2021, Minister Martin said:
“Over the past 3 years Cruinniú na nÓg has become a key date in Ireland’s cultural calendar. It provides opportunities for Ireland’s 1.2 million children and young people to be inquisitive, innovative and to fulfil an inner creative talent. The emphasis is always on participation and trying something new like knitting, drumming, stop-start animation, contemporary dance and so much more. All events are free and are accessible online.
This time last year we were forced to bring all our Cruinniú na nÓg events online, yet it proved to be our most successful Cruinniú to date with hundreds of thousands of young people from around the world joining us in our national day of youth creativity. This year we hope to replicate the same level of international excitement with new and exciting projects.”
Building on the success of 2020, hundreds of events have already been planned by Creative Ireland Culture and Creativity teams in local authorities around the country. These teams are key to the successful delivery of Cruinniú na nÓg as their events are planned to respond to the needs of local children and young people. This year we will see events such as Circus Factory in Carraigaline in Cork, a live interactive workshop on Upcycled Clothes in Louth and Dublin Zoo are inviting young people to explore the wonderful world of animals without backbones!
In light of the public health restrictions that are currently in force, the Creative Ireland Programme and its partners have developed a number of creative, cultural and engaging “calls to action” which children, young people and their families can create in their own homes and gardens on Saturday 12th June.
These include:
Knitting Across the Nation: Airfield Estate in Dundrum will send out 400 wool packs to young knitters around the country. These packs will contain wool from Airfield’s own flock of Jacob’s sheep are designed to foster a long term love of craft making, sustainability and creativity in young Irish people.
Nenagh Children’s Film Festival: Working with Cartoon Saloon’s Grainne Fordham, children and young people will learn new film making and the latest in stop-motion animation skills in a series of on-line workshops. Children and young people are also invited to this year’s festival for free which will feature the work of young Irish film makers.
Garageland is a music project that gives young Irish bands an opportunity to step out of their bedrooms and onto Garageland Youth TV, a dedicated online TV channel designed to give young musicians the same opportunities as their older peers. Garageland is proudly supported by RTÉ 2XM.
Let’s Dance is a Dance Ireland project which aims to support youth dance companies around the country, and connect with hard to reach groups who want to find out more about dance in Ireland. An experienced creative team, including a professional choreographer, a digital producer and a dedicated coordinator will be in place to provide a full suite of online resources all aimed at connecting more young people with dance.
Imagine-Orchestra is presented by the world-famous Royal Irish Academy of Music (RIAM) who want to create a world record for the biggest online youth orchestra. No formal musical instruments or training required! Imagine-Orchestra will also provide children with access to digital resources that explore the creation of music and sound, through instruments, the body, and items around the home.
Céilí in the Kitchen: A céilí in the kitchen can happen anywhere in the world and embrace all cultures and traditions. Following on from the success of last year’s céilí, Áirc Damhsa will deliver a series of Meitheal Workshops – connecting young people, youth groups and schools to take part in a set programme across the 4 weeks leading up to Cruinniú na nÓg.
Beat Your Drum: Working with drummer Brian Fleming, the Glór Arts Centre and the Creative Ireland Programme and the Department of Foreign Affairs will deliver an international drumming programme that will start in Ireland on the bodhrán and travel the globe utilising the indigenous drums of Africa, Asia, the Americas and Europe.
TG4, with support from the Gaeltacht division of the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, will produce a unique series of Irish language projects including small tailor made features about the Cruinniú na nÓg 2021 national projects, Cruthaím 33 will champion the talents of 33 children and young people from every county in the country as well as a representative of our young diaspora and the day itself will be marked by a TikTok Debs fairy tale from the award winning writer Philip Doherty.
Online supports and resources are provided by the Creative Ireland Programme in partnership with the Airfield Trust, Nenagh Children’s Film Festival, Garageland, Dance Ireland, Royal Irish Academy of Music, Áirc Damhsa, Glór and RTÉ to enable children and young people to unleash their creativity.
Further details and resources are now available from the Creative Ireland website and RTÉ platforms see www.creativeireland.gov.ie and www.rte.ie.
In addition, local authorities will also be hosting a range of cultural and creative activities and online events for Cruinniú na nÓg – full details will also be available at www.cruinniu.creativeireland.gov.ie.
The Ark Booking closes 1st July 2021
The Ark, Dublin are delighted to present a number of creative courses for teachers this summer:
The Magic of Everyday Materials in the Early Years Classroom Date: 5–9 July 2021
The Ark and Dublin West Education Centre are delighted to present an innovative new week-long online course for teachers working with children in the Early Years.
This hands-on, creative course focuses on a visual arts approach to working with very young children, supporting participants to develop and enhance their confidence and skills to deliver process and play-based art experiences. This year, due to ongoing public health restrictions, this face-to-face course will take place live online using Zoom video conferencing.
This is a five day Department of Education EPV-approved summer course for teachers.
Creative Music & Drama in the Classroom Dates: 5 – 9 Jul 2021
We are excited to present this established and popular engaging arts summer course focusing on the two curriculum areas of Drama and Music. This year, due to ongoing public health restrictions, this face-to-face course will take place live online using Zoom video conferencing.
This is a five day Department of Education EPV-approved summer course for teachers.
Bringing Science Alive in the Classroom through Drama Dates: 12–16 Jul 2021
Now in its third year, we are excited to present a five-day arts-science summer course led by scientist and theatre-maker Dr. Niamh Shaw. This year, due to ongoing public health restrictions, this face-to-face course will take place live online using Zoom video conferencing.
This is a five day Department of Education EPV-approved summer course for teachers.
A Visual Arts Approach in the Classroom Dates: 12 – 16 Jul 2021
Always hugely popular with teachers, we are delighted to be presenting this course once more. This hands-on, creative course focuses on a visual arts approach to exploring narrative, literacy & other subjects. This year, due to ongoing public health restrictions, this face-to-face course will take place live online using Zoom video conferencing.
This is a five-day Department of Education EPV-approved summer course for teachers.
The unforeseen adventures that were created by being forced to re-invent, re-imagine, to find ways to re-connect with our audiences at this time of distance and disconnection had a profound impact on me.
It became clear that, for some of our audience, taking shows directly to where they are, taking the flexibility of the shows to a whole new level was what really worked for them.
So this year, inspired by that adventure and that discovery, I’m making a new show called SWEET DREAMS ARE MADE OF THIS that can play anywhere. A garden, around a hospital bed, outside a school, in a hospice – wherever makes most sense of our audience. It’ll be a tiny intimate show with just two performers, a gentle magical soundtrack and two gorgeous costumes created by leading Irish fashion designer, Rebecca Marsden who works with responsive wearable tech fashion – costumes that light up with the connection we make with our audience, costumes that transform an ordinary space into an extraordinary moment. The development is funded by Wicklow Arts Office and will happen this July and September in creative consultation with St Catherine’s School, County Wicklow families and with St Catherine’s Hospice, hopefully leading to a longer tour next year to my national Network For Extraordinary Audiences.
And right now, we’re on week 3 of an 8 week tour of GROOVE – a chilled out 70’s inspired happening for children and young people with complex needs, full of immersive video and live harmony singing. In masks of course.
It’s a wonderful co-incidence that for GROOVE (conceived in 2019 so well pre-pandemic) that there’s such an overwhelming visual element – even with one side of the tent missing in order to allow sufficient ventilation – the combination of the immersive video art and the live singing to a hypnotic soundtrack is so rich and all around that it has an energy and a presence that, whilst not replacing the usual tactile offers that we might make, has a welcome viscerality.
I’ve been describing GROOVE as a happening – I remember reading the definition of a 60’s/70’s happening – in broad terms it’s about an environment being created and then what happens is totally dependent on who comes and what they bring. That’s the space and the adventure that I wanted to create with my audience for GROOVE.
I hardly dare hope that we’ll make it through all of the 8 weeks all over the country. I’m grateful for each day and for the incredible welcome that the schools have given and are continuing to give us in what must be the hardest year they’ve ever had. They truly are extraordinary audiences.
Throughout these last 18 months, the power of human connection has continued to be my lodestar and it, and my audiences, keeps me putting one foot in front of the other as we move forward as best we can.
The Portal Team are delighted to announce the second recipient of the 2021 Arts in Education Portal Documentation Award. We are very excited to be working with each recipient in the coming months to document their projects. These projects will be showcased on the portal as the documentation progresses.
About the recipients….
Project Title: Songs of Ourselves
Songs of Ourselves is a participative song programme led by The Dock Composer in Residence, George Higgs with Scoil Mhuire, Carrick on Shannon, Co. Leitrim.
Songs of Ourselves will explore the nature of communal song forms and result in the composition of a new song. The song’s composition will involve using words, music and gestures to make a multi-sensory composition that will be showcased in a digital song scrapbook. The song scrapbook will reflect the diversity in the school’s makeup, with well over half the students originating from countries such as Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Serbia and India. The song’s lyrics will therefore have a rich, multi-lingual character.
The Dock
The Dock is a flagship arts centre in the North West of Ireland offering an annual programme of contemporary visual art, performances, residencies and workshops in three beautiful gallery spaces, residency spaces and an intimate performance space. This programme is augmented by arts education and outreach projects that provide people of all ages and interests the opportunity to engage with contemporary arts practice.
Teacher: Noelle Igoe
Noelle has a degree is in Early Childhood Education from DIT and a postgraduate diploma in primary education from Brunel University in London. She taught in the UK for 3 years and is teaching in Ireland nearly 10 years. At present Noelle is teaching 4th class in Scoil Mhuire Carrick on Shannon, Co. Leitrim.
Being a primary school teacher, Noelle (Igoe) has always been interested in teaching the visual arts with a specific interest in art and music education. She enjoys using a cross curricular approach to education. The children in her class have really benefitted from tours and workshop at The Dock. The Dock is a great local resource for the school, Scoil Mhuire. The children have also worked with some artists/musicians in conjunction with the Creative Ireland initiative.
Teacher: Orla Kenny
Trained in St. Pat’s in Dublin and is currently teaching 6th in Scoil Mhuire, Carrick on Shannon, Co. Leitrim.
As a primary teacher, Orla (Kenny) has always been interested and involved in arts education, particularly music. Aspiring to provide a broader and richer experience for pupils in the area of visual arts, she has developed links with local arts theatre, The Dock, initially through musical collaboration, followed by workshops in visual arts and participation in the Creative Schools initiative. This included also gallery visits for both staff and pupils of Scoil Mhuire, Carrick-on-Shannon. Involvement with the arts in education has enriched her teaching experience, and has enabled both professional and personal development.
Composer, George Higgs George Higgs is a composer and an Artist in Residence at The Dock in 2021. His approach to arts in education focusses on a balanced collaboration between artist and student: encouraging each to listen to the other as all skilled musicians should. George’s work comprises opera, film music, songs, chamber work, experimental electronics and music for instruments of his own making.
Museum of Literature Ireland
New online visual arts education resource for primary school students.
The Museum of Literature Ireland are launching MoLI in the Classroom: a free, interactive, virtual, 40-50 minute workshop for 3rd to 6th class primary school students from across Ireland. It takes place over Zoom and is delivered directly into classrooms around Ireland. Teachers can book online with their live calendar. Their aim is to make the workshops fun and stimulating for all children, whatever their abilities.
All students need to participate is paper, pen/pencil and some colouring pencils, crayons or markers. Students can write, draw or doodle their responses according to their learning style. Students will see and hear all about the museum and will get to watch a special behind-the-scenes TikTok video. They will be encouraged to explore their own creativity through a range of individual and group work, fun word and drama games and creative writing exercises.
Teachers will not need to cover any topics in advance. After the online workshop, teachers can continue to encourage creativity in the classroom with their engaging follow-on activities, which include an opportunity to win a writer visit to a school and an iPad.
Irish Architecture Foundation Deadline: 6pm, June 4 2021
The IAF are delighted to announce that applications are now open for schools to take part in the 2021/22 cycle of Architects in Schools programme. The programme is entering into its 9th cycle, and the IAF will be collaborating with the National Museum of Ireland (Museum of Country Life, Mayo) for the annual exhibition of student work in May 2022.
An architect will facilitate hands-on design workshops in your school. Dates, times and workshop duration will be arranged between the designated teacher / TY coordinator and the assigned architect. Workshops must take place between 1 September 2021 and 4 March 2022. All architects will be fully Garda Vetted and will sign our Child Protection Policy. There is no cost for schools to participate (apart from providing some art materials).
There are two options for participation: Option A: Full Programme
30 schools can participate in the full programme
20 hours with an architect / architectural graduate, consisting of 12 hours of workshops & 8 hours of preparation time for the architect Option B: Introductory Programme
A new strand introduced in 2020/21, up to 40 schools can avail of introductory workshops
1 x 3 hour workshop per school, with an architect / architectural graduate
Cork County Council Arts Service Deadline: 3pm, Thursday 10th June 2021
Cork County Council’s Arts Service is inviting schools to participate in a new classroom based arts in education programme that will be facilitated by a professional artist. Four schools in County Cork will be invited to become temporary custodians of Cork’s County Art Collection.
Cork County Council has a substantial collection of visual art. This civic collection includes works in various media including, painting, drawing, print, photography, video and small scale 3-dimensional work created by emerging and established artists, many of who are living and working in Cork County. This collection is owned by the people of Cork and as such it is the policy of Cork County Council to make this collection as widely available to the public as possible. It is in this context that they have developed a schools education programme that will enable young people to gain knowledge and engage creatively with work from the collection in a managed programme in the classroom. They will have an opportunity to create a collaborative artwork with an artist, using the artworks as a springboard for creativity.
The programme is funded by Creative Ireland and will be provided free of charge to all schools.
Deadline: 3pm, Thursday 10th June 2021
Applications should be made via email to grace.mitchell@corkcoco.ie no later than Thursday 10th June 2021 at 3pm. Queries can be made to Grace Mitchell, Creative Ireland Projects Coordinator, 021 4346210 or grace.mitchell@corkcoco.ie.
St. Paul’s N.S. Dooradoyle, Limerick Deadline: 12pm, 25 June 2021
St. Paul’s N.S. Dooradoyle, Limerick invites submissions from artists for its Per Cent for Art commission of €35,000. This commission is open to all visual artists working in all art forms including but not limited to painting, print, sculpture, digital and new media art, sound art, street art, socially engaged and participatory art.
It is hoped that the selected commission will emphasise and prioritise the current pupils and create a meaningful experience for them. This may be achieved by involving the pupils in a participatory project or in the making of an artwork, or by creating an interactive artwork or area for pupils to engage with. In addition to any participatory elements, the commissioners would like a tangible and enduring element from which future generations of pupils will also benefit. They are open to the form this may take, it could be a physical artwork, a film, involve digital technology, a book, activity area or a workshop plan.
Kildare County Council Arts Service and St. Mary’s Boys’ National School Deadline: 12pm, 11 June 2021
Kildare County Council Arts Service and St. Mary’s Boys’ National School, Maynooth invites submissions for their Per Cent For Art commission of €49,000. The commission may include Artists in Residence programmes, commissioning of artwork (temporary and permanent) across all art forms including digital media, and may include collaborative work practice. Applications that consider the physical school environment (the buildings and grounds, indoor and outdoor) as well as applications that directly engage the school community are welcome.
Artists should submit their CV, expression of interest and samples of work to percentforart@maynoothbns.ie. All queries relating to the Per Cent for Art commission should be directed to Lucina Russell, Arts Officer, Tel: 045-448328; Mob: 0872399212; Email lrussell@kildarecoco.ie.
The Spirit of Eileen Gray lives on at Brownswood House Date: May 19 2021
The birthplace of Wexford born Eileen Gray, the pioneering modern architect, designer and artist, continues to be witness to the effects of her creative force.
This webinar, coming live from Gray’s place of birth in Brownswood House, Enniscorthy – now home to Meánscoil Gharman- marks the completion of an ambitious Creative Ireland and Creative Schools programme, in which transition year students worked with architect Ben Mullen on a project exploring the work and legacy of Eileen Gray. Over the school year the students studied this pioneering designer’s work, then designed, and created by hand, outdoor furniture for the grounds of their school campus.
The webinar will be free and open to the public, it will be hosted by art historian Karla Sánchez and will feature prominent guests Dr. Jennifer Goff, curator of the Eileen Gray collection of the National Museum of Ireland, and Eilis O’Connell, internationally renowned Irish sculptor, whom along with a selected group of students, will uncover some of the many design processes Eileen Gray followed and those which she has inspired in others.
This programme, funded by Wexford County Council’s Creative Ireland Programme and supported through Creative Schools and Creative Associate Laura Ni Fhlaibhín, sees the collaboration between the Irish Architecture Foundation, the Art Department of Wexford County Council and Meánscoil Gharman. It arose out of a shared interest in developing the legacy of Eileen Gray in County Wexford.
Architect Benjamin Mullen, of the Irish Architecture Foundation, who led the workshops with the students, commented:
“…the project set out to see past the formidable legacy of Eileen Gray and attempt to interpret her engagement with design itself as an activity in its own accord, and as a form of agency in the world. (…) Design is a type of behaviour and an instrument for imagining a future that does not yet exist. One of the project’s key aims was to provide this autonomy for the students to make what they imagined would represent their own experience of our world.”
This project would not have been possible without the vision of Laura Ní Fhlaibhín, the Creative Associate responsible for reuniting all the bodies involved:
“The Legacy of Eileen Gray is advanced through this project, bringing her ground-breaking approach and innovation to its ethos and overall aims. It has been so exciting and rewarding to develop this, from initial meetings and brainstorming in the Meánscoil Gharman art room, to a fully realised project that activates both the creative impulses of Eileen Gray and the ethos of the Creative Schools programme.”
The documentary “I do shuí le Eileen Gray – Sitting with Eileen Gray”, produced by Terence White, chronicles the process that the students went through to carry out their concept. Such documentary will also be shown during the Seminar.
Commenting on the programme, Wexford Creative Ireland Co-Ordinator Eileen Morrissey stated,
“The Creative Ireland programme aims to bring creativity and culture to the heart of the community in County Wexford. Through this seminar, we hope to shine a light on the world-renowned Wexford born architect Eileen Gray. We also hope to showcase too the results of an excellent creative project with the students of Meánscoil Garman. I would encourage members of the public to join the online seminar to delve into the fascinating world of the pioneering architect and designer who was born in Co Wexford.”
Event Details:
Date: Wednesday, 19 May 2021 Time: 11.00am – 13.00 pm
Members of the public interested in joining the webinar will be able to register here:
For further information about the seminar please contact Karla Sánchez (087 7842503, karlasanchez@yahoo.com)
Offaly County Council Arts Office Deadline: 4pm, 2 June, 2021
Offaly County Council Arts Office invites professional artists, individual or collaboratively, to submit proposals for the delivery of a new Youth Arts Project for the cohort of 13 to 25 year olds within Offaly. The commission is open to submissions from all art disciplines including visual arts, film, animation, digital arts, performing arts, literature or sound art. The commission can concentrate on one art form or a range of art forms but must demonstrate a youth led ethos. It is vital that consideration is given to the times we are in and how engagement with young people can take place within a socially distanced world.
A fully inclusive fee of €15,000.00 to include all travel, materials, VAT will be made payable in three instalments:
1. €5000.00 on signing of contract with agreement on a submitted project outlining clear timelines, delivery and process.
2. €5000.00 mid way into the project
3. €5000.00 on completion of the project
There need not be a specific outcome, (i.e. piece of art, performance), rather the process and engagement with the Young People in Offaly should be central to the project and be inspired by their wants and needs. If there is an outcome, consideration should be given on how same could be showcased.
We would envisage the project as being easily accessible, have a wide reach and attract young people that are not necessarily involved in Arts.
The programme includes a specialist week-long online training on 1st – 7th July 2021 with a training allowance of €150 per day over the initial 5-day training week (€750 in total); and a guarantee of a paid, in-school-residency with a local primary school (Fee €900, plus €100 travel) to carry out a 20-hour project (14 contact hours plus 6 preparation hours) in partnership with your teacher partner throughout the 2021/2022 academic year.
Artists can apply to be part of the scheme via expressions of interest to Thérése Gamble, Director, Drumcondra Education Centre at director@ecdrumcondra.ie. Expressions of interest should be in the form of a letter of max 600 words, accompanied by a CV or short bio with links to images or samples of relevant work.
Deadline: 5pm 21st May 2021
For more information view the poster below
Callout for Artists: Teacher-Artist Partnership (TAP) CPD 2021
Creative Clusters Deadline: 14 May 2021
The Department of Education are pleased to announce the opening of a new round of Creative Clusters. The deadline for receipt of applications is Friday 14th May 2021.
Each Creative Cluster will receive grant funding of €3,000 per school over a two-year period to implement their project in the 2021–2023 school years (e.g. a cluster of 3 schools would receive €9,000 over two years while a cluster of 5 schools would receive €15,000 over two years). Clusters will receive 50% of the total grant funding in Year 1, with the second 50% being provided in Year 2. In addition, but separate to the grant funding, all successful clusters are further supported with: A fully paid Creative Cluster Facilitator; paid Teacher Substitution to attend training and meetings; room hire, travel & subsistence.
– Schools can apply as part of a cluster which may be an existing network of schools.
– A school nearing the end of year 2 of an existing Creative Cluster can reapply to be in a new cluster where the other schools in the new cluster have not participated before.
– Schools nearing the end of 2 years with Creative Schools are eligible to apply.
– The local Teacher Education Support Centre will have a key role in identifying and supporting a Creative Cluster for their local area.
– A total of 21 Creative Clusters will be selected nationally – One successful Creative Cluster per Education Centre.
Any queries, please contact your local Education Centre or email Arts in Education Administration mairevieux@edcentretralee.ie.
Creative Clusters is an initiative of the Department of Education, led by and in partnership with the 21 full-time Teacher Education Centres (Education Support Centres Ireland – ESCI) and funded through the Schools Excellence Fund.
The Portal Team are delighted to announce the first of the two recipients of the 2021 Arts in Education Portal Documentation Award. We are very excited to be working with each recipient in the coming months to document their projects. These projects will be showcased on the portal as the documentation progresses.
About the recipients….
Project Title:‘Place’ Teacher Artist Partnership Project
This project is a Teacher – Artist Partnership (TAP) residency project between teacher Alyson Hourigan and visual artist Tunde Toth in collaboration with the 3rd class pupils of Scoil Mhichil Naofa, in Athy, Co. Kildare with support from the Kilkenny Education Centre.
The overarching theme for the project is ‘Place’: we will explore natural and built environments, locality, home and belonging through a range of artistic processes both for individual and collective making. The thematic approach to the project will see many curriculum areas feed into the work the children will complete. Some activities the children will be interacting with include: creative ‘deep’ mapping, drawing, walking and collecting, book making, poetry, storytelling and creating materials and fibres. The focus of the project is on participation and enabling the children to actively guide their project and the choices and voices are listened too. The project is a hybrid of face-to-face and online sessions.
This project began in March 2021 when the children completed some online sessions with Artist Tunde Toth from their own homes via Google Classroom. . The Portal Documentation Award will allow the children to create a record of their own efforts and successes within the Arts curriculum and engage in reflective practice. This award will also give the children a voice within the Arts community and allow them to share their creativity with a much wider audience.
Artist: Tunde Toth
Tunde Toth is an artist, educator, arts advisor and researcher. Tunde has been involved with Arts in Education in Ireland since 2006 when she joined the Education Panel at Butler Gallery in Kilkenny City. She is an active member of the Creative Practitioners Panel at Dún Laoighaire Arts Office and Dún Laoighaire Libraries. She devises and delivers the Art Projects in Primary Schools programme in Co. Waterford in partnership with Waterford Arts Office. This year she will be undertaking a Teacher Artist Partnership with Scoil Mhichil Naofa Primary School, Athy.
Teacher: Alyson Hourigan
Alyson Hourigan is a primary school teacher in Scoil Mhichil Naofa, Athy, co. Kildare. She graduated from Mary Immaculate College in 2016 after completing a Bachelor of Education with a specialism in Special Educational Needs. Alyson has always been interested in the Arts, particularly Music, having been a member of Presentation Secondary School choir in Kilkenny and training in classical singing, completing the Royal Irish Academy of Music singing exams. Alyson has always put a huge emphasis on Arts Education in her teaching and completed a TAP summer course in 2020 with Kilkenny Education Centre.
Creative Hubs are an initiative of Dublin City Arts Office and Libraries, that sustain high quality arts experiences for children, schools and families to access in their Library and locality, through partnership and engagement.
In co-creating this programme, in each of our three Creative Hubs Libraries – Coolock, Cabra and Ballyfermot – artists create new opportunities for children to engage with the arts through:
The Arts Council’s Creative Schools Initiative Date: 10 – 14 May 2021
Creative Schools Week is a celebration of creativity in schools which includes both In-School Celebrations and Online Celebrations. It is organised by the Creative Schools initiative which supports schools and Youthreach centres to put the arts and creativity at the heart of children’s and young people’s lives. The week is an opportunity to share, showcase, and connect all the exciting creative work that is being undertaken across schools.
Following a consultation process with children and young people the theme for CSW is Brave New Future, celebrating our children and young people’s courage in the face of a tough year, and looking forward towards a bright future.
In-school Celebrations:
All schools and centres across the country can generate and host their own celebration events. These events are a great way to involve and empower young people in the processes of presenting their creative journeys. To help schools/centres organise events, Creative Schools have provided Celebration Packs, full of ideas about creating their own in-school Creative Schools Week.
Online Celebrations:
Tune in to www.artscouncil.ie/creative-schools/celebration-2021/ on the 12-14 May (from 12pm daily) as we will be; highlighting work from a selection of Creative Schools, as well as workshops, interviews and features across a wide range of different artists and arts and cultural organisations. It is a great opportunity to learn about school communities across the initiative as well as their creative approaches to learning and artistic responses to Covid 19. Schools highlighted are a representation of the over 460 schools who have participated in the Creative Schools initiative since 2018 and were selected following a competitive process open to those participants.
Follow #CreativeSchools to see the creative events that schools are sharing on their social media.
Creative Schools is a flagship initiative of the Creative Ireland Programme to enable the creative potential of every child. Creative Schools is led by the Arts Council in partnership with the Department of Education and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.
