!!!! Job Opportunity: Creative Director at Carlow Carnival of Collective Joy
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.
Application
For further information and to download the application pack, please visit: https://carlowartsfestival.com/job-opportunity-creative-director-for-carlow-carnival-of-collective-joy/
!!!! Guided Workshops for Schools with VISUAL Carlow: The Corona
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.
Dates: October 2021 – January 2022
Times: Tuesday 10:00 – 11:30 & 12:30 – 14:00, Wednesday 10:00 – 11:30, Thursday 10:00 – 11:30 & 12:30 – 14:00
Cost €50 per group.
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.
For more information, see visualcarlow.ie/whats-on/the-corona-schools-workshops
!!!! Opportunity for Schools: VISUAL Carlow Online Workshops
VISUAL Carlow
Dates: Throughout February & March
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!
For further information or to book your place, email learning@visualcarlow.ie.
!!!! Weaving the Walk
Tell us the story of your project – What was the impetus? What was it about? Who was involved? How did you begin?
Artist Annabel Konig
When discussing the possible project with the teacher of the classes I was going to work with, we discovered that nature, observation, fabrics and the environment, were the main topics that were going to make up the project idea. Based on those, ‘weaving the walk’, was born. The idea was that each child would go for a walk with an adult and look at their surroundings differently, looking at textures, picking up weavable materials, make drawings and if they could, write words, in a notebook which would be their form of reference for the weaving we were going to make.
The frames for the weavings were made from branches that I brought in. Each child had to learn how to tie knots, measure string and create the framework. There was co-operation between the classes as some children were quite young.
Teacher Brenda Binions
I had previously taught the children some simple weaving techniques and am passionate about our local environment, so I was excited to collaborate with Annabel on this topic. We decided on this project very quickly during our first collaboration meeting. Prior to our first workshop, I spoke to the children about the project and they were very enthusiastic. I also sent a note home to the parents, outlining our ideas and asking for their help in taking the children for a walk and gathering suitable materials for our weaving. Unfortunately the weather hadn’t been very nice, so not all children had been for a walk so we took an observational walk around the school grounds and looked at the colours and textures we could see around us.
During the first workshop, Annabel discussed the project with the children. Some of the children had brought in materials for the weaving and we looked at these and discussed their suitability, or otherwise, with the children. When we started putting the frames together, it quickly became obvious that tying strings was too difficult for the younger children so we enlisted the help of the older classes to assist them. This lead to the project becoming a collaboration for the whole school, as, over the course of the project, all 48 children in the school had the opportunity to engage hands on in the project.
How were the ideas developed and how did the young people, artist and teacher work together?
Artist Annabel Konig
The second workshop centered on the brought in materials and drawings that the students had made. The drawings were the layout plan. Each child then made a general weaving plan, based on their own frame – some being horizontal, one vertical some large, etc. Both the school and myself had brought in additional soft, weavable materials, which were interpreted by the students as flowers, sheep, trees, grass and sky. The textures of the materials made the pupils consider what a bush might look like or a stream, a flower, etc.
At the end of the project, each child had a finished, or near to finished piece and could tell the story to someone else of how their walk was converted into a weaving.
Teacher Brenda Binions
Annabel asked the children to draw the story of their walk and then select suitable materials to represent the story. She asked them what they knew about weaving and explained the techniques that would be needed in this project. She explained the importance of tying the woven strands to support the structure of the weaving and discussed which materials might represent the different aspects of their walk. Again, the actual weaving was a challenge for some of the junior children. So we got some of the children in the senior room to help. We also had the assistance of our SNA in the room, which helped greatly. Some of the children found it difficult to get started on selecting materials and others grasped the concept straight away and showed great imagination in representing their walk in the weaving.
After each workshop, I asked the children to reflect on what they had been doing. We discussed it first and then they wrote about it. I put some of these responses in a scrapbook, along with photographs of the various stages, to keep as a record.
When they had finished their pieces of weaving, we took them to the other class to show them how they had turned out and each child told the “story” of their walk, as represented in their weaving.
What was your personal experience of the project in terms of successes and challenges?
