Baboró announces GROW programme to support artists in making work for children and young audiences
Baboró International Arts Festival for Children is delighted to announce details of its GROW programme, which aims to support Irish-based artists who are currently active in making work for children and young audiences, or who have an interest in doing so. Now in its 21st year, Baboró already has a long history of mentoring and supporting artists and educators who are committed to placing the creative development of children and young people at the heart of their work.
The GROW programme will continue to build on Baboró’s existing supports, and this October will also introduce two new strands; Pathways to Production and Festival Mentoring. Applications are now open for these new initiatives. The GROW programme hopes to solidify and support the development of artists and the TYA (Theatre for Young Audiences) sector in Galway and throughout the country. Baboró is delighted that the Irish Theatre Institute (ITI) will partner on GROW in an advisory capacity on the Pathways to Productionand Festival Mentoring strands.
The GROW programme includes a number of strands which interested candidates can apply for. Two of the recently introduced strands are Pathways to Production and Festival Mentoring.
1. Pathways to Production: Pathways to Production is a new initiative led by Baboró, which will commence in October 2017 and is funded by the Arts Council’s Theatre Artist Development Scheme. This scheme will see Baboró partner with Druid and the Mick Lally Theatre, Branar Téatar de Phaistí and Galway Theatre Festival to support artists and young companies to develop their ideas with a view to presenting a full performance piece. The scheme will involve workshops, sharings of works-in-progress as well as support in developing funding strategies.
The Pathways to Production programme will run from October 2017 to October 2018. This is a pilot programme and will be reviewed on an annual basis. Closing date for receipt of applications is 21 September 2017. Successful applicants will be notified by 29 September. For more details and to apply please see www.baboro.ie/grow
2. Festival Mentoring: Another new initiative from Baboró is the Festival Mentoring programme aimed at artists and creatives at any stage of their career, including those with an established career, who have never before made work for children. As part of the programme, participants will receive mentoring from two highly experienced individuals from the sector; Phil Kingston, Community and Education Manager at the Abbey Theatre and Maria Fleming, Chair of Theatre for Young Audiences Ireland (TYAI) and Freelance Producer. The four successful candidates will have an opportunity to attend shows during this year’s Baboró International Arts Festival for Children, which runs from 16 – 22 October in Galway, and will also attend industry and networking events.
The Festival Mentoring
The GROW programme is open to artists at any stage of their career throughout Ireland. For more information about these exciting new initiatives see www.baboro.ie/grow or call 091 562 667.
Baboró would like to acknowledge the support of The Arts Council for funding the GROW programme through The Arts Council’s Theatre Artist Development scheme.