The initiative is also informed by the Arts Council’s ten-year strategy (2016–25) Making Great Art Work: Leading the Development of the Arts in Ireland.
This initiative provides opportunities for children and young people to build their artistic and creative skills; to communicate, collaborate, stimulate their imaginations, be inventive, and to harness their curiosity. More information on how to apply to be a Creative School is available at www.artscouncil.ie/creative-schools/schools-opportunities/.
The Arts Council’s Creative Schools Initiative Deadline: 12 noon, 19 May 2021
The Arts Council of Ireland is seeking to engage the services of a suitably qualified Programme Director for the Creative Schools Initiative.
Scoileanna Ildánacha/Creative Schools is a flagship initiative of the Creative Ireland Programme to enable the creative potential of every child. Creative Schools is led by the Arts Council in partnership with the Department of Education and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.
The initiative is also informed by the Arts Council’s ten-year strategy (2016–25) Making Great Art Work: Leading the Development of the Arts in Ireland.
This initiative provides opportunities for children and young people to build their artistic and creative skills; to communicate, collaborate, stimulate their imaginations, be inventive, and to harness their curiosity.
The Arts Council of Ireland currently has an exciting opportunity at Assistant Principal grade for a Programme Director – Creative Schools.
The Programme Director will be engaged on a full-time basis for a 3 year FTC to lead and manage the Creative Schools programme and team. They will be responsible for strategy, policy, project planning and delivery, human resources and contract management, to ensure the effective delivery of the programme.
The closing date for receipt of applications is 12.00 noon, Wednesday 19 May, 2021.
First Cut! Youth Film Festival Dates: 17 April – 9 May 2021
First Cut! Youth Film Festival returns for its 12th year showcasing new films by young filmmakers. Running from 17 April – 9 May 2021, offers an imaginative, thought-provoking and entertaining programme for young people aged 12-24yrs. Audiences from all over Ireland, and from abroad, are invited to join them virtually for a completely free programme of events including: Open call short film and feature film screenings, workshops, panel discussions with some of the leading filmmakers in Ireland, a host of special guest appearances and more.
Workshops include: Puppetry for Film and Television Workshop, Stormtroopers SFX Workshop and more.
The Glucksman Date: Saturday May 22nd, 10:30-11:30am or 12-1pm
The Glucksman presents Natural Creators: Exploring and Creating Soundscapes with composer Karen Power. These free, interactive workshops focus on early years listening, composing and improvising sound. Using found sounds from our natural and constructed environment, these workshops encourage children’s natural openness and curiosity through a series of guided composing, improving, listening and play activities.
Natural Creators workshops are built on slowly integrating sound into children’s everyday lives. This program is designed in an open and improvised manner facilitating every child to engage in the process with their own unique approach to creating sound.
Creative Schools Deadline: 17:30, Thursday 10 June 2021
Scoileanna Ildánacha/Creative Schools are delighted to announce an exciting opportunity for schools/centres to apply to participate in the initiative. Schools/centres may apply from 6 April and the deadline is 17:30, Thursday 10 June 2021.
The Creative Schools initiative supports schools/centres to put the arts and creativity at the heart of children’s and young people’s lives. This initiative provides opportunities for children and young people to build their artistic and creative skills; to communicate, collaborate, stimulate their imaginations, be inventive, and to harness their curiosity. It will empower children and young people to develop, implement and evaluate arts and creative activity throughout their schools/centres and stimulate additional ways of working that reinforce the impact of creativity on children and young people’s learning, development and well-being.
Participating schools/centres will be provided with a package of supports that includes working with a Creative Associate, training and networking to support them to create their Creative School Plan, as well as seed funding to begin to implement their Plan.
Creative Associates will respond to each school/centre’s development priorities and needs in order to support them to deepen the arts and creative opportunities for children and young people. They will use their practical experience, to develop partnerships and mechanisms that enable sustained relationships between schools/centres and the arts and cultural sectors.
All Department of Education and Skills-recognised primary and post-primary schools and Youthreach centres who have not already participated in a previous round of Creative Schools are eligible to apply.
Deadline: 17:30, Thursday 10 June 2021
Further information on the Creative Schools application process will be available online shortly. Applications must be submitted online and schools are encouraged to register well in advance of the deadline: https://onlineservices.artscouncil.ie/Register.aspx
The Ark
Deadline: 5pm May 4th, 2021
The Ark is now seeking expressions of interest in the provision of Creative Hub project coordination services on a freelance contract basis to coordinate the delivery of their new strand of programming as part of the DCC Children’s Art in Libraries Creative Hubs. This is an exciting opportunity for someone who demonstrates an affinity for the values of The Ark, a talent for delivering multi-disciplinary arts programmes for children, and an ability to connect and collaborate with multiple partners to deliver both artistic and locally relevant aims.
This opportunity provides the right individual the chance to work with The Ark to deliver an exciting new programme for children in a community context working with key partners within the cultural sector for children in Dublin.
New online visual arts education resource for primary and secondary school students.
TULCA is a festival celebrating contemporary visual art, that takes place annually in November across Galway City and County with a programme of multi-venue exhibitions and events. TULCA Education Programme is a unique programme that focuses on looking at and responding to visual art. It is about reaching out and engaging with schools and the wider community to create an increased awareness and a shared understanding of the Visual Arts. The programme engages a process of slow looking, reflection and response.
TULCA’s Education Programme is designed to continue this process of critical thinking by creating a space for dialogue and learning exchange. It draws on individual personal experience and acknowledges that we all have our own set of visual codes, value systems, likes and dislikes.
The online arts education resource caters for primary and secondary school students and uses a mixture of creative activities and videos to explore contemporary visual art.
The next chapter of my theatre adventures last summer was a re-imagining (or in fact three different re-imaginings) of my show SING ME TO THE SEA – created in 2018, SING ME TO THE SEA is a blissful watery adventure for children & young people with complex needs full of harmony singing, tiny waterfalls, shiny globes and rainbow fish that was created to be performed in hydropools with 3 performers and three audience members, each with an adult companion – with everyone in the water! [https://www.annanewell.ie/work/sing-me-to-the-sea/}
I’ve always said that the heart of my work is that it is flexible, that it is responsive, that it is nuanced moment by moment by our audience. And in Summer 2020, I had to really walk the walk with that one and take that flexibility and responsiveness to a whole new level.
So, with huge support (and flexibility!) from our funders and venue partners, we created a dry-land at-home version of the show. And we hired a campervan. For three weeks in August 2020, we drove around Dublin, Meath, Carlow and Wicklow, taking the show directly to families in their own gardens and driveways. We sang in the rain, we were stared at by milkmen, curious neighbour children gathered – and we were given the extraordinary opportunity to connect with our audiences where they were.
Later in the summer, we took this dry-land version to Baboró International Festival and performed the show in the magical setting of the gardens of the Ardilaun Hotel. And although they were only a few weeks into what must have been the hardest term of their lives, the special schools came in their droves – not only did we sell out the schools’ performances but we had to add more!
And, then, astonishingly, the wonderful pool staff at St Gabriel’s School & Centre called us up and said they’d like to give it a go. So, singing in masks and visors and working within AquaPhysio Guidelines, we were back in the water.
The unforseen adventures that were created by being forced to re-invent, re-imagine, to find ways to re-connect with our audiences at this time of distance and disconnection had a profound impact on me.
And it inspired a whole new show for 2021. More of that in my final blog…
Pallas Projects
Pallas Projects have produced an online resource ‘Art @ Home’ for teachers and primary school students.
This year to coincide with Pallas Projects Online Periodical Review X Exhibition, they have teamed up with artist and education curator Liliane Puthod to create an activity pack for students to do at home or in school. Each of the four activities are relevant to all ages, and relate to a work in their online exhibition.
Pallas Projects/Studios is a not-for-profit artist-run organisation dedicated to the facilitation of artistic production and discourse, via the provision of affordable artists studios in Dublin’s city centre, and curated exhibitions. Pallas Projects is dedicated to the making and showing of visual art to our peers as well as a wide and diverse audience: via exhibitions, talks and tours.
On demand audio stream theatre for young audiences 8+ for families or schools.
This Girl Laughs, This Girl Cries, This Girl Does Nothing by Finegan Kruckemeyer, is presented by The Everyman and Graffiti Theatre Company as part of Play It by Ear, a programme of shows performed on The Everyman stage, and available as an audio stream.
Triplet sisters are left in the forest by their woodcutter father. From this fairytale beginning, three resolutions are made – one sister will walk one way, one the other, and the third will stay right where she is. Twenty years later, having circumnavigated the globe, and fought Vikings, and crossed oceans, and tamed wilds, and achieved greatness, the three meet again, as women.
Fun and accessible resources will be available on Graffiti’s website for teachers and parents to support children’s enjoyment of the episodes. These resources – which will be available for the audio stream live date – will include creative prompts and activities to give children a deeper engagement with the piece.
Price: On Demand Audio Stream Family €12 | Schools €65
Age recommendation: 8+, recommended for young audiences and their families
The Source Arts Centre is hosting a series of online workshops until June as part of their ‘Y’ Arts Programme. The ‘Y’ Arts Programme encourages young people aged between 13 and 18 to create new works of art using a task and challenge based approach. The programme aims to encourage an understanding of contemporary art and avant-garde art.
Workshop : Dream Like Maya Deren 12pm-1pm, 24th April 2021
Maya Deren was a Ukrainian-born American experimental filmmaker in the 1940s and 1950s. In this workshop, participants will look at her most famous film ‘Meshes Of The Afternoon’ and examine how dream states or the subconscious are depicted in art.
Dublin and Dun Laoghaire Education and Training Board (DDLETB) invites applications for the position of Music Generation Development Officer (Fingal). They will be responsible for managing a programme of performance music education on behalf of Fingal Local Music Education Partnership. This is a five-year fixed term contract.
The successful candidate will have a broad understanding of the diversity of effective, contemporary approaches across the diversity of performance music education – and will have the skills and experience to develop a programme that responds to the specific needs of young people in disadvantaged communities.
Music Generation is Ireland’s National Music Education Programme that gives children and young people access to high-quality, subsidised performance music education. Initiated by Music Network, Music Generation is co-funded by U2, The Ireland Funds, the Department of Education and Local Music Education Partnerships.
Music Generation invites individual or groups of professional musicians to tender to lead and develop distinct Communities of Practice with musicians that deliver Music Generation programmes; and to lead, develop and create new work for children and young people with musicians involved in Music Generation Communities of Practice.
Music Generation is Ireland’s National Music Education Programme that gives children and young people access to high-quality, subsidised performance music education. Initiated by Music Network, Music Generation is co-funded by U2, The Ireland Funds, the Department of Education and Local Music Education Partnerships.
Last week over 100 artists, teachers and arts in education professionals joined us live for the annual Portal Spring Regional Event Series which this year showcased arts in education and creative practise in the Mid-West.
Portal Regional Events have been an opportunity to connect with the community at regional level, to share practice and to find out what initiatives are available in the local area. In these challenging times it’s now more than ever important to stay connected and be inspired.
The first in our series of discussions opened on Monday (22nd March) with one of the 2020 Portal Documentation Award recipients, the Teacher-Artist Partnership (TAP) Project ‘The Lonely Traveller’. Teacher Jacintha Mullins and composer Fiona Linnane brought us on the journey of their collaboration with the pupils of Mid-West School for the Deaf, Limerick.
On Wednesday Adam Stoneman, former Public Engagement Coordinator of ‘The Three Muses’ Programme (now part of the Engagement & Learning Team at IMMA) and The Hunt Museum’s Education Coordinator, Hannah Bloom took us on a dive into Mozilla Hubs an open source VR space. Adam and Hannah shared how they utilised the digital platform to creatively collaborate with school groups to explore the museum’s collection. The discussion was also joined by artist Jo-Anne Hine who shared her perspective of using Mozilla Hubs while working with primary school pupils as part of the project ‘ABC of The Three Muses’.
On Friday and Saturday participants joined artist Éilís Murphy of Folded Leaf for a hands-on creative bookmaking session ‘Stories Unfolding’ were participants where invited to experiment with various materials and book-making techniques. Below is some feedback from participants:
“I loved it because it was both intuitive and reflective, achieving very surprising results in a short space of time.”
“This was great, a practical project that can be applied to my own practice or to future workshops.”
Image credit: Work created by Marie Brett during ‘Stories Unfolding’ .
To close the programme on Saturday (27th March) composer Fiona Linnane explored sound and the nature of listening in a the creative session ‘Éisteacht/Listen’. Participants in this playful exploration were invited to take a sound walk and explore how we interpret sound in our daily lives and how we can become more active listeners. Below is some feedback from participants:
“Using the act of listening to ‘slow-down’, to come into a sense of being and mindful practice. I’ve already embedded active listening into my own daily walks since the workshop, as a practice of self-care”.
“It was a joy to attend this workshop. I particularly enjoyed how each activity was designed to be accessible and transfer easily either to a classroom, a community setting or working with children and young people…. Tuning in to the environment around me, deepened my focus”.
Sound Walk Recording – Julie Forrester ‘Rain Zipper Birdsong’ created as part of ‘Éisteacht/Listen’.
Thank you to everyone who joined us across the week. For those who missed the discussions they will be available to watch back until the end of December on the Arts in Education Portal Facebook page or click on the direct video links listed below.
“A great platform to meet, pool expertise and help. It encourages discussion and sharing”.
Creative Schools is forming a panel of Creative Associate Regional Coordinators across the country. It is envisaged that the Arts Council will engage the services of 8 Regional Coordinators. Both individuals and organisations (who nominate a particular representative) may apply to provide these services.
The main tasks of the Creative Associate regional coordinators are:
– Work closely with the Arts Council’s Creative Schools’ team to support and assist in coordinating the work of the Creative Associates at a regional level.
– Liaise with and support up to twenty Creative Associates and their assigned schools across each region.
– Be required to carry out services for around seventy days per annum, with a minimum of one day per week between the months of September to June.
Deadline for applications: Friday 2nd April, 2021
For more information, see www.etenders.gov.ie/ (select Arts Council in ‘authority’ field of an advanced search on etenders).
Creativity & Change Programme
Dates: April – May 2021
Short deep-dives into the methods and mindsets of the Creativity & Change programme.
Deep Dive Training (formally masterclasses): action-focused workshops to unleash your imagination and creativity. Leading to a collective day of creative hopeful action across the country at our Paste-Up Blitz.
This Spring-Summer training programme is centred around the idea of the “Awesome Solution”. This concept is based on research conducted at the COP21 conference about the impact of art on audience engagement and perceptions of the world’s big problems.
Researchers found that:
Artwork that presents an awesome solution to a problem was the most effective at engaging the audience and inspiring them to change their attitudes to take action on a local or global justice issue.
The workshop series offers a deep-dive into the idea of the awesome solution, exploring the concept across a range of disciplines, methodologies, and facilitators, bringing you through a variety of processes that can be adapted and integrated into your own work. Exploring development education topics and global and social justice means covering complex issues, discussing interconnected systemic BIG world problems, things that often feel outside of our control can be overwhelming.
How can we use the arts to inspire hope, to nurture that longing for the brighter future we all know is possible and engage our communities in action?
Are you an educator, youth worker, artist, activist, advocate looking for a new inspiration? Join us to:
Create meaningful spaces online to engage groups in awesome solution based projects that can go on to inspire others to take action for change
Work with the entire Creativity & Change team
Learn skills to tap into the creative potential of groups, be culturally engaging, and contribute to imagining a new and better future for humankind
The role of the artist is to make the revolution irresistible.
Where: Zoom and online
Who: These workshops are for anyone working in a non-formal learning context with others- youth workers, community workers, artists, activists, educators, dreamers, changemakers.
Commitment to all the workshops is essential
There are five different options for participants to join this workshop series. These five “streams” will run simultaneously from April 10th until May 22nd. All groups will be invited to take part in a national “paste-up” day to bring their ideas into public space. To view the five options and register go to www.creativityandchange.ie/non-accredited-training-previously-masterclasses/
Each group will experience the same workshop flow:
Please contact us if you are unwaged or have financial constraints or with any other questions at: claire.coughlan@cit.ie
The National Museum of Ireland (NMI)
The National Museum of Ireland (NMI) has launched its spring/summer 2021 programme of online workshops, activities and resources for schools.
The Museum is inviting schools all over Ireland to enjoy, engage and learn with culture in the classroom this spring and beyond.
From the Crazy Life of Crows to pop-up talks on the Easter Rising, the spring/summer programme explores a diverse range of topics and themes, all inspired by the National Collections across four Museum sites in Dublin and Mayo.
The NMI usually welcomes some 90,000 primary and post primary students on classroom visits each year. Due to COVID-19 public health advice, the Museum has now moved its schools programme online with imaginative workshops, virtual tours and classroom activities, delivering meaningful learning experiences for students.
Some highlights from the spring/summer programme include a family tree workshop with the NMI – Country Life; a virtual tour about the 1916 Rising from the NMI – Decorative Arts & History; an Ogham Code challenge from the NMI – Archaeology; and special virtual classroom sessions exploring extinction with the NMI – Natural History.
In 2019 (which now feels like a decade ago), I made a new show for early years audiences called BigKidLittleKid. It’s a wordless physical theatre piece for ages 3-6 years about the complicated world of sibling rivalry. It opened at The Ark for Dublin Theatre Festival and toured to the Mermaid, the Civic and Draiocht.
Through the summer of 2020, I grew surer and surer about my commitment to finding a way to keep a live connection with my very particular audiences.
During what had become my weekly check-in with my wee brother, he was talking about some guy somewhere in England who’d dressed up as Spiderman and spidey-ed his way through his local streets to the utter delight of the children forced to stay at home in these first shut-in weeks of the first lockdown.
I’ve always been interested in making the ordinary extraordinary and believe that if you can literally change the landscape, you make visible the possibility of change and of hope.
So I hatched a plan.
Thanks to the Ready Steady Show programme run by my main producing partner the Civic, a wee pot of money was found to create a PopUp Play version of BigKidLittleKid which we played on a tennis court outside a summer camp, in a massive hall inside another summer camp and outside a nursery.
My favourite picture of the whole summer was the picture of the one pod sitting watching the extraordinary adventure that unfolded in their tiny playground with the second pod who weren’t allowed to share the same space as them, determinedly pressing their noses against the window intently watching the entire show.
For us as artists, being out there with our audiences again, hearing that very particular laughter of children delighted with a new story, a new connection, was extraordinary. Our hearts soared and I’d be lying if I said we didn’t shed a tear or two of hard-won joy and hope.
Lismore Castle Arts Online exhibition
Artifice is an annual exhibition by Lismore Castle Arts which presents works of art created by transition year students from across County Waterford. This year’s theme is “Land Art”, based on Lismore Castle Arts’ main exhibition for 2021 “Light and Language” centred around the work of Nancy Holt, a significant figure in the Land Art movement. Students were invited to explore their relationship with the environment and to express their experience of the lockdown, environmentalism and personal identity.
Over 130 students took part in Artifice 2021, creating new artworks using a variety of media including photography, film, sculpture and painting. The five schools participating in Artifice 2021 are Meánscoil San Nioclás (An Rinn), Ard Scoil na nDéise (Dungarvan), Ardscoil na Mara (Tramore), St. Augustine’s College (Dungarvan) and Blackwater Community School (Lismore).
Children in Galway are dancing, leaping and learning with local and international artists this spring, thanks to the RISE programme from Baboró International Arts Festival for Children in partnership with Galway 2020 European Capital of Culture. This March children aged 8 to 13 years are taking on starring roles in two “RISE” projects, combining parkour, circus skills, performance art, sport and more. Making the most of digital opportunities to connect across the globe, the young people are participating at school and at home.
Projects include:
St. Pats Lockdown Olympics: A whacky series of four weekly videos, accompanied by props delivered to students’ homes, to guide them through the creation of their own spectacularly zany sports.
The Streets Are Ours: A collaborative project to create a promenade performance by Galway children combining parkour, contemporary dance and circus skills. The dance performance will be recorded in April and shared with the public as soon as safely possible.
The Veiled Ones: The final element of the RISE programme will be The Veiled Ones, a new dance theatre production highlighting the powerful relationship between grandparents and grandchildren, created by renowned Irish company Junk Ensemble.
This immersive work, currently in development.
In Conversation with Junk Ensemble & kabinet k
On April 23, Baboró will host the digital event, ‘In Conversation with Junk Ensemble & kabinet k’, exploring both companies’ development processes in making work with and for children, and the challenges to creating dance in a global pandemic.
The Creative Ireland Programme has announced details of the Creative Youth Conference 2021. The conference – Creativity: the connection to our future, now – will be hosted online and will comprise three separate events in April and May discussing questions surrounding provision of opportunities for creative engagement by young people both within the school and their community.
As part of a wider deliberation on the Creative Youth Plan – which was published in December 2017 – the Conference is an opportunity for stakeholders to reflect on progress to date and input their views concerning the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.
The conference will commence with Creative Youth in the Education System, which will take place on Tuesday 13 April, from 12:30 to 2pm. This will be followed by on Thursday 15 April (also from 12:30 to 2pm) by Creative Youth in the Community.
These two events will feature contributions from a range of people involved in Creatives Youth initiatives – such as the Creative Schools programme and the Local Creative Youth Partnerships – and provide an insight into the roll-out of the Creative Youth Plan to date.
These events will also feed into a high-level conference to be held on Thursday 13 May from 12 noon to 2pm.
This event, which will be opened by the Taoiseach, and will also include contributions from the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin, the Minister for Education, Norma Foley and the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Roderic O’ Gorman.
The main conference will also feature two panel discussions with contributions from a national and international guests including Andreas Schleicher (OECD), Michelle Cullen (Accenture), Arlene Forster (National Council for Curriculum and Assessment), Bo Stjerne Thomsen (The LEGO Foundation), author Roddy Doyle, Helene Hugel (Helium Arts) and Prof Linda Doyle (TCD).
The Portal Team are delighted to invite teachers, artists, arts managers and anyone with an interest in arts in education to connect with us online for the 2021 Portal Spring Regional Event Series from the 22nd to 28th March 2021.
The programme features a series of sessions sharing experience and best practise from the sector in the Mid-West. It includes a discussion on Monday, 22nd March with the 2020 Portal Documentation Award recipients teacher Jacintha Mullins and composer Fiona Linnane. Jacintha and Fiona will share insights from their experience on the project ‘The Lonely Traveller’, a collaboration with pupils at the Mid-West School for the Deaf, Limerick.
On Wednesday 24th we’re delighted to welcome The Hunt Museum’s Public Engagement Coordinator, Adam Stoneman and Education Officer, Hannah Bloom who will share their experience of how the museum engaged with schools using a virtual collaboration platform.
On Friday 26th and Saturday 27th, artist Éilís Murphy invites participants to two hands-on creative bookmaking sessions. Participants will be introduced to collage and bookmaking techniques, experimenting with various materials, textures and surfaces in this process-led workshop.
Monday 22nd March, 4pm —Discussion: ‘The Lonely Traveller’, a discussion and documentation launch event with teacher Jacintha Mullins and composer Fiona Linnane – Book Tickets here
Wednesday 24th March, 7pm —Presentation: ‘Virtual Workshops & Curation Using Mozilla Hubs’, with Public Engagement Coordinator, Adam Stoneman and Education Officer, Hannah Bloom of The Hunt Museum – Book Tickets here
Friday 26th, 7pm & Saturday 27th, 11am – A Hands-on Creative Workshop: ‘Stories Unfolding’ with bookmaker and artist, Éilís Murphy – Places for this session are now fully booked– Waiting List Registration
Saturday 27th, 11am – A Hands-on Creative Workshop: ‘Éisteacht/Listen’, with composer Fiona Linnane – Places for this session are fully now booked – Waiting List Registration
Please note:
The sessions on Monday and Wednesday will also be broadcast on Facebook Live, however to take part in the discussion on Zoom Live ticket booking is required.
The Creative Sessions on Friday and Saturday have limited capacity. Please note the ticket release date, we advise booking early to avoid disappointment. Materials for these sessions will be posted directly to participants, so home addresses will need to be shared with the portal editor and artist.
Architecture at the Edge a new outreach project in collaboration with Matt + Fiona is looking for creative and engaging architects, artists and designers to participate in Design Lab 2021 / a space for belonging.
Join this exciting initiative to empower the next generation to develop their ideas for the future of the local area.
Through Design Lab, you will enable them to develop ideas for a ‘Space for Belonging’ – with AATE and MATT+FIONA’s support. The initiative will involve training, facilitating creative workshops and joining an ambitious ‘Proto-Build’. Starting in April 2021 and culminating with the ‘Proto-Build’ in Autunm 2021, Design Lab is a great opportunity to share your knowledge and creativity with young people and teachers in a fun and engaging way.
If you have good communication skills and are looking for exciting ways to expand your practice, AATE would love to hear from you!
Deadline for applications is Monday 08 March at 12noon.
Ennis Book Club Festival invites post-primary school students and teachers in County Clare to a series of online workshops scheduled as part of their wider book club festival taking place from 2 – 7 March.
The workshops include:
Fighting Words Creative Writing Workshop, Tues 2 March, 10am-12 noon or 1.45pm-3.45pm
Songwriting and Music Production Workshop with Music Generation Clare, Wed 3 March, 9.30am-12pm or 1.30pm-4pm
Secondary School Audience with author Louise O’Neill, Thurs 4 March, 10am-11am or 2.10pm-3.10pm
Louise O’Neill in conversation with Sarah Moore Fitzgerald, 5 March, 11.30am
The LAB Gallery, Dublin City Arts Office Dates: Wednesdays 4-6pm, 3, 10, 24 March & 14, 21, 28 April
The Practice of Looking is a six-week, online course to learn about Visual Thinking Strategies and its use in Dublin, and to practice its facilitation. It was born out of the growing interest in the adoption of Visual Thinking Strategies at the LAB Gallery and in the partnerships and networks that have evolved around it. The LAB Gallery, Dublin City Arts Office, The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) and VTS Neighbourhood Schools are partnering to host an online course that offers the opportunity to learn from trained VTS coaches in the existing network. The course will have a strong focus on facilitation practice and reflection. You will receive a certificate of attendance after completion of the course.
Please note that to participate to the course, you need to:
Be available for all sessions.
Be a practicing teacher / educator / artist / museum guide.