Artist Annabel Konig
I always learn from children, the way they interpret ideas, the way they manage to work in materials – often different than I would so I re-discover the possibilities of working. Many of the students discovered that the even though their walks were similar, how they picked the fabrics to represent elements in the landscape, altered how others understood their work. The challenges some of the students found was that in their initial excitement after the project had been explained to them, is that they may have bitten off more than they could chew in the size of their frames. Big is not always better. Successes were many for each individual child, being able to stand up at the end of the process to explain their work, finding that they were good at something event though school work generally is hard for them and, as one little boy said to me ‘I know how to tie my shoelaces now’, shows that, through an art process one can obtain life skills.
Teacher Brenda Binions
I really enjoyed this project and I know the children did too. There were challenges for sure, not least where to store the weaving frames between workshops! We were very lucky in that we had a wide selection of weavable materials, some of which I had in the school but much of it was provided by Annabel . We had initially asked the children to bring in found materials which they could incorporate in their weaving, but much of this was unworkable and in the end, we mostly used fabric strips , wool and twine to represent the landscape. The children focused on colour and texture to represent their walk. We could not have done this project without adult assistance and the assistance of the children in the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th classes. However, the children gained great skills in selecting materials, weaving, cutting, tying and describing their work.
What was significant for you about the project that is worth sharing?
Artist Annabel Konig
Process, process, process. You can learn skills that cross over into other elements of life and school subjects. Learning through creativity can often not feel like homework or hard learning, it can be done through fun and ‘outside the box’ approaches.
Teacher Brenda Binions
I always value the chance to collaborate with an artist. In this case, the project stretched the children’s creativity and expanded their skills, not just in art but in awareness of their environment, developing their confidence and collaboration with others. They each had a great sense of achievement and were delighted to show and bring home their finished piece.
Has anything changed in your work as a result of the project?
Artist Annabel Konig
Any workshop I do with children always encourages me to do more and to up the anti. Young people are so much more able than we think, once you give them the skills to succeed.
Teacher Brenda Binions
I think that as a teacher, I am inclined to keep projects small and within the confines of the classroom. This project had inspired me to look beyond the classroom and think outside the box. It has inspired me to ask more of the children and, with help from other adults and older children, encourage the children to expand their creativity.
!!!! 2020 Spring Regional Day Programme Announced – Date Postponed
Arts in Education Portal
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.
Book early as tickets are already being reserved – www.eventbrite.ie/e/arts-in-education-portal-regional-day-carlow-tickets
Schedule
10:30am —registration & coffee
10.45am — Welcome
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,
1:00.pm—Q & A: whole panel of presenters
1:15pm—Lunch & networking
2.00pm—Hands-on Creative Workshop: Visual Artist, Maree Hensey
3:00pm—wrap up
!!!! Date Announced for the Arts in Education Portal Spring Regional Day 2020
Arts in Education Portal
Date: Saturday, 28 March 2020
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.
To book tickets for this free event go to www.eventbrite.ie/e/arts-in-education-portal-regional-day-carlow-tickets-86804088365
!!!! Opportunity: Music Generation Development Officers (6 Posts)
Music Generation
Deadline: 12 noon, Friday 28 September, 2018
Cavan & Monaghan ETB; Galway & Roscommon ETB; Kilkenny & Carlow ETB; and Mayo, Sligo & Leitrim ETB each invite applications for the position(s) of Music Generation Development Officer.
A Music Generation Development Officer(s) will be appointed by each Statutory Agency and will be responsible for managing an extensive performance music education programme on behalf of the Music Education Partnership in each area.
All areas have been selected for participation in 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.
Three-year, fixed-term contract.
Application forms, job descriptions and person specifications available online at the links below –
- etbjobs.ie (Cavan/Monaghan post)
- galwayroscommon.etb.ie (Galway City and Roscommon posts)
- kilkennycarlow.etb.ie (Kilkenny post)
- mayosligoleitrim.etb.ie (Mayo and Sligo posts)
Please note that each post requires a separate application.
Closing date for receipt of completed application forms: 12 noon, Friday 28 September, 2018
Cavan & Monaghan ETB; Galway & Roscommon ETB; Kilkenny & Carlow ETB; and Mayo, Sligo & Leitrim ETB are equal opportunities employers.
For further information go to www.musicgeneration.ie/news/article/opportunities-music-generation-development-officer-6-posts/