The IAF have produced an online resource ‘DIYStudio’ for teachers and secondary school students.
DIYStudio introduces you to architecture and is perfect for secondary schools students who might be curious about the process of design. Follow the five stages – Explore, Research, Design, Present, Reflect to design your own architectural space, learning and experimenting along the way. All you need to get started is internet access, paper and a pencil.
Students can start and finish anytime, DIYStudio is an ongoing project.
The Ark invites you to ‘Creativity in the Online Classroom Made Easy’ CPD workshop for teachers, where you will learn a range of easy, accessible skills to help you bring creativity into your online teaching. Find out how easy it can be to breathe imagination into an online class, inspiring both your students and yourself. The ideas shared will be useful for both teaching online and when you are back in the classroom.
Perhaps you are overwhelmed with the technical aspects of moving your teaching online, or feeling frustrated with the limitations and struggling to make your online lessons creative and engaging. Or perhaps you are simply looking for some fresh inspiration for ideas that can work well in the online space. Join the Ark for this morning of inspiration and art-making to help you address these challenges, led by artist Duffy Mooney-Sheppard who has been leading online classes for children for the past year.
During this session you will gain valuable time to explore various tools available on Zoom to develop, hone and gain confidence in digital art lessons. Ideas shared will be adaptable and transferrable to other online platforms you may be using also. The possibilities in virtual learning spaces are wide and we are all learning! We will ask questions, share challenges, try things out and build our knowledge as a group.
Children’s Books Ireland and Poetry Ireland are working in partnership to host a series of capacity-building webinars for artists who are delivering online programmes to children and young people. The webinars are free to attend and places are limited. Children’s Books Ireland and Poetry Ireland are committed to supporting artists in the development of their practice and their working conditions.
23rd Feb: Child Protection and Safeguarding Webinar
24th Feb: Cybersafety when working with Children Webinar
I remember really vividly where I was on 12th March 2020. I was visiting the cast at the end of their 3rd week of a 10 week tour of my show for babies ‘I AM BABA’ and our tiny gorgeous tent was set up in a rather grand hotel ballroom in Trim. We came out of the third show to the news of the announcement of lockdown. We threw the set and costumes back in my storage facility without masses of care – as we knew it was only going to be a couple of weeks.
I know.
For the next 2 months, I was lost, desperately trying to think what to do and how to do it.
And then I worked out that it wasn’t about the what or the how but rather about the why.
When creating ‘BLISS’, the first show I made specifically for audiences of children with complex needs, I was doing some creative consultation in a classroom and over the course of these few days these children revealed to me what I think theatre is – one human being connecting with another. That’s it. And that my job is to create the optimum conditions for that connection.
And for my audiences, the optimum conditions overwhelmingly are that it’s a live experience.
The work has always had at its very heart the live responsive connection and an inherent and crucial ability to nuance and change from moment to moment. And I realised what I had to do was to take this built-in flexibility to a whole new level…
Thanks to the incredible support of funders, venues, audiences and artists and more than a little bit of luck, I managed to tour work live for 8 weeks in the summer, autumn and winter of 2020.
And in my next couple of blogs, I’ll tell you the how and the what.
Deadline Extended: Friday 26th March 2021
The Arts in Education Portal editorial team are pleased to invite applications for a documentation award. Through the award, successful applicants will receive services to the value of €5,000 that will support them in the documentation of a current or upcoming project and a €500 stipend.
The purpose of the award is to support the development of documented outcomes from Arts in Education initiatives in Ireland, which can be shared with the arts in education community and give insights into different processes of engagement. This is part of the Arts in Education Portal Editorial Committee’s commitment to supporting and recognising the value of documentation and reflection as a key component within arts in education initiatives.
With many Arts in Education initiatives moving to online engagement in 2020 and that continuing into 2021 the Portal Editorial Committee want to ensure that while the community is adjusting to this form of engagement that the Portal continues to offer support and assisting the community in sharing learnings through this time.
Two awards will be offered through this opportunity.
Outcomes of the documentation process will include: a project video, a project feature to be showcased on the Portal’s Projects/Partnerships, and the option of a critical essay, with a view to also presenting the work as part of the Arts in Education Portal National Day in 2021.
The process will involve meetings with the Portal Team and a schedule of 3 visits over the course of the project to capture video and photographic documentation and support reflective processes among participants. These visits and meetings can be conducted virtually. The portal team will work closely with the recipients to ensure all restrictions and protocols in terms of COVID 19 are adhered to during the process to ensure safety for all involved.
The portal team will edit and produce a project video, and will liaise closely with the project partners to develop the content for the project feature. The critical essay would be sited in the Portal’s Reading Room, and is optional. The author and focus of the essay can be decided by the project organisers in collaboration with the Portal Team.
Criteria
To be considered for this opportunity, projects must:
Have started in autumn 2020 and continuing into 2021, or taking place in 2021 (flexibility will be give to project start dates due to current school closures).
Have a minimum duration of 8 weeks.
Involve a professional artist working collaboratively within an educational setting (early years, primary or post-primary).
Be underpinned by a strong ethos of collaboration and a commitment to excellence. Focus on the creative process, with children having an active and collaborative role
Additional criteria
Successful applicants will be asked to ensure that relevant permissions/consent have been sought for documentation of participants.
Please ensure your application has been approved by all project partners prior to submission.
How to make a submission:
Background on who you are; your professional practice and your ethos or approach towards Arts in Education.
An overview of the project – who is involved, how did the collaboration come about, what processes or approaches will take place, what is the aim or focus of the process?
A statement of interest, explaining why documentation supports would be of value to this project.
Would you and your class like to participate in an online workshop with VISUAL Carlow’s Curator of Learning, Clare Breen?
Clare will bring your class on a virtual walk through this season’s exhibitions, broadcast live from inside their closed gallery. After the tour she will lead an art activity that can be completed with simple materials children can find at home or in school.
These workshops are suitable for primary school groups from 1st to 6th class. Book your place for an online workshop in February and March, workshops are free but places are limited!
The Arts in Education Portal Team are delighted to announce that the 2021 Portal Spring Regional Event Series will take place online during the week of March 22nd, showcasing arts in education projects and creative practice in the Mid-West.
The series aims to connect regional audiences with the Portal. Practitioners can learn more about the Portal and what it offers, tell us about their work, connect with the community, share practice and find out what opportunities or events are available in the region. We welcome teachers, artists, arts managers and anyone with an interest in arts in education to join us for this free series of online events which will include online discussions and creative workshops.
Stay tuned for the full schedule to be announced in February.
A selection of some of the fantastic digital arts in education activities and programmes available for children and young people which support learning at home.
To support teachers delivering arts-based learning to children remotely while they are home due to the COVID-19 restrictions, The Ark have a variety of classroom and at-home activity packs relating to different areas of the curriculum, as well as a selection of recorded shows available to stream for your class privately.
Join The Glucksman online for on daily live art sessions and creative activities you can do at home. A team of facilitators delivers daily art classes and discover a range of art making skills and techniques. These free online sessions will keep children engaged as they learn about drawing, painting, constructing and printmaking using basic art and household materials.
With your family, you can explore specially selected artworks from the IMMA Collection online and their temporary Exhibition Programme, as well as suggested starting points for creative activities related to those artworks. These free online resources cover themes such as abstract painting, collage, land art and more.
Stay connected with the National Gallery of Ireland online, with lots of different ways to engage with their collection – virtual tours, videos, podcasts, downloadable resources, activities for children, online workshops, blogposts, and much more.
Eleven Irish artists reveal what inspires them and how they make their art in a free video series designed for use in the classroom.
The Dock Arts Centre in Carrick on Shannon and The Lab Gallery in Dublin have worked together to produce an online resource for teachers and arts educators. This resource is ideal for use in a classroom or online educational setting and features artists speaking directly about themselves and the art making process. View the online resource here: https://vimeo.com/showcase/8094850
As well as connecting young people with some of the rich ideas that inform our visual culture and offering them a unique insight into the arts practices, methods and motivations of practicing artists the series also affords the artists a unique opportunity to speak directly to and connect with young audiences.
In the interviews the artists reveal their reasons for making art, describe the methods they use to make their work but most importantly reveal what is means to them to be an artist and how they transform their desire to create and communicate into the work they produce. The diversity of their individual backgrounds and experiences is reflected in the work each artist makes. They draw inspiration from many sources; the books they read as children, the films they have watched, conversations they have had, the environments that they have lived in and places they have visited.
The artists are Sinéad Ní Mhaonaigh, Eve O’ Callaghan, Jamie Cross, Ellen Duffy, Kate Murphy, Atoosa Pour Hosseini, Gemma Browne, Anna Maria Healy, Austin Ivers, Louise Manifold and Jackie McKenna.
The video series is a starting point to mediate conversations with young people about their own creativity, ideas and inspirations, the videos may also be used as an inspiration for teachers and educators to devise workshop and other practical activities for their classes.
Chester Beatty launched an Intercultural museum programme for primary and post-primary schools offering students and their teachers the opportunity to explore world cultures in an Irish museum. Participants are encouraged to engage with Chester Beatty’s Islamic, East Asian and European collections through a variety of activities including guided tours, self-guided visits, online learning resources and access to the extensive image gallery.
Intercultural dialogue and learning plays a key role in the museum’s mission and fosters dialogue with the communities represented in Chester Beatty’s unique collections. These collections offer wonderful learning opportunities and support a number of key curricular areas from art history to world faiths. A range of free teaching resources are available to support self-guided visits and inspire activities back at school.
This report includes the background to the intercultural school’s project and includes definitions on intercultural dialogue and relevant policies, strategies and projects in both the formal education, arts and cultural sectors; the development of the intercultural school’s programme; analysis of current practices and methodologies; programme development including the training of volunteer guides, Continuous Professional Development of teachers; and pilot tours and evaluation.
Schools have full access to Chester Beatty’s remarkable treasures through the website www.chesterbeatty.ie thus allowing students and teachers to experience the Chester Beatty from the school desk or from home. In addition, the CB’s new Digital Museum Guide app offers audio tours in 13 languages, virtual 3D walkthroughs of the museum, online browsing of the Chester Beatty’s world-renowned treasures, and a news section to highlight our extensive programme of events and activities.
For more details about the Chester Beatty Learning and Education Department please contact educationservices@cbl.ie
Baboró International Arts Festival, Graffiti Theatre and TYA Ireland
Deadline: Monday 8 February 2021
Callout for a 6-month playwriting programme led by Finegan Kruckemeyer for established and emerging playwrights based in Ireland who are interested in writing for young audiences.
Baboró International Arts Festival for Children, Graffiti Theatre and TYA Ireland are excited to collaborate with International TYA Playwright Finegan Kruckemeyer to host a new playwriting programme for writers and theatre makers in Ireland who are interested in writing plays for young audiences.
At a time when the world and its distances are both larger and smaller than ever before, a collaboration will occur, spanning half a globe, and half a year, and driven by that most exciting of provocations – to forge something from nothing.
Beginning with a blank page, eight Irish authors will respond to writing aids and impositions both as they explore theatre for young audiences – what makes a TYA play, and what TYA play they wish to make.
But more important than the audience, shall be the idea. And in writing work solemn and silly, foreign and known, as vast as an ocean and as small as a boat which may rock upon it, eight individual voices shall be celebrated, and their plays play out to their ends.
Who is this for?
This opportunity is open to both established and emerging playwrights, residing in Ireland, interested in writing plays for young audiences. Applications are encouraged from artists with a disability, those from minority ethnic communities and those who feel their voices are not commonly represented. There are eight places available on the programme.
Irish language writers are welcome to participate in this project through the medium of Irish. Support and translation will be provided to facilitate a bilingual writing journey with Fin. Samples of writing in Irish can be included in the application.
Cuirimid fáilte roimh scríbhneoirí le Gaeilge páirt a ghlacadh sa togra seo as Gaeilge. Cuirfear tacaíocht agus aistriúcháin ar fáil chun an turas scríbhneoireachta dátheangach le Fin a éascú. Is féidir samplaí Gaeilge a bheith mar chuid den iarratas.
Deadline for Applications is Monday 8 February 2021
NYCI commissioned UCC to carry out an independent mapping of youth arts provision in youth work settings in Ireland. Join NYCI at the virtual launch of the research to find out:
What is the nature and scope of youth arts provision in youth work settings in Ireland
What challenges do youth workers, youth arts practitioners and youth organisations encounter in providing opportunities for young people to engage in youth arts
What are the key recommendations from the research
Why Attend?
Hear from a panel of expert speakers.
Learn more about the shift at policy level and significant financial investment needed in order to advance meaningful and sustainable youth arts provision in Ireland, and concrete recommendations to help achieve this.
Get your copy of the research report.
Who Should Attend
Youth work managers, youth workers, youth arts practitioners, ETB youth officers, arts officers and anyone working with young people, academics in the field of youth studies, youth work students, policy makers, stakeholders from relevant government departments.
Who You’ll Hear From Eileen Hogan, University College Cork
Eileen Hogan is a Lecturer in the School of Applied Social Studies, University College Cork. She is Course Director of the Masters in Youth Arts and Sports Education, which won the grad Ireland/HEA award for Best Postgraduate Course (Arts and Humanities) in 2017. Eileen is also Deputy Director of the Postgraduate Diploma in Youth Work.
Through these roles, she is involved in the professional development of youth workers and youth arts practitioners and has strong connections with youth work organisations. Eileen is also a member of the Board of Directors at Youth Work Ireland Cork. She is also Chairperson of the IndieCork Film and Music Festival, which is a volunteer-led organisation that supports youth arts as an element of its broader cultural programme.
NYCI have a an exciting panel lined up to join Dr Hogan in reacting to and dissecting the research and what it means for your work.
RTÉ and Creative Ireland Programme have come together in partnership to create This Is Art! – a celebration of visual art through the creation of an exciting new online art competition aimed at young people across the island of Ireland.
The competition aims to promote artistic practice among young people and encourage and support creativity, originality and self-expression. Applicants can enter individually or they can enter as part of a group and all visual art disciplines are welcomed. The competition is open for anyone 18yrs and under.
All of the artwork will be included in a digital gallery and considered for the This Is Art! 2021 Grand Prix Award.
The National Gallery of Ireland invites schools to apply to participate in Your Gallery at School, a new holistic outreach programme that brings the National Gallery of Ireland directly to schools.
Over the course of 2021, The National Gallery of Ireland will work with six primary schools that wouldn’t usually be able to visit the Gallery, to create a tailored programme of activities for their students.
Participating schools will be selected via an open application process. Selected schools will not have visited the Gallery in the past three years and will be from one or more of three key groups:
DEIS schools to address socio-economic barriers to accessing culture.
Boys’ schools to address the gender barrier to accessing culture.
Schools geographically far away (over 2 hours away from Dublin) to address the geographic barrier to accessing culture.
The closing date: Friday 5 February 2021
Your Gallery at School aims to break down the barriers that prevent engagement with the arts through holistic programming that ensures children transition to adulthood equipped with the life-changing benefits of art.
The Irish Film Institute today (1st December) launches its comprehensive 2020/2021 IFI Schools’ Programme. For the first time, the programme will be available to view nationwide online on the Institute’s brand-new IFI@Schools
platform at www.ifischools.ie. Films to feature as part of this year’s offering include Greta Gerwig’s Oscar-nominated Little Women, Bo Burnham’s Eighth Grade, Neasa Hardiman’s Sea Fever, and three films from Cartoon Saloon, Kilkenny’s beloved animation studio.
The entire programme is available to view for schools through an annual subscription for either the Primary or Post-Primary programmes. With the generous support of the Arts Council Capacity Building Grant, the IFI has been able to heavily subsidise costs so that an annual Primary subscription costs €100, and annual Post-Primary subscription costs €250.
Each subscription allows 10 teachers per school to watch 10 screenings each. Unlike booking student groups for
cinema screenings, the subscription allows the teacher a greater degree of flexibility as to when material is viewed in the classroom and will encourage increased media literacy across a wide range of ages.
The ever-popular Modern Foreign Languages strand, encompassing French, German and Spanish, presents five Irish premieres. Eagerly awaited by teachers and students alike, the films are an invaluable way of promoting language and culture. Included in the 2020/21 Spanish selection is Berlinale prize winner Wolves and classroom drama One For All. French students will enjoy teen comedy-drama Man Up! for Senior Cycle, while Junior Cycle drama Fahim, The Little Chess Prince rides on the coattails of The Queen’s Gambit, and focuses on a young Bangladeshi immigrant who discovers he has a gift for playing chess. The German choices this year are Ulrich Köhler and Henner Winckler’s A Voluntary Year (Das freiwillige Jahr) for Senior Cycle, and Sarah Winkenstette’s Too Far Away (Zu Weit Weg) for Junior Cycle.
Speaking about the launch of the platform, IFI Director Ross Keane said, ‘The advent of IFI@Schools is a truly transformational moment for IFI Education, bringing our hugely popular and successful schools programme directly into classrooms all around Ireland. While Covid-19 has presented huge challenges for arts organisations, it has also made us all examine what we do and how we can continue to engage with our audiences in new and innovative ways. We are therefore delighted to offer this exciting new online platform to schoolchildren nationwide, marking the beginning of a new era for IFI Education’.
Head of IFI Education Alicia McGivern commented, ‘While school trips to cinemas and arts venues may be on hold for the moment, the appetite for quality arts engagement remains undiminished. IFI@Schools offers teachers the opportunity to bring film content directly into the classroom in a smart, affordable and accessible way. We’re very excited to bring the magic of cinema into schools and to continue to foster a love of film in students during these unprecedented times.’
Arts Council Head of Film and Architecture Fionnuala Sweeney added, ‘The Arts Council is delighted to have funded the development of the IFI@schools platform. At a time when cinema doors are closed, this dedicated new platform will bring the world of film into classrooms all over Ireland so that children and young people can continue to collectively experience, explore and enjoy film.’
For English this year, Senior Cycle students can look forward to Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence in Debra Granik’s Winter’s Bone, and Paddy Breathnach’s acclaimed drama Rosie, starring Sarah Greene and Moe Dunford. For Junior Cycle, there’s a hugely entertaining and thought-provoking slate of films including Taika Waititi’s Hunt for the Wilderpeople, The Peanut Butter Falcon starring Shia LaBoeuf, Ken Wardrop’s touching Irish documentary His & Hers, and Saudi Arabian comingof-age drama Wadjda.
IFI is delighted to present a particularly strong line-up of Irish films, and as part of our ongoing commitment to support Irish filmmakers, IFI has confirmed a number of special guests to speak as part of this year’s online programme, including Oscar-nominated animators Nora Twomey and Tomm Moore, documentarians Brendan J Byrne and Ross Whitaker, and Vivarium director Lorcan Finnegan.
Other films available for Senior Cycle include documentaries In the Name of Peace: John Hume in America, Bobby Sands: 66 Days, Iris, Risteard O’Domhnaill’s Atlantic and The Pipe, and drama Black ’47. Transition Year students will be treated to environmental and socio-political documentaries Now, Spaceship Earth, Gaza, Push and 3½ Minutes, Ten Bullets. Art and Geography students will delight in the anime film Weathering With You, while sporting documentaries Katie and Climbing Blind look at the physical and mental hurdles sportspeople overcome to achieve their goals. A special Inclusion and Diversity section for Transition Year Wellbeing/SPHE includes Sundance winner Clemency, powerful civil rights drama Selma, and the funny and tender LGBT+ drama Love, Simon.
This year’s Primary programme features a fantastic range of titles for younger pupils including the charming Little Women with Saoirse Ronan and Emma Watson, Irish drama A Shine of Rainbows, plus animations Minuscule, Dreambuilders, and the Cartoon Saloon trio of Song of the Sea, The Secret of Kells and The Breadwinner.
Finally, the IFI is delighted to announce the 2021 edition of its hugely successful Careers in Film Day events next March, in association with the Virgin Media Dublin International Film Festival. IFI will also run special events in association with Screen Skills Ireland, which will allow students to engage directly with filmmakers and their craft; these Q&A and ‘First Steps’ events will be held in January.
For more details and to download a full IFI Education 2020/2021 Programme, please visit www.ifi.ie/learn. For more information and booking, please contact Richard or Amy at schools@irishfilm.ie.
Irish primary schools are invited to enter the FÍS Storyboard Storytelling competition, a one-off Covid-19 special initiative open to all primary schools in the Republic of Ireland.
The FÍS Storyboard Storytelling competition provides an opportunity for pupils to visually interpret a story or concept or curriculum topic, use artistic media and different types of shots to convey that story in an imaginative and creative way.
A full brief, judging criteria and how to enter this exciting competition is available at www.fisfilmproject.ie. The brief provides suggested themes and topics, storyboard presentation tips, judging criteria and general competition guidelines for teachers.
Check out the supporting video tutorial ‘How to use storyboards to storytell’.
Entries will be categorised on the basis of class age / level and prizes will be awarded across a variety of categories.
The Young People, Children, and Education Bursary Award supports individual professional artists working with, and producing work for, children and young people across a range of artforms. The purpose of the award is to support professional artists to develop their art practice.
A recording of a webinar session about the YPCE Bursary Award is available for all potential applicants at the link below.
The Arts Council encourages you to view the full 1.5 hour session or move to the time codes of particular interest. If you have questions that are not covered in the webinar session, please contact ypce@artscouncil.ie.
Please make sure to read the Guidelines in full.
Closing date: 17:30, Thursday 28 January 2021
Maximum awarded: €20,000
Apply from 15 December 2020
Earlier this month over two weekends 480 artists, teachers and arts in education professionals attended our fifth annual National Arts in Education Portal Day which this year moved online with a series of virtual events.
Over the two weekends the arts in education community came together to share, learn, talk, network, get inspired and interrogate best practice in the field. Although this year we couldn’t meet in person we were overwhelmed with the response and level of engagement. We would like to thank all our guest speakers, artists and all who joined us to engage in the conversation.
Speaking at the event Roundtable Chair Professor Gary Granville said, “We talk about this concept of community, of practice and practitioners but in a very real sense I think what the Charter has facilitated and what the Arts in Education Portal provides is an opportunity to make real that notion of community”.
Video of digital artwork created by artist Julie Forrester as part of the creative workshop ‘A Dive into Digital Art’ with illustrator Wayne O’Connor.
Due to popular demand the Portal Team is delighted to announce details of our Online Creative Workshops Winter Programme taking place this December. This series of hands-on creative sessions aims to support artists and teachers to explore new ideas, approaches and techniques to support their own professional development through creative practice.
We’re delighted to confirm that illustrator Wayne O’Connor and interdisciplinary artist Kate Wilson will be joining us again to facilitate another series of ‘A Dive into Digital Art’ and ‘Sensing into Action’. Digital Artist John D’Arcy will also be facilitating a new workshop entitled ‘You’re Muted’.
Each workshop involves two ninety minute closed zoom sessions taking place over two days. Booking a ticket for these workshops will automatically reserve your place at both creative sessions. Participants must attend both sessions. Ticket bookings will open at 12 noon Wednesday, 2nd December 2020. These workshops have limited capacity so make sure to book your place early!
Please note: Tickets for both ‘A Dive into Digital Art’ and ‘Sensing into Action’ will be offered to those on the waiting list from the November sessions first.
Sensing to Action
Dates: 7pm, Friday 11 & 11am, Saturday 12 December
Kate Wilson has a fine art degree from Slade School of Art and MA with Independent Dance; her practice is both interdisciplinary and collaborative. Sensing to Action offers practical and theoretical insight into creative movement and holistic approaches to dance and theatre practices in the classroom.
A Dive into Digital Art Dates: 11am, Saturday 12 & 12pm Sunday 13 December
Wayne O’Connor is an illustrator, storyteller, writer and arts educator. Using free digital drt software, participants will be introduced to the basics of using digital software to draw and paint. Participants will need to download the free Autodesk Sketchbook art software.
This session is now fully booked but please click through the link below to add your details to the waiting list.
You’re Muted Dates: 3pm, Saturday 12 & Sunday 13 December
Digital artist and researcher John D’Arcy invites participants to explore the problems and potentials of creative engagement online. This workshop contains a mixture of interactive activities that test the limits of online video conferencing, helping to reflect on the nature of online connectivity, communication and creativity.
Solstice Arts Centre are delighted to announce two new online resource packs for schools to accompany the exhibition ‘New Era – Exploring Climate Change’.
New Era is an exhibition featuring four Irish visual artists Rachel Doolin, Siobhán McDonald, Martina O’Brien and Méadhbh O’Connor whose work explores different aspects of climate change in the natural world. The exhibition includes new and recent art works by these artist/activists and advocates for both local and global climate change.
Resource Packs:
Look Draw Think Respond – Primary Schools
This fun learning resource, originally designed to be completed in the gallery is now accompanied by a virtual 360° tour of the exhibition New Era, with links and additional information on each of the four artists on our website at solsticeartscentre.ie/ event/new-era-exploring- climate-change.
This resource embraces many subjects across the curriculum including art, geography, SPSE, science and literacy and a personalised tour and virtual creative activities can be arranged for individual classrooms.
Solstice Secondary Resource New Era – Post-Primary Schools
This learning resource is designed to assist Leaving Certificate students and teachers interested in opting for the gallery question on the History & Appreciation of Art paper.
It can be used in conjunction with the virtual 360° tour of the exhibition New Era. with links and additional information on each of the four exhibiting artists on our website at https://solsticeartscentre.ie/ event/new-era-exploring- climate-change for a comprehensive response to this or similar exam question.
Solstice Arts Centre can also arrange a Zoom meeting with any class group to give them further insight into the show and information on the artists involved.
From hieroglyphics to harvest knots…the National Museum of Ireland launches a new programme of online events, activities and resources for teachers to bring the Museum to the classroom.
Each year, the NMI welcomes some 90,000 primary and post primary students to its four Museum sites in Dublin and Mayo, providing engaging, hands-on, curriculum linked and creative learning opportunities that underpin classroom teaching.
This year, due to COVID-19 guidelines, the NMI has had to rethink how schools, teachers and their students can engage and learn with the national collections and, in response, has developed a range of virtual programmes to be used in the classroom. The first strand of the new programme is available now including arts in education activities.
The new schools programme 2020/2021 blends live online sessions with Museum educators, and a range of pre-recorded video and printable resources available from the Museum’s website.
In place of Leaving Certificate Art History Tours, Museum educators have developed a presentation containing high-resolution images of the artefacts on display at the Museum that are linked to the Leaving Certificate Art History curriculum. The presentation can be used by teachers as an in-class resource and the notes pages can be used by students as a revision tool.
Explore a range of art and design activities suitable for primary students and art at post primary junior cycle, through short videos and downloadable activity sheets. Students can take a design challenge inspired by Eileen Gray, make their own musical instrument, design and build a Thaumatrope or build their own bird helmet inspired by a Samurai costume.
Join storyteller Fiona Dowling on the grounds of the NMI – Country Life at Turlough Park, Co. Mayo, to hear some nature based stories and some intriguing tales connected to our fairy trail ‘Of Fairies and Fairy Folk’.
Application form and further details are available at: msletb.ie
Closing Date: 12.00 noon, 8 December 2020
Late applications will not be accepted.
Please note that applications must be made through the MSL ETB website. Any queries should be directed to employment@msletb.ie.
Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim Education and Training Board is an equal opportunities employer. Canvassing will disqualify. Shortlisting may apply. Late applications will not be accepted. Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim Education and Training Board is registered as a Data Controller.
The four Dublin Local Authorities (Fingal County Council, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, South Dublin County Council and Dublin City Council) are delighted to invite submissions for: Exploring & Thinking Bursary Award 2020.
The Bursary Award will support individual professional artists to develop their artistic practice working with and/or producing work for early childhood arts. It is open to individual professional artists who wish to develop their practice in early childhood arts, artists practicing in all artforms, artists resident in Ireland.
Bursary range: €500 – €5,000
The closing date: 5pm, 11th December 2020
Exploring and Thinking is a collaborative framework for early childhood arts in the Dublin region. It came about in 2016 when the four Dublin Local Authorities partnered for the first time to collectively consider early childhood arts provision in the Dublin region.
The 5th annual National Arts in Education Portal Day 2020 has adapted the annual event into a virtual conference over two weekends this November. The National Arts in Education Portal Virtual Conference will welcome hundreds of professionals from across the arts, education, arts in education and creative sector, who will attend various online events to share, learn, talk, network, get inspired and interrogate best practice in the field.
The event represents an important landmark in the calendar for educationalists and arts and creativity in education sector professionals with a shared interest in quality and access to best practice arts provision for children and young people. This year the National Arts in Education Portal Day has to move online as per government guidelines.
There will also be a broad range of Creative Sessions delivered by artists and creators, Joe Caslin, Wayne O’Connor, Melatu-Uche Okorie and Kate Wilson. These workshops aim to share practical skills and approaches. The virtual conference will culminate with a panel of professionals and practitioners from across the arts in education, education and creative sectors in conversation with Chair Professor Gary Granville, exploring the current landscape of arts in education in Ireland and beyond.
Thursday October 29th saw the launch of a new publication ‘Curriculum: Contemporary Art Goes to School’ edited by Dublin-based curator and writer Jennie Guy and published by Intellect Books.
Curriculum explores the intersection of contemporary artistic practice and school education in the 21st century.
At the heart of Curriculum is Art School, an independent curatorial framework founded by Jennie Guy in 2014. Operating throughout Ireland, Art School establishes interfaces between contemporary art and schools as sites of education, inviting students and artists to work collaboratively to question how the conventions of learning – as typically encountered in schools – might be extended or reimagined.
It takes place as a series of workshops, residencies, exhibitions and new writing that explore how contemporary artists can intervene within systems of education in order to inspire and expand might also help to fracture and revise.
Curriculum features contributions by: Clare Butcher, Gerard Byrne (Foreword), Juan Canela, Helen Carey, Daniela Cascella, Fiona Gannon, Jennie Guy, Andrew Hunt, Hannah Jickling & Helen Reed, Alissa Kleist, Rowan Lear, Peter Maybury, Annemarie Ní Churreáin, Nathan O’Donnell, Sofia Olascoaga & Priscila Fernandes, Matt Packer and Sjoerd Westbroek.
The book explores Art School projects by artists: Sven Anderson, John Beattie, Sarah Browne, Karl Burke, Rhona Byrne, Ella de Búrca, Vanessa Donoso Lopez, Priscila Fernandes, Hannah Fitz, Jane Fogarty, Kevin Gaffney, Adam Gibney, Fiona Hallinan, Elaine Leader, Maria McKinney, Mark O’Kelly, Sarah Pierce and Naomi Sex.
This publication was funded by the Arts Council of Ireland and the Arts Office of Wicklow County Council.
CURRICULUM: Contemporary Art Goes to School
Ireland’s National School Photography Awards
Deadline extended: 31 May 2021
INSPA 2020/21 sees the fourth open call for Ireland’s prestigious National School Photography Awards [INSPA]. INSPA is a national children’s photography competition and Positive Primaries Programme which introduces Creative Well-being into the lives of primary schools and their communities by engaging with the magic and art of photography.
This year’s theme ‘Accessible Places | Safer Spaces’ is run in association with the Children’s Rights Alliance and is looking for images that focus on giving a voice to children in their new and changing environments. Therefore, we are calling on students and teachers in primary level education, to once again, get creative and integrate the camera into their school day. To begin your Positive Primaries Journey and participate in the awards you must register your school at www.inspa.ie
The INSPA’s are having a massive impact in classrooms across Ireland, helping to boost the well-being of students by simply integrating the camera into your school day. Participating in the awards helps your students increase their Confidence, Resilience, Connection, Kindness and Readiness. It also gives a platform for teachers to creatively explore their wider curriculum, allowing students from all backgrounds to actively engage with subjects in new and exciting ways.
Once you activate your school account, you will be able to upload your school activities, share ideas and engage with other Positive Primaries as they prepare to enter the awards. You will also be able to access our free and easy-to-follow Creative Well-being Activities. These will help you integrate the camera into your school-day and allow the children to lead the way.
This year, the awards are offering a range of fantastic prizes for the whole school community including; Weekend breaks away to the Amber Springs Resort Hotel, free Instax cameras and printers, Positive Portrait fundraising days, certificates and of course your schools Positive Primaries Flag. All entries will be judged by a national panel including Mary Magner (INTO President), Colm O’Gorman (Director: Amnesty International Ireland), Damian White (IPPN President), Karla Sánchez (Curator, Art Historian & Educator), Áine Lynch (CEO of National Parents Council Primary), and Richard Carr (Artist & Partnerships Manager for INSPA).
In whatever way you choose to respond to this year’s theme, be creative, take lots of photos and most importantly have fun. We look forward to seeing all your schools’ entries and all those positive changes you are making in your school. If you think your school could become one of Ireland’s next Positive Primaries, register as soon as possible at; www.inspa.ie
For further information and to apply to go www.inspa.ie.
The Ark
Available until 31 December
Explore the importance of all creatures small and large in this video drama workshop from The Ark for ages 2-4 with their grown-ups led by Early Years Artist in Residency Joanna Parkes.
Mouse may be small and shy, but does that mean he can’t help the lion? Let’s see!
Using the Aesop’s Fable of The Mouse and The Lion as a starting point, pack your make-believe backpacks, set off to find the proud lion and see where your imaginations can take you.
If you like, you can bring a few things with you:
A cushion
A small bag or backpack
A soft toy (any favourite cuddly animal will do)
Wear an adventurer’s hat of any kind if you want!
Combining drama, story and play, this video workshop invites little ones and their grown-ups to enjoy imagining together. So if you’re a parent, grandparent, uncle, aunty, godparent or carer, join in with a 2 to 4 year old to discover, explore and create together in this delightful workshop adventure.
Recommended:
A clear floor area of about 4 paces square – free of movable furniture and any trip hazards.
Children and adults should wear comfortable clothes and shoes.
For ages 2-4 and their grown-ups
Video duration: Approx. 15 mins, plus pauses for you to pretend and play in your own time at home
Growing during Closing
October, falling leaves and creeping numbers. It was a month of growing in a season of closing. My colleague Ciara Heffernan led our school approach to Creative Clusters within our theme, Connecting and Reconnecting. This creative collaboration between Cluster Schools is an exciting new dimension to our arts programme. The extension of the Creative Schools programme with Associate Gabi McGrath has enabled us to develop creative partnerships with artists from a range of different disciplines. Early Years Music Specialist Nuala Kelly returned to complete a partnership with Mrs. Cushen and Ms. Heffernan, while a range of classes from Junior Infants to 2nd Class will work with multidisciplinary fine artist Francesca Hutchinson, dancer and visual artist Kate Wilson and storyteller Thomas McCarthy. It is a privilege to work with and support artists in the current climate.
Teacher Artist Partnership would like to wish all our summer course participants well as they engage in their TAP residency and we look forward to sharing in the work. Our Design Tutor Team are extremely proud of the work and achievements of our National TAP Coordinator Dr. Katie Sweeney, Tralee Education Centre Director, Terry O Sullivan and Administrator Máire Vieux in securing Erasmus + funding to develop our programme on a European level with partner countries Serbia, Austria, Netherlands and Greece. Within this initiative our Design Team have been working on a series of mini-creative moments called Take Ten with TAP which we look forward to sharing with you soon…watch this space!
Thank you, Portal, for this space to share. Thank you, reader, for reading.
The Ark
Date: 7 November Saturday
This half-day visual art CPD workshop for teachers with The Ark which will focus on skills, techniques and processes teachers can integrate into their lesson plans and easily adapt to all ages.
Every season has its own beauty and winter is certainly not lacking. It may not display the soft pastel tones of spring, the bright and bold splashes of summer or the fiery range of autumn’s colours, but the winter season has its own very individual palette.
Through the theme of winter, artist Jole Bortoli will lead the group on an exploration of the visual art curriculum through hands on activities which will be completed in real time via zoom. Together, the group will examine the many manifestations of winter in the diverse environments and habitats found in Ireland. Looking at how various visual artists have interpreted this theme, participants will create their very own artwork, giving them the tools to approach a winter-themed art workshop with children in the classroom.
Each participant will be asked to gather simple materials and tools that they should easily find around the house. They will also be sent a small art pack by post with any speciality materials that they will need during the workshop.
Date: 10.30am-12.30pm, 7 November Saturday
Tickets: €15 (€13.50 for ArkEd Members)
Booking closes at midnight on Thursday 29 October to allow adequate time for your art pack to be posted to you. Postage of the art pack is available within the Republic of Ireland only.
The Portal Team are delighted to announce the guest speakers for the fifth annual National Arts in Education Portal Conference which this year moves online with a series of virtual events taking place over two weekends in November – Friday 6th, Saturday 7th, Sunday 8th and Friday 13th, Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th.
This year the programme features a series of three keynote sessions, each exploring and interrogating specific areas of focus to open discussion on these important questions. We are delighted to welcome the following speakers:
Friday, 6th November – 7pm Writer Kit de Waal, visual artist Leanne McDonagh and lecturer Aoife Titley
Writer Kit de Waal and visual artist Leanne McDonagh in conversation with Aoife Titley, lecturer in Development and Intercultural Education (DICE) at the Froebel Department of Primary and Early Childhood Education, Maynooth University discussing cultural diversity in the arts.
Saturday, 7th November – 11am Maureen Kennelly, Arts Council Director
Maureen Kennelly, Director of the Arts Council of Ireland will be joined in conversation with a co-presenter (TBC) to explore the challenges of achieving reach and depth. Are they mutually exclusive? What are the hallmarks of quality and can they be attained in large scale programming.
Saturday, 14th November – 3pm Teacher Jennifer Buggie and digital artist John D’Arcy
Teacher and TAP lead facilitator Jennifer Buggie will be joined in conversation with digital artist and lecturer John D’Arcy to explore what role technology can play in supporting and enhancing creative practice.
The full line-up which will be announced in October includes a broad range of practical creative workshops and skills sharing as well roundtable discussion exploring the current landscape of arts in education.
We look forward to welcoming members of the arts in education community from all across Ireland and internationally, to share, learn, talk, get inspired, and continue interrogating best practice in the field.
Full programme details for the events will be announced shortly. For enquiries please contact events@artsineducation.ie
Irish Film Institute – IFI@Schools
Stream new films into your school with a brand new film platform from the IFI@Schools, launching in October.
With school trips on hold and very different learning situations arising in schools across the country, the Irish Film Institute (IFI) is launching an online streaming platform, offering films to support a whole range of subjects and interest areas.
In return for a one-off annual fee to cover film rights, your school can access the complete catalogue, using an easy, user-friendly teacher pass.
This years Open House Dublin from the Irish Architecture Foundation is set to take place on the weekend of 8 – 11 October. This year’s event will differ from previous years with a strong focus on online and digital events.
Open House Junior is a programme of workshops and activities for children and young people, with highlights including a Digital Design Challenge, and virtual workshops hosted by the Chester Beatty Library, Irish Museum of Modern Art, National Gallery of Ireland, Fighting Words and others.
With self-guided family ‘Architreks’ and ‘Make your own’ building templates from O’Mahony Pike Architects.
The Baboró team are delighted to announce their 2020 Delegate Programme which this year has moved online. They look forward to continuing to create opportunities to share insights and make new connections at home and abroad.
This year Baboró is a partner in ‘Talking TYA 2020’, a 3-day virtual conference that will bring artists and scholars from across Ireland and the world to discuss participation in theatre for young audiences. Baboró are also partnering with Culture Ireland, TYAI and NUI Galway.
Baboró’s online discussion series will give opportunities to meet some of the artists taking part in the festival. To register for delegate events listed below go to www.baboro.ie/festival/programme/event-type/foradults.
Baboró Insights
Wed 7 Oct at 13.00
Making regional connections: Pathways to production artists meet presenters (By Invitation)
Mon 12 oct | 12.00
Diversifying performance for young audiences
Wed 14 oct | 14.00
Talking TYA 2020
Thu 8 – Sat 10 Oct
Lime Tree Theatre | Belltable
Dates: October 2020
Limerick’s Lime Tree Theatre | Belltable team are proud to present a superb programme of events for their annual Bualadh Bos Children’s Festival this October.
Every child deserves access to the performing arts. As always, the aim of the festival is to ensure we continue to inspire children and their families by the safest and most creative means possible.
To achieve this in 2020, the programme has both live and online shows, creative workshops and even a family mystery trail around the Georgian quarter of the city. Plenty for all our small citizens to interact with.
Our schools programme is completely online, this will ensure schools in Limerick and the mid-west region can access our festival programme without travel costs as a barrier.
Louise Donlon, Director of Lime Tree Theatre|Belltable said “We are so glad to be able to announce this year’s Bualadh Bos festival as there were times during the past 5 months when our hopes for it seemed to be dashed.
“We have put a lot of thought into how we can continue and have been so heartened to see that performers and audiences alike are so keen to take part. The wonders of digital technology allow us to present our school’s programme online.
“Indeed, the advantage of online programming means that every school in Limerick can access the wonderful work being created – there are no barriers to all the children in the city and county enjoying the best that is on offer.
We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Arts Council, Limerick City & County Council and the JP McManus Foundation, without whose help and support none of this would have been possible.”
Our festival highlights include Michael Ford and Bairbre Ni Chaoimh’s beautiful show The Wilde Garden Adventure, the opening show of the festival on Sunday Oct 4th in Belltable. The show is based on two famous Oscar Wilde books The Happy Prince and The Selfish Giant.
We are thrilled Emma Martin’s Birdboy will tour to the Lime Tree Theatre on Wednesday Oct 7th. This engaging family show premiered earlier this month in the Dublin Fringe Festival to fantastic reviews. We feel so lucky that they tour to Limerick first and then go to 4 other venues in the country.
Cahoots NI have spent the summer converted units in a Belfast shopping centre into various magical rooms for a real live virtual experience with their new show The University of Wonder and Imagination.
Music Generation Limerick presents a new programme of interactive livestreams for schools featuring award-winning Limerick actor Myles Breen, the amazing rapper Denise Chaila, trad star Zoe Conway, guitarist and singer Sean O’Meara and classical violinist with the ICO Diane Daly.
Also, Branar Téatar have an online puppet workshop, Children’s Books Ireland go online with their book clinics for all book worms, Jean McGlynn gets creative with Halloween ideas, there is something for every child this year, now all we need is you to ensure they can join us and have some fun!
It’s lovely to do something with our hands, other than sanitise.
Returning to school felt different this year and the children were wonderful. They marched down hallways leaving parents at the gate, washed hands and met the new school measures with their best efforts to work together and keep each other safe. Our school leadership did everything in their power to make children, staff and parents feel as safe and comfortable as possible in school during these uncertain times.
However, and undeniably, Covid 19 has disrupted the familiar flow of school rhythms by adding its own disjointed systems of distancing, washing and vigilance. But the primary focus of our work remains as it has always been, to meet the deepest needs of the children in our care through education and with love. From lower numbers of referrals to Tusla, to a decline in educational attainment for some children, school closures have had a detrimental effect. In my reopening, arts-based learning and the role of embodiment has been crucial to connecting mind, body, and spirit in the classroom. This is especially relevant in Infants, where the teacher’s physical proximity and comfort of touch has been severely limited.
Teaching is about listening, to the body and the words. This September, children have been communicating. From a child who needs to run at full tilt for an entire PE lesson, to a quiet daily request “Teacher, will you read us a story?”. Though I always do, the request is about reassurance and meeting a need. In the absence of a hug or handhold, I have looked to the arts to affirm the place of comfort, grounding, and reassurance. We have used music, dance, visual arts, yoga, stories and meditation, concentrating on the sensory nature of experiences, objects and materials. Twisting, cutting, playing, pasting, moving and focusing, it has been lovely to do something with our hands other than sanitise.
Irish Film Institute
Deadline: 5pm, 12th October
The Irish Film Institute wishes to appoint two Education Officers to contribute to and develop its education programme both onsite and online.
Key Responsibilities for the roles include:
Programme and deliver IFI Education events onsite and online within agreed budgets and in accordance with IFI strategy, curriculum requirements & national arts and education policies
Contribute to the development and delivery of the IFI@Schools platform and promote its take up within schools
Initiate and respond to changes in school learning environments, creating new ways to promote film across curricula
Manage schools physical tours to IFI covering all aspects including administration, costing, operational and safeguarding
Contribute to delivery of IFI Film Clubs project
Contribute to IFI Education digital & online content & IFI Education’s publicity materials for website and social media
Work collaboratively on all education activities as required, with Head of Education
Explore possibilities for out of school engagement with IFI, children and young people
Coordinate TY Work Experience placements and summer volunteering
Provide talks, introductions, supporting materials as required
Contribute to all aspects of IFI Education and wider IFI culture through a growing commitment to film, young people and education
Applicants should forward a cover letter and CV by email to Alicia McGivern, IFI Head of Education, at amcgivern@irishfilm.ie, or by post to Irish Film Institute, 6 Eustace Street, Dublin 2.
Closing date for applications is 17.00 on Monday, October 12th.
The Irish Museums Association (IMA)
Deadline: midnight, 6 October 2020
The Irish Museums Association (IMA) invites teachers to assist them in supporting your work by completing a short survey and enter their raffle to win an Echo Dot (3rd Gen.) smart speaker with Alexa.
As we all adapt to new ways of working, learning and socialising, the museum sector across Ireland is increasing efforts to not only continue to support schools in the delivery of learning but also develop and pilot new resources and services.
Your participation in this survey is extremely important. It will inform and guide the association and its members, allowing them to deliver programmes that complement your work and are both educational and enjoyable.
From your responses, an anonymised report with recommendations will be produced and circulated to museums and stakeholders.
We are delighted to announce the dates of the fifth annual National Arts in Education Portal Day which this year will be moving online with a series of virtual events taking place over two weekends in November – Friday 6th, Saturday 7th, Sunday 8th and Friday 13th, Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th.
The full line-up which will be announced shortly includes a series of keynote sessions from artists, teachers and practitioners from across the sector bringing discussion and critical thinking to a range of topics. The programme will include a series of online processed based creative workshops and a roundtable event.
These events bring together members of the arts in education community from all across Ireland, to share, learn, talk, network, get inspired, and continue interrogating best practice in the field.
Full programme details for the day will be announced shortly. For enquiries please contact events@artsineducation.ie
Draíocht & Fingal Arts Office
Deadline: 5pm, 18th September 2020
Fingal Arts Office, in collaboration with Draíocht, is delighted to announce an Open Call for HOMEGROUND: Art, People, Place, Identity, five new Research and Development (with mentoring) Awards for artists working in socially engaged and collaborative practice and/or artists working with children and young people.
The call is open to artists from all disciplines across the visual and performing arts.
The artists will demonstrably be either:
(a) currently involved in socially engaged, collaborative project or a project with/for children and young people in Dublin 15 or the wider Fingal county
OR
(b) have the idea, the capacity and the existing relationships to initiate a socially engaged, collaborative project or a project with children and young people in Dublin 15 or the wider Fingal county .
The Award will support the research and development of a pertinent project with attendant mentoring support. The Award does not cover the realisation of a project at this point. In undertaking the researching and development of a project at this point, its realisation may however be envisaged for a gallery, theatre or site-specific space in Dublin 15/Fingal. Subject to resources, Fingal Art Office and/or Draíocht may consider future support for the realisation of one or more of the projects developed through a HOMEGROUND Award.
There are five Research and Development Awards (with mentoring). One award of which will be available specifically for an artist from a minority ethnic or migrant background.
The timeframe of the HOMEGROUND Award is November 2020 – April 2021.
“I believe that two lines of poetry can save a life”, Paula Meehan
As a teenager my wonderful English teacher Ms. Meade guided us with heart and skill through the Leaving Certificate poetry curriculum. In subsequent college years, the melancholy, timeless glory of John Keats poems gave solace, comfort, and a lexicon of poetic potential to my growing adult mind and experience. In fact, his anthology became a strange amalgam of thoughts, diary, and scrap book throughout my college years.
Just before Laois went into lockdown, I had the deep, nostalgic pleasure of returning to a house on the coast built by a dear friend’s Grandfather. While standing in his beautifully eclectic functional cobbled kitchen, I listened to a John Bowman interview with John Hume, where he spoke of influential teachers in his young adult life and their impact on the man he became. My friend’s Grandpa passed away in my 3rd year at university. On return home to Stradbally, I found my Keats anthology and there with “On the Sea” was a dedication to Mr. Rafter, a man who shared his home and life perspective with a granddaughter’s friend. It was a powerful blend of comforting memory and poetry. The power and confluence of memory and art.
It packed a punch, because in June I had a miscarriage. Denise Blake, my TAP colleague, and friend introduced me to Paula Meehan’s a most wonderful phrase; “I believe that two lines of poetry can save a life” (www.irelandchairofpoetry.org; www.deniseblake.com). I never really thought poetry was for me, I certainly never expected to write a blog about it, but in June nothing else would fit. It helped. All the learning, loving, yearning, and feeling given by the poetry of others heaved my pain on to the page. John Keats never had a miscarriage, but he knew about loss. The poetry of others gives a window to their soul and a template to the lived human experience that sustains through sharing.
When we, teachers, artists, and humans, give arts-experiences and heartfelt connections, we can never know or ever fully document the possibility and power of that exchange. So, this blog stands in defence of, and to champion the unknowable outcome of arts education to a life being lived.
Kids’ Own Publishing Partnership
Calling young people in Sligo/Leitrim with an interest in LGBTQI+ issues…
Do you want to be part of a new art and writing project that explores gender and sexuality?
Do you want to stimulate dialogue and capture the imagination of your local community through the creation of strong messages and powerful imagery?
Kids’ Own in partnership with SMILY – offers an exciting creative process in summer/autumn 2020 with a writer, artist and graphic designer that will support you to have a voice and influence on the issues that matter to you.
Weekly workshops will take place in Sligo.
This programme is FREE and open to young people aged 13–18.
No previous art or writing experience is necessary.
For further information and to sign up go to www.kidsown.ie.
Youth Theatre Ireland is pleased to announce two grant schemes to offer assistance to Youth Theatres in these challenging times, with the generous support of the Creative Ireland Programme. The first, “Include YT – COVID Relief Inclusion Grant”, is available to affiliated theatres and the second “Join In – Youth Theatre Inclusion Grant” is available to developing Youth Theatres.
The Include YT grant will provide a maximum of €3,000 to help affiliated theatres to increase young people’s access to youth theatre and address exclusion on social or disability grounds. Emerging from Covid-19, youth theatres’ capacity to include new members may be severely challenged as they face additional costs and extended workshop programmes in order to comply with public health measures and social distancing guidelines. This grant is designed to help youth theatres keep social inclusion at the heart of their practice by resourcing approximately 6 youth theatres to engage with young people who have difficulty accessing youth theatre on social or disability grounds.
During these extraordinary times, this once-off grant is designed to support youth theatre inclusion initiatives in the Sept – Dec term 2020 and will assist with many measures including bursaries to cover membership fees for young people whose families are facing challenging circumstances, resources or additional staff to support the participation of members with disabilities or additional needs. The total fund available to youth theatres through this scheme is €18,000.
The “Join In – Youth Theatre Inclusion Grant” will provide a maximum of €3,000 to developing youth theatres operating in areas of social deprivation, to help increase young people’s access to youth theatre. During these extraordinary times, this once-off grant is designed to support the development of new youth theatres that are addressing social exclusion and that aim to affiliate in 2020. The total fund available to youth theatres through this scheme is €15,000.
Rhona Dunnett, Acting Director of Youth Theatre Ireland said, “Youth Theatre Ireland is delighted to be working with the Creative Ireland Programme to offer these once-off grants to youth theatres. Like many sectors, youth theatre is facing difficult financial circumstances in 2020 and these grants will support youth theatres to keep inclusion at the heart of their practice and increase young people’s access to youth theatre in socially disadvantaged areas. In these challenging times, young people need youth theatre more than ever to help them feel connected and give them a safe, creative space to express themselves and their ideas.”.
Deadline for applications is 5pm on Monday, September 14th 2020.
The Ark in collaboration with Dublin Fringe Festival
Dates: 5 – 20 September 2020
Take a rain walk accompanied by the voices of children from across Ireland and the UK in The Ark’s first ever collaboration with Dublin Fringe Festival.
With their guidance, the rainfall will become your own private theatre, a space in which to observe, imagine and play.
Because The Ark’s team are no better at predicting when it might rain than you are, everything you need to experience the show is contained within a little box that will be delivered to you when you purchase a ticket. Keep it safe until the weather turns.
Then, whether in a drizzle or a deluge, alone or with friends or family, the team invite you to step outside, feel the rain on your face, and think about your place in a world that is changing so swiftly around you.
As a leader in child participation practice, The Ark is excited to join forces with artists Andy Field and Beckie Darlington, whose imaginative performance projects are all about enabling children to interact with adults and voice their feelings about the world they live in and how they would like it to change for the better.
Now, with support from The Ark, Norfolk & Norwich Festival and The Place, London, Andy and Beckie will collaborate with children from across Ireland and the UK, setting challenges that involve thinking, imagining, writing and recording their voices. The results will be combined to create an audio track that will guide you on your interactive walk in the rain as part of Dublin Fringe Festival 2020: Pilot Light Edition.
Recommended for families with children aged 6+ and grown-ups of all ages
The organisers of Baboró International Arts Festival for Children are delighted to confirm that the 24th annual festival will take place this October. The festival’s innovative programme for 2020 will bring live performances, creative artistic experiences, visual art installations and interactive digital experiences to theatres, classrooms and homes over an extended period of two weeks, with Bell X1 frontman Paul Noonan’s new family show The Electric Kazoo announced one of the highlight live events. Full programme details will be revealed in early September.
Galway-based Baboró is Ireland’s flagship international arts festival devoted exclusively to young audiences, their families and schools, enabling them to experience the transformative power of the creative arts. The festival will be an opportunity for families to celebrate together, to find creative expression for the upheaval of the past few months and most importantly, to have fun. At its heart will be a recognition of how much has been sacrificed by children and families in recent months and the promotion of kindness to self and to others.
Festival organisers, artists and partner venues have been working together passionately to imagine and co-create innovative ways to deliver meaningful artistic experiences to children and their families.
Aislinn Ó hEocha, the festival’s Executive Artistic Director, says, “So much has been asked of children this year and we want to take a moment to celebrate them through this festival. We have been separated from our friends, teachers, coaches and extended families but yet have found new ways to come together while staying apart. Many of us have found a new appreciation for the people and places close to us and I hope this year’s programme will offer a chance for celebration and expression. The festival will be an opportunity to celebrate the togetherness that has been lost and found in this challenging time. We can’t wait to meet our audiences and share the joy of Baboró once again.”
The festival is delighted to announce that the 2020 programme will include a brand new live music gig for families of all ages, Paul Noonan Presents: The Electric Kazoo, commissioned by the TRACKS Network of Dublin Fringe Festival, Cork Midsummer Festival and Baboró International Arts Festival for Children. Noonan developed online concerts during his own lockdown at home in Dublin, supported by his own children and a legion of big and small fans who tuned in online from all around the world. Tickets for the Electric Kazoo and Baboró’s full programme will be available when the programme is released in early September.
Baboró International Arts Festival for Children will launch its programme in early September, when tickets will go on sale. For the latest programme announcements follow Baboró on social media, subscribe to their newsletter or go to www.baboro.ie.
For Schools: Please sign up to Baboró’s newsletter for updates on school dates here – bit.ly/baboronews.
The Hunt Museum, Limerick Museum and Limerick City Gallery of Art (LCGA)
Deadline: 12 noon, 27 August 2020
The Hunt Museum, Limerick Museum and Limerick City Gallery of Art (LCGA), through its joint arts in education programme, ‘The Three Muses’, wishes to appoint an artist/facilitator with an established track record in the development and delivery of multi-disciplinary and interactive art workshops for primary school children. The artist will design a series of workshops in which participants will engage with and creatively respond to the three permanent collections, using the alphabet as a conceptual frame. Given the uncertainty around schooling arrangements in the months ahead, we encourage candidates to explore alternative online and digital forms of engagement, in the event that physical workshops are not possible.
The Three Muses: Exploring Art and Identity’, is an innovative programme for primary schools, launched in November 2019, which aims to increase access, ownership and enjoyment of the collections of The Hunt Museum, Limerick Museum and LCGA, with a focus on modern and contemporary art. The Three Muses programme is supported by Limerick City and County Council and Friends of the Hunt Museum. ‘ABC of the Three Muses’ is sponsored by Affinity Credit Union.
Mermaid Arts Centre, The Civic & Riverbank Arts Centre
August 2020
Due to tour to hydropools this July and September, this magical watery adventure is now scheduled to tour in August in collaboration with Mermaid Arts Centre, The Civic and Riverbank Arts Centre. Rather than cancel the tour, Anna Newell Theatre Adventures and the partner venues were determined to bring high quality live art experiences to this very particular audience and so the ‘dry land’ ‘at-home’ version was invented. The “at-home” version is specifically for children/young people with PMLD.
Taking the responsiveness of the show to a whole new level, this re-imagined ‘dry land’ version will be performed in the gardens/drives/outside the windows of homes of families of children with complex needs. Still full of ethereal live harmony singing and gorgeous costumes (created by award-winning composer David Goodall and renowned costume designer Susan Scott), reflective silver balls, rainbow fish and water moving through colanders like waterfalls will all happen at an appropriate distance from our audience members, with their accompanying adults mirroring the action to add the up-close sensory element.
A process of a virtual pre-visit will take place to ensure that each different private ‘at-home’ adventure is magical, calm and, of course, safe.
Anna Newell is a Bray-based theatremaker who has been making theatre adventures for many different audiences since 1989. She was the first Irish-based theatremaker to create theatre designed especially for children and young people with PMLD and her work for Early Years audiences has been seen on 6 continents and off-Broadway.
Contact your nearest partner venue for booking details – click on the relevant link below:
SING ME TO THE SEA is co-produced by The Civic, Tallaght and funded by the venues, Wicklow County Council and Sunbeam Trust with additional funding from Arts Council of Ireland
Becoming and Understanding Through Partnership…Teachers, Artists, Children
“Art is a fundamental human enterprise…In making art we make ourselves. In understanding art, we understand ourselves”
(Council of National Cultural Institutions, 2006)
A few years ago, Jane O’Hanlon from Poetry Ireland shared the quote above at a Teacher-Artist Partnership planning meeting. It nestled into my soul and over years bore unexpected fruit in unanticipated times. March 2020 was both unexpected and unanticipated.
As a Primary Teacher in Holy Family Junior School, Portlaoise I had been enjoying the roll-out of our 2nd year with Creative Schools, planning a Teacher-Artist Partnership (TAP) Residency with Senior School and visual artist Caroline Conway and asking the Arts in Education Portal if I might blog the process.
Then…global pandemic.
Teaching and learning shoved online, Dojo launched, and Teams formed. Some school relationships wound tighter while others were jettisoned into the unknown…uncontactable, yet still loved and worried about. In the connected isolation of primary teaching in a pandemic, during the seismic refocusing of the Black Lives Movement, the personal and professional values that are lived through teaching felt more important that ever. In this context our TAP Design Team began to rewrite our summer training programme for delivery online.
TAP Online 2020 was controversial for us to commit to as a concept. We strive for a deeply creative, reflective and connecting style of professional learning that hinges on face-to-face interaction. Where we lost this in-room exchange for artists and teachers, we gained a most incredible, technicolour window into the creativity, emotionality, and deep-commitment of teaching professionals to working in artistic partnership with and for the children they teach. The artist-teacher partnerships of TAP 2020/21 will be led by our community to process pain, heal hearts, and build new identities through creativity, connection and love-in-the-arts for the children of Ireland.
“School should foster an environment that allows children access to explore their identity in the sanctuary of ART – I aim to do this in my classroom.” James O’Donnell TAP Participant 2020
The Creativity and Change programme & CIT Crawford College of Art
Application Deadline: 18 August 2020
The Creativity & Change programme targets change-makers, educators, activists, artists, community workers, adult education tutors, youth workers, volunteers and anyone who is interested how creative engagement can nurture global citizenship and empathic action around local and global justice themes.
Amplifying Voices Scholarships
During the unprecedented time of Covid 19, the Creativity & Change team have had to radically rethink how they engage their learners, as the educational work they do is so embedded in a heart connection with others. They don’t yet know what restrictions and guidelines will be in place for the next academic year, but they know that when it is any way possible for learners to engage safely in shared spaces, that’s where they want to be. The team are excited to share that they have acquired funding to purchase a mobile studio classroom, transported on a cargo e-bike so that they can facilitate learning spaces on the move and outdoors. So, much of next year’s course will be on wheels!
They are also excited to share the news of their new Amplifying Voices scholarships. The core of Creativity & Change’s work is to explore and address global justice and they value the perspectives and experiences of a diverse participant group when doing so. They are consistently seeking to improve the accessibility of the programme and would love to provide opportunities to those who may have previously experienced barriers to accessing post-graduate education, such as those in the Direct Provision system, or Travellers. The Creativity & Change team are now in a position to offer a number of free places on their course to those who may not have otherwise been in a position to apply. Application is via the CIT website, Amplifying Voices should be cited in the title of your application statement.
What is Creativity & Change?
The CIT-accredited award is two 10 credit modules combined within a level 9 Special Purpose Award. It ordinarily takes place one weekend a month from September to May in the new campus of the Crawford College of Art & Design in Cork City Centre, but much of the 2020/2021 will take place outdoors around Cork City centre and suburbs, and online.
The first module is an experiential module where you will engage in a wide range of hand on creative processes including visual arts, creative writing and theatre. You will engage in a wide range of global justice topics and reflect on your own identity as a global citizen and on the process of transformative learning. In the second module, you will put learning into practice in designing learning experiences for a range of contexts.
The course fee is heavily subsidised by Irish Aid. Application deadline is 18th August. Please note that places may be offered on a rolling basis, so early application is still advised.
This summer, enjoy a range of delightful online events and experiences in visual art, drama and dance, inspired by creatures big and small, meek and mighty! Through new online workshops, video tutorials, at-home activities and inspiring experiences, children will be encouraged to look closely, listen, imagine and make!
A selection of events are listed below:
Flap, Glide and Soar like a Bird: Online Visual Art Workshop
Date: 17 July, 11am & 2pm
Ages 5 – 12
Under Water Moves: Online Early Years Dance Workshops
Date: 17 July, 10:15am & 11:45am
Ages 2 – 4
Animal Transformations: Online Visual Art Workshops
Dates: 31 July & 7 August, 11am & 2pm
Ages: 5 – 12
Forest of Fun: Online Early Years Dance Workshops
Date: 7 August, 10:15am & 11:45am
Ages 2 – 4
Beautiful Beasts: Early Years Visual Art Adventures
Date: Running until 12 August 2020
Ages: 2 – 4
The Arts in Group Facilitation Certificate (level 8, 10 credits) focuses on the practical skills of planning and running creative workshops with groups in a range of non-formal contexts. Participants learn these skills through experiential learning processes, taking part in visual arts, drama, dance and music workshops and reflecting on the experience. The focus is on acknowledging the individual within learning, recognizing the importance of play and the need for learning to be engaging. There is a strong emphasis on engaging with diversity and learning to adapt a range of arts approaches to meet the varying needs within a group. The course will provide skills face to face in working in physical workshops, classes, centres as well as facilitation creative engagement online.
What will you be doing?
Exploring ways of working with the Arts through experiential workshops where you will experience firsthand approaches and techniques. Peer working will enhance your learning – exploring planning, design and evaluating working with groups. We are adapting to Covid-19 restriction and see the potential of learning in outdoor environments for participants in the programme and for those participants may work with in the future.
We are inviting participants to join us with a bicycle to access outdoor learning environments. The course will provide skills face to face in working in physical workshops, classes, centres as well as facilitation creative engagement online. The programme will be delivered through blended learning, involving face to face experiential learning and online learning. The face to face learning is being designed to maximise the potential of creative learning in outdoor environments.
Why do this course?
Learn approaches to group work that take the emphasis off words and place it on finding your own unique voice within the group through a range of possible arts-based media
Develop your creative skills to work with groups
Develop and promote confidence and sense of belonging in a group
Learn fresh ways to inspire learners in formal and informal learning
Develop practical resources and training to work with a wide variety of groups in community, in more specialised settings and in online spaces
Who is it for?
Of particular interest to those interested in;
Art Facilitator
Arts in Community Practice
Arts in Social Care
Arts in Education
Arts in Health
Applications are recorded on a rolling basis and will close once the course is full so early applications are advised. The course will start in early October 2020.
Over three days as part of the the first virtual Portal Regional Series last month teachers, artists and sector professionals joined visual artist Maree Hensey in an invitation to explore, question, feel and enquire using a variety of materials during a ‘collective making’ creative process entitled I AM IN THIS.
We share some of the responses from participants:
An emotional release…..Very moving….
It was so nourishing,
a very beautiful intimate, very considered, session… so very exciting and freeing.
I felt like a child playing with new things! It all began with the arrival of a tempting package which came with strict instructions – must not be opened until we are all ‘together’. We Zoomed for an hour. Opening the package revealed a small selection of simple materials – some bright white tissue paper and straws, paper clips and an envelope of white feathers.
We explored the idea ‘I AM IN THIS’. Minimal instruction : tear the paper; carry the feathers outside, let them off on the breeze; except one; create a cocoon for it and a place to secure it. Bring it outside.
Soon I got caught up in the making, aware that there were others there but not concerned about them, a quietness set in as I got on with my own ideas and imagination taking me off! Reflecting on the sense that although we are all in this together each of us is responding in our own personal way.
This year the Arts in Education Portal celebrates its five year anniversary, as part of these celebrations the Portal Team have been undertaking an exercise to assess how well the Arts in Education Portal is working. Strategic Development Resources (SDR), an independent market research consultancy, has been commissioned to assist us with this work.
We would like to thank everyone who assisted us in the first step of this research by completing our audience survey and sharing your views on the Portal’s content and how it might be improved. View the summary report from this survey here – Arts in Education Survey Summary Report 2020
Following on from that survey, the Portal team is now seeking a small number of participants for additional qualitative work through the Portal Audience Forum. This work will comprise a questionnaire which will take 30-45 minutes of your time to complete (with written answers rather than multiple choice), followed by your attendance at a Zoom focus group which will last approximately 90 minutes.
As a token of our thanks for your help with this research, we are offering participants a fee of up to €100. If you’d like to be considered for this research, please click here and complete the registration questions.
A new multi-platform project presented by branar for children of all ages up to 6 years
Tales of teddies, moments of magic, comforting cuddles and worlds of wonder are celebrated in an exciting new collection of poems and nursery rhymes for young children.
Pop Up Poetry for Lil’ Peeps is a new multi-platform project presented by Branar for children of all ages up to 6 years. Irish writers and artists Inni-k, Mary Murphy, Tadhg Mac Dhonnagáin and Liz Weir have created new poems and nursery rhymes in Irish and English for this unique project. Audiences can enjoy this work online through vivid audio recordings and new animations by artist Maeve Clancy.
Originally commissioned by the Galway County Council, Creative Ireland Programme led by the Arts Office in partnership with Galway City Council and Roscommon County Council’s Creative Ireland programmes, in association with Children’s Books Ireland and Poetry Ireland.
Originally presented as part of the Criunniú na nÓg 2020 programme.
The Creative Schools team has developed an online support for learners and their families during school closures – Creative Schools TV.
CSTV will bring the work of the Creative Associates right into homes while attendance at our schools is limited by the ongoing COVID-19 situation.
Creative Associates are artists, creative practitioners and educators with an understanding of the arts and creativity and its potential to transform the lives of children and young people.
Each week a different Creative Associate will introduce a new lesson on YouTube. Lessons will explore an area of creativity, from photography, to dance, to drama, to music – depending on the speciality of the Creative Associate.
And Creative Schools want children and young people to share their creativity with them and show them what they’ve learned from each lesson. They can share their creative work to the Creative Schools team using a CSTV Submission Form available at www.artscouncil.ie/CSTV/.
Each week show off all the creativity inspired by last week’s lesson! You can view all the episodes of CSTV on the Arts Council’s YouTube channel. Further supports will be developed in the coming weeks and shared on CSTV.
Teacher Artist Partnership (TAP) Online CPD Summer Course is an arts-in-education initiative where Artists and Teachers train to work in partnership. This programme can lead to opportunities for a TAP trained teacher to host a fully funded TAP artist residency in his or her school in coming academic year.
This Creative Youth, Department of Education and Skills led Primary initiative is a highly innovative, creative and participant-responsive programme that promotes professional learning towards partnership.
TAP Online maximises engagement through a broad range of on and offline activities. Learning activities include practical, multidisciplinary arts experiences through multimedia interactives, video instruction, collaborative posting boards and discussion forums and reflective practices. Tutors, teachers and artists provide responsive feedback and encourage collaborators to reflect on personal and professional development through the co-creation of learning. TAP’s core focus is the development of creative partnership between teachers and artists. Join us in learning together.
Course Dates:
6 -10 July 2020
Register to take part by 3pm, 3 July 2020
Please use the following links to access the TAP Online Summer Course:
Follow the Teacher Artist Partnership initiative on Twitter @TeacherArtistP1pm
Online collaborations, TAP’s new online course and ‘busting the myth of the solo artist’
I have been very lucky over the past weeks to have the company of two exceptional dancers, joining me virtually as part of my ongoing research, looping embodied movement and drawing practices. I have been surprised at the level of connection that is felt in these sessions despite the lack of real physical presence and the dodgy internet connections!
Taking time with discussions and reflections along with the moving, writing and drawing are essential parts of the research and perhaps it is this multiplicity of audio and visual modes that has helped to bridge the virtual gap.
Having this research alongside the Magnetise Project, ‘A call for Home’ has been mutually beneficial, with many cross overs emerging. The shift in dynamic from group to one to one has also brought important insights for my virtual platform collaborative practice.
Now that the last of the 360 cameral equipment for the project has finally arrived it is great to be at the stage of exploring this new potential for our collected video works and live interactions.
The last couple of weeks have also been busy ones for the TAP (Teacher Artist Partnership) design team. In particular, for the two members who took the helm and within a very short timeframe have created a fantastic online version of the TAP CPD summer course. Next week we will run the course in its online format for the first time. We are looking forward to the live aspects and forums, and to interacting and assisting participants on their journey through the modules. As part of the course I will host a live dance session mid week and was delighted have the opportunity recently to create a short video with one of my long term collaborators, artist Isolde Carmody. The video is a reflection on arts and diversity and will be featured in the course. Embracing diversity in arts and education, understanding the inherent collaborative nature of practice, and in Isolde’s words ‘busting the myth of the solo artist’, all feel as vital as ever to keep to the fore, in todays wider sociopolitical context.
Art is Life by Kate Wilson and Isolde Carmody
“Curious Minds” is a series of booklets with lessons for primary school teachers created by professional Visual Artists.
This free digital resource offers more than 16 projects, with 43 lessons in total, divided into five books: one with the foundation; and four with projects for every season (most projects or lessons can be used any time of the year). It also includes various “warm-up” and awareness exercises (including “gymnastics for the brain”).
The content focuses on four main themes: belonging, identity, consumerism, and the environment. It is organised in such a way that allows for flexibility. Most lessons are suitable for a diverse range of ages, from 1st to 6th classes. There are projects of short, medium and long duration (from 1 to 8 lessons). The design of the books will allow anyone to print each project by lesson or in its entirety.
Karla and Els share an interest in multi-disciplinary and holistic education, and invited a group of creatives to collaborate in this endeavor: Clare Breen (who also did the illustrations), Laura Ní Fhlaibhín, Orla Bates, David Begley and Colm O’Neill (graphic designer).
Kildare and Wicklow Education and Training Board (KWETB) are delighted to invite applications from suitably qualified persons for the following:
Musician Educators
Suitably qualified persons to be placed on a panel for part-time Musician Educators for the following Music Generation Kildare Programmes:
Instrumental Music Programme – including, but not only, traditional Irish instruments, strings, brass, woodwind, guitar, percussion, songwriting, composition, band facilitation, conducting and music technology.
Singing Programme – vocal/choral and/or instrumental musicians with experience relevant to vocal music-making in group contexts.
Early Years Programme – vocal/choral and/or instrumental musicians with experience relevant to working with the under-7s.
Closing date for receipt of completed application forms for both positions is: 12.00 noon, Friday 19th June 2020
Kildare has been selected for participation in Music Generation – Ireland’s National Music Education Programme- that transforms the lives of children and young people through access to high quality performance music education in their locality. Initiated by Music Network, Music Generation is co-funded by U2, The Ireland Funds, the Department of Education and Skills and Local Music Education Partnerships.
The INSPA team would like to congratulate every school who participated in the 2019/20 National School Photography Awards. The national winner is Dominika Ilecko from Stepaside ETNS who submitted the photo entitled Two Chairs into the Senior Category of the awards. The winner of the Junior Category is Jack Kelly Sharkey from Courtnacuddy NS with his entry Old Phone Box Library.
Dominika Ilecko, Two Chairs, Stepaside ETNS, Senior Category
INSPA is the national children’s photography competition and online academy which is open to all primary schools in the Republic of Ireland. This year, young creatives from around the country were encouraged to engage with digital technologies and the creative process to explore the theme; Second Life.
The awards are having a massive impact in classrooms and homes across Ireland as they provide an inclusive model for children of all backgrounds and abilities to get involved. Through photography, INSPA introduces creative well-being into the lives of primary school students while building a future generation of people who are confident, resilient, connected, kind and ready.
The awards are free and offer a range of fantastic prizes including trips and stays at the Amber Springs Resort for principals, teachers, pupils and families, cameras for winners and schools, framed photographs, certificates and national recognition as a Positive Primary School. All entries are judged by a national panel of experts and over 300 primary schools have already registered their accounts.
We would like to take this opportunity, once again, to congratulate Dominika from Stepaside ETNS and Jack from Courtnacuddy NS on their recent successes and we look forward to working with all finalist schools when they re-open in September.
If your school would like to begin its Positive Primary Journey and participate in the 2020/21 awards, you can register your school at the INSPA website – www.inspa.ie
Arts in Education Portal
Over 130 artists, teachers and arts in education professionals joined us live across the week for the first virtual Portal Regional Series which showcased arts in education and creative practise in the South East.
Key themes that arose from the discussion were the importance of partnerships, relationships and adaptability; how these values have allowed the project to organically develop and strengthen over its thirteen years.
We were delighted to be joined in the discussion by Wexford Arts Office Liz Burns, Elizabeth Whyte Executive Director/CEO of Wexford Arts Centre and Visual Art Curator Catherine Bowe who spoke about the value of evaluation. How listening and building on the feedback from the children, artists and teachers involved has allowed the project to organically grow and adapt year on year.
Karla also introduced us to ‘Curious Minds’ a resource pack for teachers which was developed this year by Karla and artist Els Dietvorst with the aim of disseminating the learning from the project. Curious Minds will be launched as part of Cruinniú na nÓg in June with a local launch in September.
In Tuesdays session artist, educator and researcher Tunde Toth led us in a presentation exploring co-ownership and participation within a classroom setting, where we truly value children’s questions, responses and doubts.
Tunde introduced us to the idea of taking creative risks and the importance of creating a space where children can make decisions and voice their opinions.
IMMA invites children, young people and their families to join them every week on their social channels for #ExploreratHome.
While IMMA is closed the Explorer at Home art activities are available for children and adults to do and make at home. IMMA’s team share a new art activity every Wednesday afternoon on their social channels. You will find specially selected artworks, inspired by the IMMA Collection Online and IMMA’s temporary Exhibition Programme, as starting points for creative activities.
IMMA invites you to share your creations with them online by tagging IMMA and using the hashtag #ExploreratHome so you can see your work on IMMA’s website.
Recognising the struggle so many parents are currently facing as they broach the mountainous task of home schooling their children during the Coronavirus restrictions, the Gaiety School of Acting has released a series of comprehensive and fun lesson plans to inject a little creativity and some POSITIVE drama to your household.
With 34 years experience in drama training, the Gaiety School of Acting teaches over 2000 children across their Young Gaiety schools in Bray, Malahide and Temple Bar annually, in a range of classes from Parent and Toddler Drama to Musical Theatre Company, Acting for Camera to an eclectic offering of seasonal camps.
Our Home Drama Resources have been developed by the GSA’s education team, and in addition to creative drama, provide a selection of science, craft and film-making activities for you and your children to explore a variety of themes, have fun, and escape from reality!
Every Thursday a new resource is released with the following themes already available on the website: The Lion King, Harry Potter, Roald Dahl, Monsters from the Movies, We’re Going on a Bear Hunt.
Theatre Lovett are delighted to announce Teddy Talks; a series of clinics for theatre practitioners with a focus on Theatre for Young Audiences.
Led by Muireann Ahern, Joint Artistic Director of Theatre Lovett, along with invited guests, these sessions will cover:
Pitfalls and pratfalls: Lessons learned.
Who’s who? Cast, creatives and crew – now what to do!
Developing relationships with venues, festivals and programmers.
Touring and budgeting.
Children as performers.
Age pitch.
Taking responsibility for your team and your young audiences.
Child Protection Policy.
Theatre in the time of COVID – discussion
Discussion and feedback.
Any questions left unanswered – ask now!
To Apply: Please send your C.V. or biog with a note outlining why you are interested in registering for Teddy Talks to muireann@theatrelovett.com.
Next Course Dates:
Late June/July 2020 (exact dates and times TBC depending on slots available due to demand). These clinics will be conducted online due to COVID-19.
Cruinniú na nÓg 2020 is Ireland’s national day of free creative activities for children and young people under the age of 18. Over the past 2 years Cruinniú na nÓg has become a key point in the calendar for children and young people to try something creative, develop an appetite for discovery and acquire new skill, 2020 will be no different.
In light of ongoing public health restrictions the Creative Ireland Programme are inviting young people to celebrate our culture and creativity and to take part in a virtual Cruinniú on Saturday 13th June.
There is an amazing array of 300 + events that will be happening in the run up to and on the day itself, all of which can be accessed on cruinniu.creativeireland.gov.ie.
There are a number of creative “calls to action” which young people – indeed entire families – can create in their own homes and gardens.
Céilí in the Kitchen – A collective call to action for young people and their families to create a Céilí in their kitchen for Cruinniú, with Áirc Damhsa, who will guide us through the Irish tradition of these communal social events that take place in houses.
On the 13th of June you won’t have to leave the house to join a Céilí, you can have one right there in your own home. All you have to do is push back the kitchen table, put the chairs against the wall and you’re good to go. Creative Ireland with the help of choreographer Edwina Guckian, singer Cathy Jordan, musician Thomas Johnston and storyteller Mikel Murfi are putting together weekly video workshops from May 18th that will make sure you have all you need for a great night of traditional music, song, dance and storytelling.
Let’s Go Fly a Kite – A collective call to action for children, young people and their families to make and fly a kite for Cruinniú.
The Design and Crafts Council Ireland have joined forces with Creative Ireland to design a kite that anyone can make at home. All you need is some sticks, some newspaper, some string and a whole lot of imagination. Why not decorate in your county colours, or decorate it with pictures of your favourite pop star? From the 15th May, a series of webinars and videos will guide you and your family through fun ways to make a kite.
Create a Video Game App – If you could click your fingers and create a video game app, what would it be? A racing game or a coin collector? A target game or a platform? The choice is endless and it’s time for you to decide.
In addition, local authorities will also be hosting a range of cultural and creative activities and online events for Cruinniú na nÓg – full details of the 300+ events available on the special Cruinniú website cruinniu. creativeireland.gov.ie/events/
Irish Architecture Foundation
Deadline: Friday 19 June 2020
The Irish Architecture Foundation are delighted to announce that applications are open for the 2020/21 Architects in Schools programme.
The Architects in Schools initiative for Transition Year students places architects and architectural graduates in schools across Ireland. Students learn how to research, design and communicate architectural ideas, always reimagining the spaces around them and sometimes even affecting change in their local built environment.
Check out Architect Frank Monahan’s guest blog series here on the Portal about his experience on the initiative.
The Creative School Team is delighted to announce an opportunity for schools and Youthreach centres to be part of the next phase of Scoileanna Ildánacha / Creative Schools.
Creative Schools aims to put the arts and creativity at the heart of children’s and young people’s lives and this year 150 new schools/centres will join the programme. Participating schools will work alongside a Creative Associate who will help them to develop their own Creative Schools plan to understand, develop and celebrate the arts and creativity in their school. Schools will be awarded a once-off grant of €4,000 (in total) to implement their plans over the two school years 2020–21 and 2021–22.
The deadline for submitting applications is 25 June 2020. The window for submitting applications opens on 18 February.
Have Your Say! A Survey on Music Education Opportunities for Children and Young People in Fingal.
Fingal County Council, in partnership with the Dublin and Dún Laoghaire Education and Training Board, invite you to complete a survey that will help us understand your views regarding access to performance music education for children and young people in the county.
This research will support a submission to Music Generation, the national performance music education programme, to extend and enrich the partners’ commitment to children & young people in Fingal.
This step taken by the partners emphasises the importance of retaining support for arts and education initiatives now and in the times ahead as we build connections with one another and ignite hope and inspiration.
Your views are important to this process and will enable the partners to develop and deliver music education programmes that suit the needs of those aged 0 – 18 years, now and into the future.
Should you require assistance or alternative mechanisms to complete a survey please email Fingal County Council’s Youth & Education Officer julie.clarke@fingal.ie
Be in with a chance to win!
Children and Young People are invited to enter a draw to win a gift voucher for one of Fingal’s Arts Centres – Draíocht and the Séamus Ennis Arts Centre, upon survey completion. See information within Children &Young People survey link.
Deadline for survey submission: Thursday 30th of April 2020.
FÍS Film Project
Home Movies Anyone? Let’s Have Some Fun While Learning At Home!
FÍS Film Project would like learners to use the current COVID-19 social distancing policy as an opportunity to learn film-making skills for making really cool home movies!
Their new blog series #MakeFilmsAtHome is aimed at children and their families who might like to try their hand at making a stop motion animation or short live action film during the stay home phase and beyond.
With two separate blog postings per day. 1 for animation and 1 for live-action film-making. Presented in a simple easy to use format, with sample films made by Irish primary school children for the FÍS (film in schools) project and are accompanied by short video tutorials made by undergrad students at the National Film School in IADT.
Film-making is a fun, creative, imaginative and educational process and FÍS hope that families will find the tips and tools provided useful. They are encouraging parents / guardians a child or children who make a film to upload to you tube, vimeo, instagram or similar platform to share.
All you need is a mobile phone or tablet device and lots of imagination!
The Ark are delighted to announce details of The Ark @ Home, a selection of at-home activities and experiences that provide opportunities for children aged 2-12 to discover and love the arts in their own homes.
Sadly, like so many other arts organisations, The Ark has been forced to close our doors and cancel a number of programmes due to take place over the coming month due to the current COVID-19 crisis. But while our building may remain shut for the time being, The Ark @ Home will offer children daily opportunities to explore and discover the arts in their own homes over the next few weeks.
Speaking about The Ark @ Home, The Ark’s Director Aideen Howard said, “At The Ark, we believe in every child’s right to art and culture. Generally, this means visits to our beautiful building in Temple Bar to see shows, exhibitions and concerts, or to take part in our hands-on workshops. Now though, while our audience of children, parents and teachers are all at home, we want to share the work of some of our brilliant Ark artists online. The Ark @ Home is a way for children who are home from school to connect with some of those performances and workshops. Check out ark.ie and The Ark Twitter, Facebook and Instagram pages for more information.”
Each day, different creative content and resources will be made available on ark.ie. Enjoy a taste of some of the programmes which have been cancelled including Fly Me To The Moon, BIG BANG Dublin! and more. You might like to kick back and watch a filmed performance of theatre for children, or get up and make some moves to an archived music performance. You might get creative with a hands-on worksheet or let your imagination soar as you dream up worlds far away. From activity sheets to streams of live performances, The Ark invites children right across the country to take part.
Each Thursday, a different videoed performance of a show commissioned and presented by The Ark will be available to stream online, including acclaimed theatre productions such as The Haircut! by Wayne Jordan & Tom Lane and Peat by Kate Heffernan, as well as wonderful musical experiences such as the magical Tracks in the Snow featuring The Henry Girls.
The Ark is delighted, in this way, to continue offering children exciting creative opportunities across the arts, and to celebrate the work of some of the amazing artists that we have worked with, commissioned and continue to support through these very challenging times.
Uillinn Connect – A new programme from Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre responding to the current global situation. The programme seeks to find new ways to connect artworks, artists and the public. Focusing on the Uillinn’s regular programme and also creating new ones that reach out to everyone keeping safe at home.
A selection of activities for children and young people below:
Uillinn Connect – Daily Art Activity
Posted daily on Uillinn’s Facebook event, follow this link
An online connecting activity for primary school-age children and their parents, every morning at 11am from Monday to Friday with Public Engagement Assistant Kate McElroy and intern Stella Gilfert (now interning remotely from Germany).
Taking inspiration from Uillinn’s primary schools exhibition Connecting, Gabhann Dunne’s exhibition Committed to Falling and William Bock’s exhibition Land Walks Land Talks Land Marks, we are sharing a daily art activity for families to create at home.
‘We don’t stop playing because we grow old, We grow old because we stop playing’
George Bernard Shaw
Use the hastag: #UillinnConnect on social media or email photographs of your work to info@westcorkartscentre.com so we can connect the work together! The team will compile all the images at the end for an online exhibition of the work! Shared on social media and archived on the web here.
Uillinn Connect: Play on words, Play onwards
Wednesday Art Club artists have devised a wonderful way to keep the programme running with a postal project designed with each child in mind. Artists Pól Ó Colmáin and Marie Cullen have prepared a special envelope for each child containing a unique poem written for the child by the artists; a selection of art materials; and a letter from Pól and Marie inviting the children to make a visual response to the poem.
The children are asked to return their artwork in the stamped, addressed envelope provided to Pól and Maire, who will then compile a limited edition book with a copy for each child.
Here’s the first verse of one of the poems to give you an flavour:
The Little Earwig
There was a little earwig, I think his name was Liam,
but it didn’t really matter, ‘cos he’d answer just the same.
He lived in the back garden shed in a cosy little house,
a ball of leaves and twigs that he shared with a wood louse.
He loved to go spelunking in each tunnel, cave and hole,
exploring every hollow stem when he was on patrol.
And then, he’d head back homewards and, as cosy as you please,
he’d tell of his adventures and his discoveries.
Uillinn Connect: And We’ll All Fly Together
Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre’s Curiosity project connecting pre-school children with the residents and staff of West Cork Community Hospitals during COVID-19. Sarah Ruttle along with Uillinn’s Programme Manager: Education and Community and Arts for Heath Coordinator Justine Foster, devised a project to connect children with the community hospitals. See here for more information on this project.
The Hunt Museum are delighted to bring you The Three Muses Activity Pack, a learning resource inspired by the collections of The Hunt Museum, Limerick Museum and Limerick City Gallery of Art.
It is bursting with open-ended, creative activities which support Visual Art, History and English curricula, and comes in a full colour version for screens and a reduced colour version for printing at home. Explore and learn from Limerick’s museums without leaving your house – all you need is a pencil, paper and your brilliant imagination!
The Three Muses is a learning programme designed to increase access, ownership and enjoyment of three Limerick museums, with a focus on modern and contemporary visual art. The programme includes workshops and learning resources like this. Watch a short video on the programme here.
The Three Muses programme is supported by Limerick City and County Council and Friends of the Hunt Museum. This Activity Pack is sponsored by Unity Credit Union.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Frank is an Irish designer /cultural producer with an interest in film, the arts & architecture. His professional practice includes the design of buildings, & set design for film/television production. He holds a BA in Architecture, 2008 and a Professional Diploma in Architecture, 2012 both from London Metropolitan University. Prior to this he recieved a B.Des. in Production Design for Film/Television, from IADT. This background has informed his approach to practice, which is collaborative, interdisciplinary and site specific.Interested in the critical potential of design he established Architecture at the Edge in 2017, for which he devised and curated the events programme. He produced an outdoor installation, ‘Ghost Chapel’ for Galway International Arts Festival 2018 in collaboration with the Bartlett School of Architecture.
Growing our Connections – Blog 4
Having taught the National Architects in Schools Initiative for the past three years I find it can still be quite a daunting task when faced with a new group of students.
Many of the students don’t understand the value of their built environment because they have never seen the benefits it can offer them.
It’s difficult for students to learn without experiencing connections as to the concepts we teach them. This can be achieved through providing both context and relevance. Without that connection there is no interest, and interest always precedes meaningful and authentic learning. So it’s essential that we are making strong learning connections to help them develop the thinking habits they need to succeed.
Schools are comprised of the people in the community. Coming from outside it’s important to understand the community your students are a part of. Mountbellew is a quiet rural market town 45km from Galway on the N63 to Roscommon. Once the home of the Grattan-Bellew family, famous Galway parliamentarians during the 18th and 19th centuries. The former demesne is now a delightful wooded area of forest walks and picnic areas, filled with interesting historical items.
Upon my first visit to Mountbellew, whilst seeking out a connection to the place, I was drawn down an inviting avenue of beech trees where I was immediately taken by the sight of a 7m high wall, the enclosure to an extensive eighteenth century Walled Garden which was once part of the large Bellew estate. For a century and a half this walled garden was used in the manner of all such Victorian/Edwardian gardens, although simply because of its size, more than household fruit and vegetables were probably grown.
I learned that the long term aim of the local heritage group here is to rejuvenate, conserve and develop the 18th century walled garden. Developing this existing heritage resource will provide a new amenity for the area. It will also complement other local heritage and recreation assets helping attract visitors to the area stimulating rural tourism.
From the outset I knew it was important to set a clear and engaging agenda with the students and so by way of introduction find something in their common experiences to which the lesson can be attached. Here in the walled garden is a space to explore, walk, discover and feel inspired by all it has to offer; a reminder that as times change natures story goes on. To function as a place to grow food, for pleasure and wellbeing.
Before we launched into making any propositions it was important to give time to the students and allow them articulate their ideas. Topics were selected for the students to share in groups. Investigation into the history and functions of various types of garden generated one starting point for beginning transformational change such as should its use be as a kitchen garden distinct from a decorative one. The many ways we experience gardens were discussed. The pleasure garden, the kitchen garden, the memorial garden and/or as a place to re-connect with nature. A presentation by the local heritage group committee members was followed the following week with a guided site visit.
In speculating on its potential one of the students reminded us that the parents of Anna Kriegel had planted a white cherry blossom at her favorite spot and unveiled a bench which bears an inscription with her name. Another then talked of the seat under a tree at the Mountbellew walled garden which ladies once sat how they might propose to do the same. The sense of a connection to place and how that can relate to our own experience of the world underpinned the project. This is about learning how everything is interconnected and interdependent. Understanding the relationship between things can help people see and understand their community in different ways. That association with people and place is fundamental.
Students learn by exposure to real life examples and their experiences and observations of these examples greatly accelerates their learning. Part of this task required the students to ‘Look Locally’ i.e. Find clear links between the lessons and the things that are transpiring in the local community, and even get them actively involved with community individuals. It’s about teaching and learning that is focused on student centered inquiry.
A second field trip was organized, with a group assigned to conduct an on-site survey which would inform the task of making of a 1:100 site model.
Making the model allowed the re-imaging of the walled garden to take shape. The resulting design links a series of new public spaces/ rooms and reuses an existing building as a community hub / cafe to give purpose and a variety of gathering places to the center of garden.
The aim here was to create space for every young person to be at the center of co-designing their own future, community spaces, projects and campaigns. To give voice of the student and allow them give that voice back to their community.
In working with the students like this I hope that it will stimulate them to become actively involved and engaged in shaping their local built environments and landscapes. Place-based education promotes learning that is rooted in what is local—the unique history, environment, culture, economy, literature, and art of a particular place—and it promotes a place-specific, sustainable approach to living, working and playing in our 21st century rural communities. The main objective is to attract interest and support from the community at large and to help re-educate ourselves about the importance of sustainable and healthy living.
Young people need a space where they can be unafraid to explore. As a result, the sense of place created by a village’s cultural heritage links directly to a community’s sense of identity, which can ultimately enhance people’s overall sense of being and belonging and quality of life. The walled garden at Mountbellew offers this. They need to live it, grow with it, tend to it. For them, it can be a space of hope and promise: if we put in the right effort and intention just about growing our connection to nature, it is essentially growing our connection to each other.
Due to the current COVID situation this call has been places on hold. We will be announcing further details in the coming weeks.
Artists, teachers, academics and arts education professionals… Do you want to be part of the fifth annual National Arts in Education Portal Day?
The fifth National Arts in Education Portal Day will take place in Limerick this Autumn. The event aims to bring together members of the arts in education and creative practise community from all across Ireland, to share, learn, talk, network, get inspired and continue interrogating best practice in the field.
The Arts in Education Portal Editorial Committee invites proposals from organisations or individuals who want to give dynamic and inspiring presentations or workshops that can offer sharing of skills, practical approaches, new insights and critical thinking across the field, from a range of perspectives.
This year, the Portal Day will have a special focus on ‘access and inclusion in arts in education and creative practise’. The Committee therefore will particularly welcome applications which respond to this theme.
Do you have a workshop or presentation that you would like to be included in the programme for this day? If so, please send us your proposal.
The deadline for submission of proposals has been extended to 5pm Friday 22nd May 2020.
CoisCéim is heading inside for the coming months and they’ve got some lively new moves to share with you. From performance and participation projects to curated online classes let’s dance to keep our spirits up, stay in shape and reflect on the positive change our strange new world may bring.
Highlights for children and young people include:
Sofa Cinema Series:
Kicking off next week (2 April) and featuring exclusive online private screenings from the CoisCéim archives starting with…
The Wolf and Peter | Live at the Sydney Opera House 2 April | 10am & 4pm
David Bolger’s award-winning work for children and their families was filmed in Sydney and streamed live to 21 schools in New South Wales in July 2017.
BROADREACH | CREATIVE STEPS 28 April – 02 May 4pm & 9pm
A selection of short films from the BROADREACH archive of Creative Steps Youth Dance Theatre and a preview of LANDSCAPE, the latest Creative Steps Project led by Laura Macken.
Online Workshops for Children aged 6 – 10:
CoisCéim are developing a short online series of interactive dance workshops for children aged 6-10 based on DANCE YOUR OWN DANCE that runs in parallel with David Bolger’s Francis Footwork – for more information please contact philippa@coisceim.com.
For further information and to view the full schedule of digital activities go to coisceim.com/digitaldances/
The Portal Team are delighted to announce the second recipient of the 2020 Arts in Education Portal Documentation Award. We are very excited to be working with each recipient in the coming months to document their projects. These projects will be showcased on the portal as the documentation progresses.
About the recipients….
Project title: Crossing the Line
‘Crossing The Line’ is a year long collaboration between 9 early years children, artist Helen Barry, Lead Educator Audrey Fagan and the multi-practice team made up of special needs assistants, therapists and medical staff who support the children attending Pre-School One in the Central Remedial Clinic School. Their collaboration began in October 2019 and together they have been exploring, playing, experimenting, learning and creating through an experiential and multi-sensory programme of creative engagements that responds to the individual and group cognitive, emotional, developmental and medical needs of the children. They are creating enabling opportunities to build the children’s imagination, language and ability to think creatively. The programme’s enquiry will explore the perpetual visual and aural palette of sensations and frequencies through which we interpret the world around us. Helen’s position as artist-in-residence in the CRCS is being supported through her YPCE Bursary, awarded by The Arts Council in 2019 and is also supported by the National Concert Hall.
The ‘line’ we refer to in our title ‘Crossing the line’, is the physical mid-line of the body that needs to be crossed, e.g. the right arm crossing over in the left area of the body and vice versa, this is essential for the development of using both sides of the body together. We are there to grow and support each child to reach their full potential. We are there to give freedom to their investigation. As much as the artist brings the creative know how to this collaboration she too is learning a deeper understanding of the physical and cognitive developmental aims whilst observing the pedagogical practice that enable how these goals can be supported and achieved.
A few words from the artist Helen Barry
Creativity may require the dexterity of the fingertips but it is with every pore of their body that the early years child absorbs, explores and responds to the world around them. Through play they learn and if learning is work, work is play! Why then do some of us continue to learn this way and others take a different direction. My methodology and approach to working with early years children is governed by my preferred learning style; I am a kinaesthetic learner and the early years child is my idea co-creator. We don’t just need to touch it, we need to be in it, outside of it, hear it, wear it and be it to truly understand what it is we are doing or even just thinking about doing. Nothing is impossible there is little separation between the physical and the imaginary.
My belief that children bring with them their own narrative underpins the approach to my collaborative practice. The work evolves through a process of exploring shredding, questioning and observing the children at work. First I observe, I play and I listen to both the children and the adults in this environment. My methodology relies on the knowledge and observations of early years educators, specialists and parents with whom I engage. It is only then that I offer a multi-sensory and multi-disciplinary palette of interactive engagements, tools, sounds and textures that supports the exploration and development of their narrative. It is the children’s responses to the aesthetic and aural palette that I bring that drives the direction of the collaboration and shapes my response back in the studio.
‘I may not be able to hear you, but I can still be listening’.
Hearing impeared Visual/sound artist Alison O’Daniel USA.
My current artist-in-residence with the CRCS is supported through a YPCE Bursary awarded by the Arts Council in 2019. Alison’s words are a driving force to what my ambition is for this YPCE Bursary*. Her work challenges us to look at the worlds of others not from a ‘loss’ or ‘lack’ of sound, sight or motor or cognitive skills considered ‘important’ or ‘normal’ but from the position that everything exists on the horizon; a perpetual visual and aural palette of sensations and frequencies through which we interpret the world around us. This exploration began in early October 2019 and as we play together and create together we shall discover, learn, reflect and be open to where the journey takes us. To date I am having a wonderful time engaging, playing and observing the responses of the children and their relationships with each other. I am astounded by how young the children are yet so acutely aware of their empathy and the care they give to each other. Sometimes it seems that what is emanating from their emotional bond has an actual physical presence that should I reach out I may be able to touch it.
*My ambition is to design and create works that stem from the textured language informed through researching and expanding my understanding of what exists on these horizons through two new residencies, one with the Central Remedial Clinic School (CRCS) primary school facility and the second with the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Unit of Stepaside Educate Together Primary School. ‘Crossing the Line’ involves the CRCS and will focus on the collaborative process in the school and hopefully share elements of what happens during the response time in the studio.
I am a visual artist and a trained dancer. My collaborative work with early years children is intrinsic to my practice. I have over 35 years experience through creativity and play with small babies to older people in residential homes. My work draws from the nuances and disciplines of various art forms through collaborations and interactions with other arts practitioners, e.g. Jessica Kennedy of Junk Ensemble, Alex Petcu of Crash Ensemble. My work stems from the audience it is aimed at yet my ambition is to ensure that this work remains sustainable within the same critical and aesthetic platforms of professional arts spheres.
Children have a natural disposition to wonder, to be curious, to pose questions, to experiment, to suggest, to invent and to explain. The child with additional needs is no different. I trained as a National School teacher and began working in the area of special needs in 1996. I taught all the age groups and it wasn’t until I began teaching the early years students of my school that I really found my purpose. I have immersed myself into their world of learning, exploring and discovery. I have read books to inform my methodologies and children’s learning styles. I have googled the internet for inspiration and like-minded individuals in the fields of education and the Arts. To play and work with children with complex needs, fundamentally, beginning and sustaining positive relationships is the basis for all their learning. Relationships between them and you, between each other and between their parents and you! Building relationships involves creating “an environment in which children feel secure and confident enough to take risks, to explore, to take part in challenging experiences, and to direct and co-direct their own learning” (NCCA, 2009 p.28)
I attended ‘Space Invaders – International Early Years Arts Festival in Farmleigh Estate back in June 2014. I attended as many of the workshops I could and one of them, was Helen Barry’s workshop. To this day I use the many wonderful and intriguing ideas she passionately encouraged us to engage with – threading lengths of wool with various coloured pieces of foam and paper/pasta and then creating a dome-like overhead structure with them, building with boxes and insulating foam piping, decorating clear umbrellas with stickers and/or paint and/or scarves, tracing our body shapes onto coloured paper and sticking these along clear cellophane in the outdoors! Needless to say, I returned home a very happy teacher, discovering like-minded creators who worked with younger audiences to open and ignite their minds through multi-sensory experiences. Since then, I have attended many workshops/seminars/training for the early years, each time asking more questions, making more discoveries, implementing many ideas and adapting them to the special educational needs of the children I am fortunate to work and play with every day.
In September, 2018 I thought of re-connecting with Helen, having read about her project ‘sculptunes’. I learned of ‘The Kaleidoscopic Child’, Helen’s new project and one that would suit the children in the school. Last February 2019, Helen arrived at our School and within an hour had created an amazing, colourful, interactive piece. Many classes, ranging in age from 3 to 12, with multiple disabilities enjoyed and interacted with Helen and her performance. Comments from teachers and SNAs afterwards included – ‘I didn’t know if the children would stay focused for long but they did! There was just enough looking and observing and then they (the children) got to explore’
‘Brilliant! Thought Helen was lovely with the children. She didn’t rush them when they were looking or touching or just listening’
‘There was something for every child – Lewis wanted to figure out how the tubes made sounds with the pump and then Conor was so happy listening to the drum that sounded like the sea. Milly loved the shiny mermaid material and Molly could have beat the dome-shaped metal drum for ages!’
Our children have a primary physical disability but many have multiple disabilities, including ASD, ADHD, emotional and behavioural and a visual or hearing impairment. Engaging with the children requires a multi-sensory approach so each child can participate,explore and enjoy at their pace and level of ability. It is about creating an enabling environment, one that enables all to play and create.
“Relationships are at the heart of early learning and development” (NCCA 2009 p. 27) Creating a rich, learning environment, giving time and space to the children and reminding the adults of ‘being in the moment’, sitting, waiting, being still to catch the glint in the eye, a flash of a smile as a child processes, absorbs, reacts and responds to the creative experience. Teaching children with complex needs requires an holistic, creative approach, all their senses need to be engaged and a trusting reciprocal relationship with their educators enables all involved to be open to this. This is the essence of what we hope to document.
The documentary award will provide us with the potential to show how children living with profound and complex needs are, as with all children, need and want to play, to learn, to engage, to explore, to create, to communicate, to belong, to make and have friends, to be happy and secure. They are, as all children are, mischievous, eager, curious, playful and reckless, have selective hearing and are full of devilment! We as the adults, are there to offer the space and freedom, the creative environment to cross the line.
A Call for Home
Magnetise 2020 and collaborative practice in lockdown
In these unnerving times of isolation, connecting through collaborative projects will be an important life line for many artists. And although at times worries may override our ability to work at our best, the possibility to be together, to keep working, inspiring each other and reflecting together may well turn out to be even more important than pasta and toilet roll!
I have spent some time in the last few days considering the possibilities and challenges in this new climate for some of my ongoing projects. As an artist who has continued to embrace the sensorily rich materiality of charcoal and fabric and paint, has veered a little shy of technology and whose performance practice often involves contact dance forms, I find myself looking squarely at the important role online technology will now take going forward. An example is the Magnetise Project. This project, which was selected for both local and national awards last year, has to date centred around week long residencies and workshop periods where the internationally based artists and local community groups have collaborated in a combination of professional development and community based practice. We are delighted to have secured the funding to continue the work this year and build on the existing relationships and themes. The project investigates the potential of renewed attention to gravity, through somatic movement, sound and drawing practices as a means deepening our connections to landscape.
At the end of 2019 we began developing the next phase, ‘Magnetise, a call for home’. This title, (increasingly poignant in the current climate), reflects an interest to explore the connections not just between ourselves and landscape but relationships between land and identity, and the idea of being at ‘at home’; in our body, our community and environment. The six dance artists collaborate with participants from two of the community groups this year, (three adult performers who are wheelchair users and three youth dancers) towards the creation of a joint performance. For now all work will happen remotely and a final performance space may take the form of a split screen video rather than theatre. We will explore the potential of zoom for discussion and workshop facilitation and the website for sharing and reflecting. We will also explore the use of VR sets and cameras for live streamed and filmed work, combining layering and real time interaction.
For now keeping connected in meaningful and creative ways feels as important as ever, as does deepening connections with home and land. Magnetise, like other projects, will, I hope offer a frame to keep a group together and to keep collaboratively making. To read more about Magnetise visit www.undercurrentdancefilmtheatre.com/magnetise
The Glucksman
Join The Glucksman online for creative activities you can do at home.
The Glucksman may be closed but the team will be online during gallery opening hours to help you to get creative at home.
Every day, they will share new art activities on their website, and facebook, instagram and twitter accounts. With video tutorials on their YouTube channel.
Share your images and they will post them to their online galleries.
If you’re looking for some creative ideas for educational activities (primary level) at home during the school closure then check out some of The Ark’s classroom activities & resource packs. These have been have created to accompany some of The Ark’s programmes, including their ‘Fly Me to the Moon’ season which has been curtailed due to the current closure.
Lots of them work even without having seen the show or exhibitions so do take a look – they are available to download for free and use at the link below:
This is a unique opportunity for directors, dancers, choreographers and performance artists seeking to develop their practice in this area.
This two day workshop, on 12 & 13 June, will be facilitated by Joke Laureyns and Kwint Manshoven, Co-Directors of kabinet k. Kabinet k is a Belgian dance company which creates work with and for children. The company has toured all over the world with their performances and workshops for professionals and for children.
The artistic language of kabinet k has a playful, energetic, yet subtle power. Joke and Kwint will share an insight into their dance vocabulary which is demonstrated in their world-renowned production of ‘Horses’ (view the production trailer here). This practical movement workshop is a playful encounter between the choreographers and the participants, revealing some aspects of how they work with different generations on stage and how a work like Horses was created. It’s about dance in its purest and most essential form: the articulation of a moving body.
kabinet k will challenge the participants to go deeper into their image of childhood and question and develop their own practice.
This workshop will suit professional dancers, choreographers, directors, theatre makers and dance/performance teachers with an interest in producing or participating in theatre made for and with young audiences.
Workshop Dates: June 12 & 13, 2020. Application Deadline: 5pm, Friday, April 3
Update: Due to the current COVID-19 situation this event has now been postponed until Saturday 16th May 2020
The Arts in Education Portal’s regional tour continues with a stop at VISUAL, Carlow on Saturday, March 28th, 10.30am to 3pm. Tickets are free but must be booked ahead on Eventbrite here.
Following on from successful events at the Glucksman in Cork, the LexIcon in Dún Laoghaire in 2018 and the Leitrim Sculpture Centre in 2019, the Carlow Regional Day is planned to be an informal day of sharing experience and best practice from the sector. The programme includes a presentation with curator Karla Sanchez and artist Els Dietvorst discussing their experience on the Living Arts Project, along with an exploration of collective ownership and participation in Primary Schools with artist Tunde Toth.
11:00am — Introduction: VISUAL: Artist Clare Breen
11:15am—The Portal: a brief introduction Emma Kavanagh, Kids’ Own Publishing Partnership (Portal Content Managers)
11:30am—Presentation: The Living Arts Project, a discussion with curator Karla Sanchez and artist Els Dietvorst
12:15pm—Presentation: ‘Danger Art’ Collective Authorship, Shared Ownership and Participation in Arts Projects in Primary Schools with artist Tunde Toth,
Medium, Materiality and Magic: Photography at the National Gallery of Ireland is suitable for both primary and post-primary schools. It provides an introduction to photography, exploring key works in the Gallery’s growing photography collection, along with ideas for students to create their own photographs.
The resource is accompanied by a video tutorial providing an easy step-by-step guide of how to make a photogram. Some of the Gallery’s most popular resources are now also available in Irish: Tuiscint ar Thaispeántas; Céard é Portráid; & Tírdhreacha in Ealaín na hÉireann.
Kids’ Own is really proud to be celebrating thirteen years of their virtual arts in education project, Virtually There, with a large-scale exhibition and special launch event at Belfast Children’s Festival.
On Saturday 7th March 2020, a new exhibition will open in Belfast to showcase work developed by children, artists and teachers over the past three years. Funded for eleven years by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation since 2016, Virtually There was developed by Kids’ Own with a pioneering approach whereby artists connected virtually from their studios with children in the classroom.
Kids’ Own has partnered with Belfast Children’s Festival, Young at Art and University of Ulster to develop this exciting exhibition for public audiences, which runs from 6th-28th March.
A special exhibition opening event takes place at the Ulster University Belfast Campus on Saturday 7th March, 1pm-3.30pm. This event will include the launch of Open Space: An action research report from the Virtually There project by Dr Bryonie Reid. It will be launched by Dr Ali FitzGibbon, Lecturer in Creative and Cultural Industries Management, Queen’s University Belfast.
There will also be a panel discussion entitled What does collaboration really mean? This discussion will be chaired by Mark O’Brien, director of axis, Ballymun, in conversation with artists and teachers who participated in the project.
Date & Time
Saturday, 7 March 2020. 1pm – 3.30pm
Venue
Belfast College of Art, York Street, Belfast
Refreshments will be provided. Please RSVP to info@kidsown.ie
The Portal Team are delighted to announce the first recipient of the 2020 Arts in Education Portal Documentation Award. We are very excited to be working with each recipient in the coming months to document their projects. These projects will be showcased on the portal as the documentation progresses.
About the recipients….
Project title: The Lonely Traveller (Brenda’s Voyage)
The Lonely Traveller began as a Teacher Artist Partnership (TAP) between teacher Jacintha Mullins and composer Fiona Linnane in collaboration with pupils at the Mid-West School for the Deaf, Limerick, with support from Dr. Carmel O’Doherty director of Limerick Education Centre. The initial aim of the project was simple; make the primary music curriculum more accessible to deaf pupils and explore paths of engagement with music for profoundly deaf children.
The Lonely Traveller is an ongoing project which has grown both legs and wings since its inception. The project drew inspiration from the Immram tradition and, in particular, The Brendan Voyage (however the children gave the story a 21st century update by renaming the main protagonist Brenda).
During this project Brenda, the lonely traveller, has explored the length and breadth of the music curriculum. She has wandered along a cross-curricular path through Music, History, English, Irish Sign language, Science, SPHE, Maths, Drama, ICT and Visual art. She has reached out to both world-famous artists (Dame Evelyn Glennie) and local artists (Puppeteer Emma Fisher) alike. She has challenged teachers to walk behind while she takes the children by the hand and brings them on exciting adventure into the world of creativity. She has given us valuable insight into the amazing creative abilities of children with SEN and shown us how to explore the potential and possibilities that exist in the field of arts in education.
Brenda will take the lead role in a short film which will be written, directed and produced by the children of the middle and upper primary classes at the Mid-West School for the Deaf. Our short film will encompass original song writing, soundscapes, vocal and musical performance as well a shadow puppetry. We will also be introducing the children in our school to digital filming, video editing and sound engineering.
Teacher: Jacintha Mullins
Jacintha qualified from the Limerick School of Art and Design with a degree in Fine Art. She went on to complete a Master of Arts in Interactive Media after which she qualified as a primary school teacher and completed specialised training and qualification as a teacher of the deaf. Jacintha currently teaches children aged 8-12 years at the Mid-West School for the Deaf in Limerick.
As a teacher of children with a wide variety of hearing impairments and special needs Jacintha is constantly employing her artistic skills to deliver the curriculum in a way that is active, engaging and relevant to the children in her classes. Jacintha understands the importance that the visual environment holds for deaf children. She is also acutely aware of the need that these children have to find ways in which they can express themselves.
Jacintha endeavours to provide an arts rich approach to teaching and learning at the Mid-West School for the Deaf in Limerick. In 2019 she undertook the TAP summer course and trained as a TAP facilitator later that same summer. She will be delivering CPD to teachers on the TAP summer course in July 2020 and is also currently working as a creative associate within the creative schools initiative.
Artist: Fiona Linnane
Fiona Linnane is a composer based in County Limerick. Fiona has been working with Primary schools for over 15 years including projects under the Artist in Schools schemes for Tipperary, Clare and Limerick Arts Offices. In 2020 she was appointed to the Heritage Council’s Panel of Specialists for the Heritage in Schools scheme. Her workshops are enthusiastic, energetic and fun while aiming to give students a new perspective on sound, music and composition.
Fiona is very active in community music and is widely sought after for commissions and to lead projects. In 2013 Fiona was appointed composer in residence for Bells Across The Burren, an Arts Council of Ireland Artist in the Community project, which included an exhibition and music trail at the Burren College of Art and commissions for locals music groups.
Fiona was awarded the Limerick City and County Council Individual Arts Bursary in 2018, and again in 2019, for work in the field of opera and Art song. Current projects include development of an opera inspired by No.2 Pery Square, Limerick in collaboration with Opera Workshop and funded by the Arts Council of Ireland.
Diversity and Every Duck is Different
In October last year I was invited to attend the Europe in Perspective conference in Dortmund with Dr Katie Sweeny and the TAP (Teacher Artist Partnership) design team.
Teacher-Artist Partnership CPD focuses on enabling teachers and artists to jointly develop their understanding, expertise and creativity in ‘arts in education’ work with children and young people. The initiative was developed under the Arts in Education Charter and has run since 2015 and is now delivered each year first week of July in Education Centers under the Creative Ireland Programme. To date in excess of 1,000 teachers and Artists have been trained under TAP CPD in Ireland. There is now a big interest at EU and international level on Teacher-Artist partnership as a model for enhancing Arts education in Schools.
The conference in Dortmund, ‘Every Duck is Different, Challenging our perspectives on Europe and Culture’ was the final conference/ training in the Transnational Training on Diversity and Cultural Learning.
This conference was developed to explore how diversity can be addressed by arts and education practitioners. The two days were packed with thought provoking group activities and presentations from speakers including Dr Ipek Demir and Szilvia Németh. Two young activist groups, Europe Fiction and Polotics of Hope, had been invited to close the conference. The fresh perspective, intelligence and passion of their interventions added an incredible further dimension.
I’ve been thinking about how I address diversity in my own practice. Cultural diversity is increasingly part of the rich fabric of our communities and schools, and it is important to keep checking in with established frameworks and methods, being conscious of the need to be flexible in this context. Diversity is about recognising that ‘every duck is different’. That we support each other to grow through recognition of the strength of our individuality, and our ability to think critically and independently. To fully enjoy difference, finding interest and inspiration in this so that we can move towards a world where not just cultural, but also intellectual and physical difference is truly supported and celebrated.
It was great to bring some of the learning and inspiration from the conference to the TAP lead facilitators up skilling day in February. Many of the lead partners have a new residency this year which is a fantastic opportunity to keep bringing the theory in to practice.
An exciting development for TAP since the conference is the creation of international dimension to TAP, (ITAP). Building on relationships with new partners from the conference, we are in the process of developing a European programme of shared practice and exchange.
Solstice Arts Centre
Date: 7 March 2020
Primary school teachers, artists and those working within the classroom are invited to a one day CPD at Solstice Arts Centre, Navan to experience the potential of the gallery as an educational resource for the primary school curriculum and how this can be applied to the classroom context.
Exploring ‘You are Made of Stardust’, Solstice’s current exhibition by George Bolster participants will engage in a responsive workshop led by professional artist/educator Jane Fogarty. Supporting and enhancing artistic skills through discussions on art and a hands-on printmaking workshop. This CPD is suitable for those working with all primary class years and has links to the print and drawing modules from the visual arts curriculum.
€25 including lunch in Solstice café, places are limited.
10am – 3:30 pm, no prior art experience necessary.
Early Years Arts & Play Education workshops, delivered by Artists/Educators, Rachel Doolin and George Hannover. CIT Crawford College of Art & Design, Grand Parade Campus, Cork.
This series of CPD Masterclasses at CIT Crawford College of Art & Design will focus on early years experiential and creative play methodologies, with each workshop exploring a different material theme such as: LIGHT Play, PAPER Play, CARDBOARD Play and POP UP Play. ‘Simplicity’ and ‘wonder in the ordinary’ are at the very core of this holistic series of workshops. Artists will guide, offer ideas and materials to inspire and ignite curiosity in a fun and relaxed atmosphere. Participants will be encouraged to activate their imaginations and to explore ‘ways to play’ that encourage and embrace spontaneity, open-ended exploration and unpredictable impulses!
Barnstorm Theatre Company is delighted to present its new production of ‘Alice and the Wolf’ by Tom Swift.
Alice spends virtually all her time in Wolf Wood. You know, the world’s deepest, darkest online game. Why not? Her dad isn’t around, her mother’s gone to Canada to meet a lumberjack and her best friend’s dumped her for a YouTube star.
But what happens when the people you meet online come looking for you in real life? Who can you trust, and who is the Big Bad Wolf? This re-telling of the Little Red Riding Hood story is a digital fairy tale that’s deliciously funny and full of dangerously dark twists.
Workshop
For County Kilkenny schools attending the play, we offer two in-school workshops:
A pre-show session using the poster image and model-box of the set to explore the children’s expectations of the upcoming theatre experience;
A post-show session using a critical response method that encourages the children to articulate their experience of the production. (Comprehension & Oral Language Development)
These sessions are optional and capacity is limited, therefore they will be offered on a first come, first served basis.
Teachers’ Resources
A resource pack will be provided to participating teachers. Linked to the SPHE syllabus, the pack will provide a focus for exploration and discussion of themes raised through the play.
The Arts Council will shortly begin the tender process for a panel of Creative Associates to support the delivery of the Creative Schools programme for the academic year 2020-21 onwards.
The Contract Notice, 2020 application forms and all relevant documents will be available to download from 13th February 2020 on www.etenders.gov.ie/
The Arts Council of Ireland will tender for a panel of Creative Associates to support the delivery of Creative Schools/ Scoileanna Ildánacha for the academic year 2020-21 onwards. The Arts council will publish relevant tender documents in February 2020.
This is an exciting opportunity for artists, creative practitioners and individuals working in organisations in the arts and cultural sector.
Creative Schools is a flagship initiative of the Creative Ireland Programme to enable the creative potential of every child. Creative Schools is led by the Arts Council in partnership with the Department of Education and Skills and the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.
Further information about the programme and the work of Creative Associates can also be found here www.artscouncil.ie/ creative-schools/, including information Booklets and FAQs.
Uillinn WestCork Arts Centre
Date: 11 – 20 February
Uillinn West Cork Arts Centre invites toddler groups, playschools, junior and senior infants to a guided experience of Art in Action. An interactive exhibition where artists have used images, objects, actions to communicate with their surrounding world.
An interactive, multimedia exhibition for children with work by Basia Bańda + Tomasz Relewicz, Ewa Bone + Ewa Kozubal, Tomasz Madajczak, Krzysztof Matuszak, Aleksandra Ska and Hubert Wińczyk. Curated by Bartosz Nowak in collaboration with MOS: Municipal Art Centre, Gorzów Wielkopolsk, Poland. http://www.mosart.pl/ wystawy-2019/detail,nID,6164
This exhibition is a meeting of children and artists. The eight visual artists included in the exhibition have created interactive artworks that involve children in the co-creation of the works presented in the gallery. Encouraging children to participate in their construction and reconstruction allows them to experience artistic processes in action.
The exhibition and accompanying events are focused on enabling children to develop creativity, self-confidence and curiosity, explore the world, to communicate and to think critically, demonstrating that art is primarily a way of experiencing and building mutual relations with the environment, other people and oneself
Your group can book a guided experience led by one of the exhibiting artists Tomasz Madajczak. Group bookings are free of charge and can be made by telephone on 028 22090 or email info@westcorkartscentre.com
EVA International
EVA International is delighted to announce the release of free copies of Better Words, for primary school libraries nationwide. It is a new book that offers an introduction to contemporary art and culture through the eyes of 8 – 12 year olds.
It features new artistic terms, words and word-forms, that describe many aspects of contemporary art today, all of which were invented by children through a workshop process that took place across 5 schools in County Limerick, in Spring 2019.
Organised into thematic sections, Better Words offers an introduction to key themes in contemporary art practice today, while also reflecting the cultural curiosity, creative energy and humourous irreverence of the participating school children.
Published by EVA International the book features contributions by acclaimed author Kevin Barry and notes on the workshop process by curator Maeve Mulrennan.
Please contact Eimear Redmond (Better Words Programme Coordinator) at eimear@eva.ie, to redeem a free copy of Better Words for your school library.
Please note that a small nominal fee of €3 for post and package will apply, one copy per school while stocks last.
This event, aimed at Senior Cycle second-level students aged 15 to 18, is an opportunity for students to hear from a whole variety of film industry practitioners, to learn about their work, how they got there and what advice they might give to young people starting out. Whether it’s the craft side of the industry, working in front of the camera or behind, as well as other areas such as production or casting, there will be something for every interest.
A number of third-level institutions will also be on hand to offer guidance on the day.
Last year’s guests included director Lenny Abrahamson, producer Ed Guiney, costume designer Consolata Boyle and DOP Cathal Watters.
The Arts in Education Portal Team are delighted to announce that the 2020 Spring Regional Day will take place in VISUAL Carlow on Saturday, March 28th 2020 from 10.30am to 3pm.
We invite regional audiences to connect with us during a series of events, where practitioners can learn more about the Portal and what it offers, tell us about their work, connect with the community at regional level, share practice and find out what opportunities or events are available in their local area. We welcome teachers, artists, arts managers and anyone with an interest in arts in education to join us for this free event.
Stay tuned for the full schedule to be announced in February.
The Grow from Seeds project intends to provide a programme designed to foster intercultural dialogue in Primary Schools recognising European Parliament priorities to address anti-social behaviour through social cohesion and inclusion, active citizenship and the empowerment and participation of pupils. The methodology used to deliver this education programme adopts multiple strands of Creative Drama, storytelling and performing arts which are proven to be highly motivating, multi-sensory and active learning tools. The Grow from Seeds project engages partners from Ireland, Germany and France, and is supported by Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership.
Teachers, policy makers, researchers, artists, drama practitioners and academics are invited to attend the International Conference in Intercultural Education for Primary Schools to explore new ways of understanding Intercultural Education in Primary Schools and the use of the creative arts as a tool to foster intercultural dialogue in primary schools..
Keynote Address
The conference event will include a keynote talk from Joe Little, RTÉ Religious and Social Affairs correspondent. The event will also showcase the work from the Grow from Seeds project as well as presentations and contributions from practitioners and educators through a panel discussion.
Sruth na Teanga: an adventure through the story of the Irish Language
As part of Galway 2020, Branar Téatar do Pháistí’sSruth na Teanga is an epic and unique immersive theatre show that imaginatively tells the story of the evolution and life of the language. Branar will transform the terminal building of the old Galway Airport for a walk-through performance in which one class group of thirty pupils will enter at a time. Experience a true sense of adventure with cinematic levels of detail as you travel through four worlds experiencing live performance, puppetry, music, design and beautiful imagery. The children’s journey will culminate with an opportunity to explore a response room that will enhance and deepen their engagement with the show.
Branar’s world-class brand of storytelling will enchant audiences aged 8-plus and adults alike.
As the fun of the festive season fades and the new year sets in, this early years drama workshop for little ones aged 2-4 will explore how to cope when things go wrong. Part of First Fortnight festival and led by The Ark’s Early Years Artist in Residence, Joanna Parkes.
Oh dear! Elliott the Dragon is having a bad day. It’s a cold, snowy day and he’s fed up. Everything’s going wrong and he doesn’t know what to do. He says he’s going to give up and not try anymore but… maybe we can help him? Maybe we encourage him to try again? Maybe we can help him bounce back?
Join in to discover, explore and find out if you can help Elliott figure out how to be resilient in this delightful workshop adventure.
Combining drama, story, play and props, this interactive drama workshop invites little ones and their grown-ups to enjoy imagining together. So if you’re a parent, grandparent, uncle, aunty, godparent or carer, come along with a 2 to 4 year old and join in the fun.
The Arts in Education Portal editorial team are pleased to invite applications for a documentation award. Through the award, successful applicants will receive services to the value of €5,000 that will support them in the documentation of a current or upcoming project and a €500 stipend.
The purpose of the award is to support the development of documented outcomes from Arts in Education initiatives in Ireland, which can be shared with the arts in education community and give insights into different processes of engagement. This is part of the Arts in Education Portal Editorial Committee’s commitment to supporting and recognising the value of documentation and reflection as a key component within arts in education initiatives.
Two awards will be offered through this opportunity.
Outcomes of the documentation process will include: a project video, a project feature to be showcased on the Portal’s Projects/Partnerships, and the option of a critical essay, with a view to also presenting the work as part of the Arts in Education Portal National Day in 2020.
The process will involve meetings with the Portal Team and a schedule of 3 site visits over the course of the project to capture video and photographic documentation and support reflective processes among participants. The portal team will edit and produce a project video, and will liaise closely with the project partners to develop the content for the project feature. The critical essay would be sited in the Portal’s Reading Room, and is optional. The author and focus of the essay can be decided by the project organisers in collaboration with the Portal Team.
Criteria
To be considered for this opportunity, projects must:
Have started in autumn 2019 and continuing into Spring 2020, or be due to start in Feb 2020.
Have a minimum duration of 8 weeks.
Involve a professional artist working collaboratively within an educational setting (early years, primary or post-primary).
Be underpinned by a strong ethos of collaboration and a commitment to excellence. Focus on the creative process, with children having an active and collaborative role
Additional criteria
Successful applicants will be asked to ensure that relevant permissions/consent have been sought for documentation of participants.
Please ensure your application has been approved by all project partners prior to submission.
How to make a submission:
Background on who you are; your professional practice and your ethos or approach towards Arts in Education.
An overview of the project – who is involved, how did the collaboration come about, what processes or approaches will take place, what is the aim or focus of the process?
A statement of interest, explaining why documentation supports would be of value to this project.
On November 9th the fourth annual National Arts in Education Portal Day took place at the Institute for Lifecourse and Society (ILAS), National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) in partnership with ILAS and Babóro. The national portal day is building momentum as a very significant event in the arts and education calendar in Ireland, and this year the portal day coincided with the Creative Schools week-long celebration of arts and creativity in schools.
With over 150 artists, teachers and arts in education professionals in attendance with 20 workshops and lectures across the day by a range of presenters from the sector. An opening address from Professor Pat Dolan and inspirational insights from our guest speaker Professor Bill Lucas exploring the importance of creativity in schools. Thanks to all involved in making day a huge success!
Speaking at the event, Minister Kyne said, “This annual event presents a wonderful opportunity for teachers and other creative practitioners to come together to explore the area of arts in education. The Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, along with the Department of Education and Skills, are working together to promote creativity among our children and young people”.
To view Professor Bill Lucas’s presentation from the Portal Day click below:
School bookings open from 21 November for spring and summer terms 2020
The Hunt Museum, Limerick Museum and Limerick City Gallery of Art are delighted to invite primary schools to take part in ‘The Three Muses: exploring art and identity’ programme.
Through this innovative visual arts programme for primary schools, pupils from schools across Limerick will engage with modern and contemporary visual art from the collections of three Limerick museums. Through workshops and activities participants will develop their confidence and understanding in visual art, while exploring the theme of identity.
The programme also includes one-off events such as children-led tours of the collections, training sessions for teachers and a summer showcase.
This programme is underpinned by Visual Thinking Strategies and links with Arts Education, History and SPHE curricula, giving participants an opportunity to connect in a relevant way with three Limerick museums and to generate an understanding and appreciation of the importance of visual art.
This programme is supported by Limerick City & County Council and Friends of The Hunt Museum.
School bookings from 21 November for spring and summer terms 2020.
In advance of the Irish Film Institute’s (IFI) annual Careers in Screen Day, 2020, IFI Education, in partnership with Screen Skills Ireland, is offering a First Steps morning event, to introduce participants to the world of short filmmaking, through presentations from three flourishing filmmaking companies.
Presenting samples of their work and talking about their paths into the industry, guest speakers from Paper Panther Productions, Tailored Films and Failsafe Films, will each discuss their own career and answer participants’ questions relating to their work and their roles in the industry. The event is ideally suited to young people who are exploring different career options, perhaps considering third level courses in film, media or TV, or keen to learn from Irish filmmakers about working in the thriving screen industries.
Admission costs €5 per person and tickets are strictly limited. Suitable for ages 15-18. Event will last approx. 75 mins.
Escape into space in this fantastic interactive theatrical adventure for ages 3-5 from Little Bigtop in association with The Civic.
Moon Woke Me Up Nine times
It was still 4am
So I built a rocket with my friends
And went on a journey that never ends
Come up and away with us. Come and play with us.
You are invited to come and build a rocket that will BLAST OFF and take us on a magical adventure. Once inside their homemade rocket children are treated to a magical shadow show as they journey to the moon! Come with us all the way, up there, into outer space!
I wonder if it smells of cheese?
I wonder if it will make me sneeze?
Let’s find out!
Inspired by a Haiku of the same title by Basho Matsuo, Moon Woke Me Up is an interactive theatrical adventure to space for ages 3-5, using a wonderful blend of performance and interactive drama, construction play and sensory explorations.
The Glucksman is delighted to invite you to the ‘The Classroom Museum’ exhibition.
The Classroom Museum enables schoolchildren in rural Ireland to participate in an imaginative programme of creative learning based around contemporary artworks from the UCC art collection. In Autumn 2019, with the support of Kerry County Council and Creative Ireland, the Glucksman brought the Classroom Museum initiative to Caherdaniel NS and Portmagee NS in South West Kerry.
Through the short-term loan of artworks and collaborative activities, the children and their teachers had the opportunity to interact with artworks by Irish contemporary artists Dara McGrath and Fiona Kelly.
The Classroom Museum is built around the value of providing children with an opportunity to engage with works of art in a personal and continuous way. The initiative facilitates the loan of artworks into the classroom space, and includes a visit by the artist to the school, a collaborative art project by the children and an exhibition of this work in the Glucksman.
The students from Caherdaniel and Portmagee will visit the Glucksman in January 2020 to see their artworks on display. The exhibition is open to the public and runs until January 26th.
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown (dlr) County Council invite applications for the position of: Music Generation Development Officer
A Music Generation Development Officer will be appointed by dlr County Council and will be responsible for managing an extensive performance music education programme on behalf of dlr Local Music Education Partnership.
Music Generation dlr is part of Music Generation – Ireland’s National Music Education Programme, which is co-funded by U2, The Ireland Funds, the Department of Education and Skills and Local Music Education Partnerships.
Temporary five year fixed term contract (Salary range: €47,588 – €58,157 per annum)
Application forms and full particulars are available online at – www.dlrcoco.ie
Based on the volume of applications received short-listing may apply. Short-listing will take place on the basis of the information provided in the application form. Depending on the qualifications and experience of applicants, short-listing thresholds may be significantly higher than the minimum standards set out.
dlr County Council is an equal opportunities employer.
Deadline: 4pm, Thursday 28 November 2019 (Late applications will not be accepted)
Job reference: 008488
Liz Coman is an Assistant Arts Officer with Dublin City Council. She is a certified Visual Thinking Strategies facilitator with VTS/USA and has completed training to coaching level. She is responsible for monitoring the quality of Erasmus+ Permission to Wonder – an EU project for Dublin City Council that is testing the VTS training pathway with educators in classroom and gallery settings. Liz has a background in History of Art and Museum Studies and fifteen years experience in designing innovative projects that support arts, education and learning. She has led trainings in enquiry led approaches to mediating artwork for visual art facilitators in The Ark, A Cultural Centre for Children, The National Gallery of Ireland, and The Turner Prize, Derry and offers ongoing mentorship for individual artists, arts educators and teachers.
“Observation is more than one thing – we use our eyes to analyse an image, and we also use thinking, and our senses and emotions to interpret what we are seeing” – Erasmus+ Permission to Wonder – Blog 4
A Conversation with Primary School Teacher, Jane Malone
For this fourth and final blog about Erasmus+ Permission to Wonder, it is timely for me to reflect on some of our learnings from the VTS training pathway for educators. Over 150 educators, from classroom and museum settings, were supported to access the VTS training pathway with VTS/USA. This happened, through a partnership approach that allowed a range of partners across local, national and European to fund a unique training programme.
The research evaluation framework for Erasmus+ Permission to Wonder will capture the ‘impact’ of the VTS training pathway on educators training and practicing VTS in schools and museums across. Findings will be presented by VTS Nederland at our Erasmus+ Permission to Wonder Conference on 21 April 2020 in Dublin Castle.
Between now and then, we are considering what is next for our work with VTS. What are the existing mainstream teacher and artist training pathways that could offer support to the VTS training pathway? How do we hold on to the value of peer to peer learning across a the mixed cohort of educators – artist, art educators, secondary (art) teacher and primary school classroom teachers? How do we support mixed groupings of trainees to continue to access enjoyable and deep VTS learning experiences about art, learning, classroom and community where every individual voice is valued and heard?
The cross-disciplinary potential for VTS is striking. Art is the starting point and the transferrable skills for the trained VTS educator and for the participating group become more and more obvious with regular practice. For me, the most obvious win for VTS practice is within the primary school or early years classroom. In these classrooms, multiple subject areas sit alongside each other, but objectives for building patterns of learning, thinking and communicating are overarching priorities. This is approach to learning is more and more mirrored in the modern workplace. Artists, lawyers, farmers, employees and entrepreneurs across all disciplines must show flexibility in their thinking and their approach to running their business/getting their product out there/meeting their client needs. Problem solving and team communication skills are key in order to do that. Teams must use their observational skills and thinking skills in tandem with a bigger picture approach which is supported by being open to differing points of view, to allow for benefit from other people’s experience along with their own.
Below, Jane Malone, a primary school teacher from St Catherine’s NS, Donore Avenue, talks about how VTS has strengthened her practice in facilitating students’ learning; how this practice is a tool for communication skills, such as deep listening and respectful discussion; how it is a tool for opening students up to their own thinking processes to support how they learn, access knowledge and problem solve; how this practice can transfer from art, to maths, to science to SPHE, to oral language development, to project development.
What do you find VTS brings to your practice as a primary teacher?
In a primary school classroom of today, we are facilitators of learning, more so than the traditional idea of teachers. VTS definitely highlighted to me the skill of being a facilitator. You facilitate the thinking skills you want them to have or the writing skills you want them, but where they take it is theirs, as long as it’s appropriate.
I find our VTS sessions are a great tool for demonstrating and practising active listening. When someone is making their observation, and when I’m paraphrasing back, they are all listening. Their hand isn’t up with their point, it’s a shared listening experience where they can see what the speaker is seeing. That has really helped in terms of general classroom management, but also for turn taking in terms of respectful conversation. This is something that can’t be explicitly taught. At the same time, it permeates all the other lessons, because we all get so used to the process.
I also find our VTS sessions very inclusive, because it’s not about ability, it’s about the picture or the piece of art that you were looking at, and ‘my opinion’ is not the rightopinion, it may vary very differently to what ‘your opinion’ is. It’s accessing art on all levels for all children of all abilities, not just for the ‘arty’ children or the people who like that piece of art. It takes how art used to be untouchable, it was in galleries, behind frames, it’s opening it up to multiple possible interpretations.
For me, VTS impacts all the curriculum areas, particularly the language elements and the social and emotional aspect of things as well. I use it with ‘Number Talks’, and with anything I’m doing in SESE where I’m facilitating project-based learning and they’re determining where they’re going to take the project. VTS fits well in particular, with the New Language Curriculum, with Irish and English, and how it describes the role of paraphrasing the students comment, that no comment is incorrect, but the paraphrase back is the teaching and learning moment. The children are becoming more aware of how I am teaching them, more familiar with the paraphrasing process, and this gives them the confidence to make the comment, in a language lesson, without worrying about being right or wrong.
What have you noticed happening in your work in the classroom with VTS?
The group I have this year is sixth class. I had them in fourth class, when I started practicing VTS in the classroom. So this year, when I do VTS with the children, I begin a session by talking with them about the broad concept of thinkingthat happens when we do VTS – ‘what is observing?’ We talk about using our eyes, and the role of listening. We go deeper with an art image and talk about how we use our senses to observe, and also how our emotional response informs our thinking.
I began this year’s science curriculum with an exercise where we took a roll of Sellotape and passed it around the room. Each child had to make an observational comment about it, as it was passed from person to person. The reason why I blended VTS with this exercise, is because in VTS with art images, you are naturally talking about story, setting, materials, bringing in previous experience and knowledge. So, in this Sellotape exercise, I was really conscious that it can push them to build more sophisticated language for what they are describing. I keep my paraphrasing conditional and label the thinking processes so that the children can recognise that their thinking processes can transfer from the VTS exercise we do with art, to this exercise, which is more about introducing scientific language for observation. It’s a really successful exercise because you can hear them talking about texture of the Sellotape, using language to describe it based on their senses, describing it’s shape based on their knowledge of maths, making metacognitive statements that are bringing information from other bodies of knowledge.
I see that this is how I am going to bring my VTS practice forward. In the classroom, I’m trying to create an atmosphere of STEAM versus STEM. VTS is one of the methodologies that supports me to do this. I use mind maps and Elklan (a process to meet the speech, language and communication needs of children) with topics where we build vocabulary and language. I find VTS coming into play more for the more technical curriculum subject areas such as the literacy skills of breaking down a language, looking at and attempting maths problem solving, and also for science.
How important do you think that silence at the beginning to observe is?
Very. But we do that in another form in our ‘number talks’ as well, so you put up your number sentence and then you literally wait. It’s very hard when you’re initially doing it as a teacher, to wait long enough, standing in silence is quite difficult. Because we had been doing it in ‘number talks’, I was then able to marry it, so I give them quite a bit of time. It does occur to me each time I do it “I wonder how long everybody else gives?” Sherry Parrish is the number talks guru, so if you watched one of her videos you’d understand the similarities. It’s “how would you do this?”, “how did you come to your conclusions?”, “now, tell the rest of the class how you got that answer or why you went that way” or “what does everybody else think of the way X did that sum?”. So again, it’s similar a similar process of supporting thinking and social learning.
Can you recall a favourite VTS Image Discussion?
One of my favourite VTS sessions was when I was practicing on the Permission to Wonder training in Helsinki. I was looking at the image for the first time and not sure where it would go with the group. There were many different interpretations of the image from individuals and so I had to really concentrate on my paraphrasing. It showed me that my paraphrasing was really working well for me, I was hearing as I was speaking. It was really challenging, but there seemed to be a flow. I remember this as I learned so much from it.
Another one that sticks out in my mind, with sixth class last year, they kept on trying to identify the images as being staged. ‘Oh this has been deliberately set up as though it was in the 1960s and it was deliberately provocative because….’ – they were really cynical about the image and it felt like there was an inflexibility of their engagement with it. They were more about creating the backstory about why the artist did it, than observing what it was in front of them. I found that really interesting.
One other one, was a picture of a woman in a subway surrounded by a lot of men. She is to the foreground, and one of the children that has anxiety identified it as her experiencing great anxiety and nobody around her knowing it. So that kind of projecting their own emotional states onto the images we are looking at, I find that really interesting.
It sounds like for you, in a VTS image discussion you are observing the ‘thinking’ going on – either your own thinking or the students thinking?
It definitely would be part of my practice as a teacher. We are here to teach skills, in particular to understand that there are thinking processes and to help them to figure out how to support these processes for themselves in the future. So they can access the facts. Who remembers all the rivers and mountains of Ireland, it’s more about how you going about researching that information and your thinking process around researching the question that’s important.
How did Erasmus+ Permission to Wonder support you to develop your VTS practice?
It greatly supported me to put aside my learning and experience and become open to a new way of engaging with languages. I found that really interesting as languages are ‘my thing’. I have a degree in French and Italian, English and Gaeilge are my favourite subjects to teach, and I love grammar, so it was fascinating to me how I struggled with the VTS questions at first. They felt so American and strange to me but when I saw the huge body of research behind them and experienced firsthand how effective they were in keeping a rein in on the facilitator’s natural bias, I was completely converted. It was also really comforting to work with such experienced artists and art professionals and see how my lack of experience did not impede my ability to facilitate a VTS session. Finally, it was an exhausting but really wonderful experience on a personal level. I really feel I grew as an individual and my love of learning was reignited. So thank you to all involved.
The Four Dublin Local Authorities
Deadline: 5pm, 4 November 2019
The four Dublin Local Authorities invite submissions for: Exploring & Thinking Bursary Award 2019.
The Exploring & Thinking Bursary Award will support individual professional artists to develop their artistic practice working with and/or producing work for early childhood arts. This award is open to individual professional artists who wish to develop their practice in early childhood arts, artists practicing in all artforms, artists resident in Ireland.
Bursary range: €200 – €10,000
The closing date: 4th of November 2019
Exploring and Thinking is a collaborative framework for early childhood arts in the Dublin region. It came about in 2016 when the four Dublin Local Authorities – Fingal County Council, Dublin City Council, South Dublin County Council and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, partnered for the first time to collectively consider early childhood arts provision in the Dublin region.
Please find the Application Guidelines & Criteria in the attached document.
Download the Application Guidelines & Criteria here
For further information and queries contact Orla Scannell, Arts Officer, South Dublin County Council, E: oscannell@sdublincoco.ie
Waltons Music for Schools Competition
Entry Deadline: 24 January 2020
Founded in 2012, the Waltons Music for Schools Competition is a non-profit national event celebrating and supporting music in Irish schools. The Music for Schools Competition is produced by Waltons New School of Music and generously supported by RTÉ lyric fm. All primary and post-primary schools in the Republic of Ireland are eligible to enter the Competition, and schools from all 26 counties have participated.
Each year’s Competition culminates in a gala Finalists Concert, in which twelve Finalist school music groups (six primary and six post-primary) perform before their peers and two distinguished adjudicators. At the end of the Finalists Concert, the adjudicators announce six winning primary and post-primary schools, which receive awards totalling €7,000 worth of vouchers for musical instruments and equipment from Waltons Music Ireland, including two First Prizes of €2,000 vouchers.
The Process
Schools create an ensemble piece or song, based on the year’s Competition theme, and performed by an instrumental, vocal or mixed group from the school (maximum 40 performers). The piece or song can be performed by any combination of singers or instrumentalists you choose. This year’s theme comes from Hans Christian Andersen, ‘Where words fail, music speaks’.
Schools submit an online entry form and send a video of the group’s performance as well as a jpeg photograph of the group.
The initial entries are judged by a team of first-round adjudicators, and twelve Finalist groups (six primary and six post-primary) are selected.
The Finalists are announced by Liz Nolan on RTÉ lyric fm.
Groups not selected as Finalists but displaying real merit are designated as either Commended or Highly Commended, and certificates are produced for the schools and all student performers.
The twelve Finalist groups perform in a gala Finalists Concert at the National Concert Hall, at the end of which the six winning schools are announced.
The Museum of Literature Ireland (MoLI) are excited to offer a free primary school creative programme ‘Shut your eyes and see’ to Irish primary school teachers and students in 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th class. Workshops explore Irish literature, past and present, hoping to inspire the next generation to read, write, and unlock their creative potential in whatever form it takes.
Developed in collaboration with students from our learning partner schools, teachers, educators, administrators and librarians, our programme is designed with different learning styles in mind.
We offer a two-hour experience in MoLI from 10am–12pm, during term time. Teachers and students participate in a creative workshop and a tour of our exhibition space and gardens.
Connecting to our exhibitions and gardens, and reflecting elements of the school curriculum, workshops seek to develop critical thinking and research skills as well as visual, verbal and information literacy.
When booking, primary school teachers can choose from one of three workshops:
Artist Jane Fogarty will introduce primary school teachers to Estuary – an exhibition of artworks from Fingal County Council’s Municipal Art Collection, as a starting point for generating ideas for use with students back in the classroom.
Teachers will be supported to enhance their artistic skills and expand their approach to teaching in the classroom by exploring the potential of the gallery context as an educational resource for the primary school curriculum. There will be an emphasis on looking and responding to contemporary artworks, group discussion, and identifying curriculum links.
This event is Free to attend. Lunch will be included.
There are limited places available. Places will be allocated on a first come first served basis.
About Estuary, Sept 12th – Nov 16th at Draíocht
Fingal County Council presents this significant exhibition to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the council and its Municipal Art Collection. Curated by Una Sealy (RHA), James English (RHA), Joshua Sex and Sanja Todorović, the selected artworks represent an evolving collection of painting, print, photography, literature and sculptural work by some of Ireland’s most prolific artists. There is a strong theme of nature flowing through much of the selected works chosen by the curators specifically with Fingal’s landscape in mind. We hope that you enjoy the exhibition and participation in the public engagement programme. www.fingalarts.ie
Embrace the wonders of the wind in this fun drama workshop for little ones aged 2-4, led by The Ark’s Early Years Artist in Residence, Joanna Parkes.
It’s a whirly, swirly, windy day and the Wind Wizards are busy at work. Not everyone likes the wind though, as it whips up fallen leaves and tousles their hair. Can the wind wizards help people see how wonderful the wind can be?
Join in to explore, imagine and discover your own secret love for the whistle and whoosh of the whispering wind.
Combining drama, story, play and props, this interactive drama workshop invites little ones and their grown-ups to enjoy imagining together. So if you’re a parent, grandparent, uncle, aunty, godparent or carer, come along with a 2 to 4 year old and join in the fun.
Update: Minister Kyne T.D. to attend 4th annual National Arts in Education Portal Day
The Portal team are delighted to announce that the fourth annual National Arts in Education Portal Day will be attended by Seán Kyne TD, Government Chief Whip and Minister of State the Irish Language, the Gaeltacht and the Islands.
We are pleased to announce our full programme of presentations and workshops for the National Arts in Education Portal Day 2019. The programme was selected following a call for submissions in summer 2019 and reflects a broad range of projects, approaches and art forms from within the arts and education sectors; both practical and theoretical.
The day will culminate in a special performance by members of Symphonic Waves Youth Orchestra with group leader and soloist Mary Duggan.
The Ark invites schools to the world premiere of a brand new show by Wayne Jordan and Tom Lane for Ages 8+.
Labhraidh Loingseach has a secret. He wears his hair long and he has it cut only once a year. Once a year on the same night in the same place and in the same style. But never by the same barber.
The Haircut is a cautionary tale with a live musical soundtrack. The Haircut is a fairytale remixed and retold.
The Haircut is a play about secrets and about creativity stifled. About fighting for what you believe in and standing up to power.
About music and magic and hair.
Set in a magical modern day Ireland, The Haircut is a new commission written by Wayne Jordan, delivered with ineffable charm by bright new talent Thommas Kane Byrne and accompanied by Tom Lane’s vibrant score played by three outstanding musicians.
Classroom Activity Pack
A new Classroom Activity Pack is available for teachers is available to download to accompany the production. Created by Joanna Parkes and Anita Mahon – renowned specialist facilitators for educational drama and music programmes – the pack uses the show’s rich themes and ideas as a starting point for a range of engaging classroom activities and is a useful resource to teachers, whether or not they have seen the performance.
The Irish Forest School Association (IFSA) was founded in 2016 and is engaged in the promotion and development of the Forest School (FS) movement in Ireland. We bring Forest School practitioners together to inspire inclusive, playful learning for all, in nature. We want to build resilience and relationships, through our connection with each other, and the natural world, while inspiring creativity and supporting wellbeing. More information can be found on our website www.irishforestschoolassociation.ie.
This final blog post is from Joan Whelan, the Chairperson of the Irish Forest School Association. She reflects on the opportunities within Forest School for adults to reaffirm their own creativity in their approach to teaching, drawing on her experience of introducing Forest School to the primary school where she was principal and on her current PhD research on the distinctiveness of Forest School as a pedagogical approach.
“Lie down, lie down, that way is best” – Blog 4
Participating in a Forest School (FS) session recently with a group of senior infants, I had one of those ‘light-bulb’ moments that happen every now and again and give pause for thought. Our eyes had been drawn towards the tree canopy by the fleeting sight of a grey squirrel bounding up the trunk of a scots pine.
‘Lie down, lie down,’ urged one of the children in a commanding but quiet voice. ‘That way is best’.
And we did. We lay down. Three 6-year olds and myself, flat out on the damp slightly muddy floor of a small and not very loved corner of woodland in Dublin city. And there was quiet, as we searched the tree canopy for the elusive squirrel, for perhaps a minute. Later that same day, having made charcoals from the leftover embers of the fire, a child asked to finger paint stripes on my face…and I had no hesitation. The experience remained with me.
I realised that in 36 years of teaching, I had never fully encountered this kind of immersive, embodied, child-initiated experience that felt very powerful and right. And I thought myself progressive and innovative as a teacher. What made this possible? Was it being in nature? Was it being suitably attired? Was it the small group? Was it the opportunities for child-led activity? Was it the leadership of the FS leader? Was it the safety that the session provided to explore and to ‘be’? Was it all of these?
It seems to me that a very profound opportunity exists for adults to reflect on their practice through participation in FS. We cannot promote creativity in children without being open to making new connections for meaning as adults. FS gives us permission to take a step aside, unlocking a more playful approach to learning which in turn promotes curiosity, exploration and innovative cross curricular connections that surely comprise the possibility for deep and creative connection and meaning making across the curriculum. FS seems to enable us to move from being teachers and pupils to being learners together.
In the context of the Arts in Education, FS provides a foundational, cross curricular pedagogical approach. The woodland provides the tools to enable risks to be taken safely, curiosity to be satisfied and boundaries to be tested. The transformative nature of this kind of learning for wellbeing, creativity and innovation is not easily accessible elsewhere in formal learning contexts. In an era of increasing focus on outcomes, rather than process, FS can help re-position children and adults, not the curriculum, at the core of deeper learning in the primary school. FS pedagogy can help to promote a deeper understanding of the relationship between the human world and the natural world, a theoretical thread that can be traced back to Rousseau, who regarded a connection to nature as fundamental to optimal human functioning. However, FS must be approached within a theory of change perspective. In other words, the importance of school communities articulating a vision for their pedagogical approach, based on their educational purpose, is non-negotiable.
And when was the last time you placed your hands in wet mud?
The Ark
Dates: 4 & 5 October 2019
Get cosy for the autumn in this early years drama workshop for little ones aged 2-4 led by The Ark’s Early Years Artist in Residence, Joanna Parkes.
Autumn is here, leaves are falling and the animals in the woods are preparing for their long winter sleep. But Howie Hedgehog is not ready. He has no food supplies and no shelter to sleep in. He will need some help from the wood elves to collect food and build himself a warm and cosy den.
Join in to discover, explore and find out if you can help Howie build his den in this delightful workshop adventure.
Combining drama, story, play and props, this interactive drama workshop invites little ones and their grown-ups to enjoy imagining together. So if you’re a parent, grandparent, uncle, aunty, godparent or carer, come along with a 2 to 4 year old and join in the fun.
We are delighted to announce the guest speakers for the fourth annual National Arts in Education Portal Day on November 9th at The Institute for Lifecourse and Society (ILAS), National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) in partnership with ILAS and Baboró. Our day begins with a welcome from Professor Pat Dolan, UNESCO Chair for Children Youth and Civic Engagement, and Director of the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre and Dr. Katie Sweeney – National Director for the Integration of the Arts, Department of Education and Skills (DES).
We welcome guest speaker Professor Bill Lucus, Director of the Centre for Real-World Learning and Professor of Learning at the University of Winchester. The full line-up which will be announced shortly includes a broad range of practical workshops and skills sharing as well as theoretical and critical thinking in the area from artists, teachers and practitioners from across the sector.
This event brings together members of the arts in education community from all across Ireland, to share, learn, talk, network, get inspired, and continue interrogating best practice in the field.
Full programme details for the day will be announced shortly. For enquiries please contact events@artsineducation.ie
Professor Patrick Dolan, UNESCO Chair for Children Youth and Civic Engagement, and Director of the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre at The Institute for Lifecourse and Society (ILAS), NUI Galway
Professor Pat Dolan holds the prestigious UNESCO Chair in Children, Youth and Civic Engagement, the first to be awarded in the Republic of Ireland. The UNESCO Chair delivers a comprehensive programme of work towards the objective of promoting civic engagement and leadership skills among children and youth. The programme is built around core strands of research, teaching, policy and good practice and is underpinned by a range of national and international collaborations. Prof. Dolan is also joint founder and Director of the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre at the National University of Ireland, Galway. He has worked as a practitioner and academic for over 30 years. Prof Dolan has completed an extensive body of research on children youth and family issues including longitudinal research on adolescents, their perceived mental health, resilience and social support networks and has published in a wide range of international academic publications. His major research interests are Civic Engagement in Children and Youth, Family Support, Youth Mentoring Models, Empathy, Resilience and Social Networks. Prof. Dolan has also extensive practice and policy experience, both nationally and internationally.
Dr, Katie Sweeney, National Director for the Integration of the Arts, Department of Education and Skills (DES)
National Director for the Integration of the Arts in Education (DES) – appointed by Minister for Education and Skills Ruaraí Quinn T.D. in 2013. Previously Katie has worked as a Research Scientist, Senior Lecturer in Dublin City University, Dublin Institute of Technology, Karolinska Institute of Health Sciences Stockholm in Sweden. She was a former Head of GMIT @Castlebar, CEO of Mayo VEC and CEO of Mayo Sligo and Leitrim Education and Training Board.
Professor Bill Lucas, Director of the Centre for Real-World Learning and Professor of Learning at the University of Winchester
Bill is a member of the academic team on the Durham Commission on Creativity in Education, adviser to the OECD’s Centre for Educational Research and Innovation, chair of Eton’s research and innovation centre, a patron of Pegasus Theatre in Oxford and a member of the LEGO Foundation’s advisory board.
In 2017 Bill was appointed co-chair of the strategic advisory group for the new PISA 2021 Test of Creative Thinking. Bill is currently advising the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority on the implementation of critical and creative thinking and has worked extensively across Australia.
A prolific writer, Bill has authored more than 100 books and research reports. With Ellen Spencer he has recently explored how key dispositions for learning can best be cultivated in Teaching Creative Thinking: developing learners who have fresh ideas and think critically.
His acclaimed critique in 2015 of education systems, Educating Ruby: what our children really need to learn, written with Guy Claxton, asks challenging questions about the future of schools. Zest for Learning: Developing curious learners who relish real-world challenges, to be published in Autumn 2019, continues this theme.
Launch of archive to preserve Arts in Education content and showcase the work of creative organisations in Ireland
The Minister for Education and Skills Joe McHugh T.D. on Monday September 23rd announced the opening of a new free-to-access online archive to showcase creative activity of teachers, artists, researchers and others.
The Arts and Culture in Education Research Repository (ACERR) will be open to people working in education and the public, allowing them an insight into the inspirational ideas being developed for schools.
Some of the work available in the archive includes an essay from the UCC School of Digital Humanities on using Minecraft as a tool for creative engagement in the classroom and a project on using rap music as a creative method in research with children and young people.
The repository also details the experiences of Lisa Cahill, a dance artist in residence at Maynooth University in 2016. The repository has allowed for videos of Lisa’s work to be recorded and uploaded for the public to view.
It is hoped the archive will be expanded as teachers, schools, arts and cultural researchers, academics, colleges and universities and artists offer resources including video, music, dance, drama and art.
The repository will also help to overcome traditional barriers to publication for arts and creative practitioners.
Making the announcement, Minister McHugh said: “This Government is doing huge work to put creativity to the fore of a child’s education and development, not least with the 300 schools in the Creative Ireland programme or the growth of Music Generation.
“The new archive will grow over time and help to cement the great work already being done every day in our classrooms as well as giving researchers and parents and others an insight into how we can inspire the next generation.”
The ACERR has been developed as part of the Creative Ireland Programme and has been supported by the Dormant Accounts Funds.
Liz Coman is an Assistant Arts Officer with Dublin City Council. She is a certified Visual Thinking Strategies facilitator with VTS/USA and has completed training to coaching level. She is responsible for monitoring the quality of Erasmus+ Permission to Wonder – an EU project for Dublin City Council that is testing the VTS training pathway with educators in classroom and gallery settings. Liz has a background in History of Art and Museum Studies and fifteen years experience in designing innovative projects that support arts, education and learning. She has led trainings in enquiry led approaches to mediating artwork for visual art facilitators in The Ark, A Cultural Centre for Children, The National Gallery of Ireland, and The Turner Prize, Derry and offers ongoing mentorship for individual artists, arts educators and teachers.
The Irish Forest School Association (IFSA) was founded in 2016 and is engaged in the promotion and development of the Forest School (FS) movement in Ireland. We bring Forest School practitioners together to inspire inclusive, playful learning for all, in nature. We want to build resilience and relationships, through our connection with each other, and the natural world, while inspiring creativity and supporting wellbeing. More information can be found on our website