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Arts in Education Portal 

Date: Saturday, 25th May 2024

The Arts in Education portal team are delighted to announce the full programme for our Spring Regional Day on Saturday 25 May in Sligo at Sligo Education Centre. 

We invite teachers, artists, arts managers and anyone with an interest in arts in education in Donegal, Mayo, Leitrim, Roscommon and Sligo to join us for this free event.

The programme for the day includes a series of presentations in the morning; teacher Triona O’Dowd Hill and artist Andy Parsons will discuss the collaborative journey embarked with Triona’s class in St. Cecilia’s School, a school that caters for students with moderate to profound learning disabilities. Following this discussion, Karen Brogan, a teacher from the West Sligo Creative Cluster will share their cluster journey where they explored themes within ecology and heritage through sculpture, sound and visual art and how they developed new and innovative ways of working co-operatively.

In the afternoon sample some creative spark with the choice between two creative workshops. STEAM facilitator Kathleen Gallagher, will provide educators with comprehensive training on utilising Scratch, a visual programming language, and Makey Makey, a circuit building invention kit, to create interactive art projects. Alternatively join Maeve Pudney to explore colour and pattern through Donegal yarn using a small weaving loom invented through her creative business Pop Out Projects. 

How to Book
Tickets for the 2024 Portal Spring Regional Day are free.  It is essential to book in advance as capacity is limited.

Book your place at:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/890236971747

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Schedule 

10:30am — Registration & coffee  

11.00am — Welcome & Introduction – The Portal: a brief introduction by Edel Doherty, Kids’ Own Publishing Partnership (Portal Content Manager) 

11:15am — Presentation: “Collaborations in Abstract sculpture” with Triona O’Dowd Hill and Andy Parsons

11:30am — Presentation: “Dúlra agus Dúchas: The Ties that Bind Us”; A Creative Cluster Journey from Beach Foraging to Beach Installation with Karen Brogan

11:45am — Bulletins from the Arts and Education sectors

12:00pm — Q & A: whole panel of presenters

12:20pm — Lunch & networking

1:00pm – 3:00pm — Parallel session: choice between two creative workshops:
“Engaging Minds: Interactive Art Workshop with Scratch and Makey Makey” with Kathleen Gallagher

Or 

“Learn to Weave Irish Tweed” with Maeve Pudney

– – – – Close – – – – 

Deadline extended: 6 March 2024

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 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 2024.

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 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:

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.

How to make a submission:

Note: this article was amended on 29/02/24 to revise the deadline for submission from Friday 1 to Wednesday 6 March

Ticket Booking Opens on 12th October!

Ticket booking for the Arts in Education 2023 National Portal Day will open on 12th October.

This year’s conference is taking place at Mary Immaculate College, Limerick 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 Programme will see a mix of presentations, smaller discussion-led sessions and creative workshops each addressing the special focus of ‘Seldom Heard Voices’ reflecting diversity and inclusion across school communities.

As previously announced The Portal Team is delighted to welcome guest speaker, artist/researcher Dr Jill Goodwin, who will deliver the conference keynote address. Using personal examples from her experience in schools, her research and her art practice, Jill will consider the spaces – both physical and psychological – we provide and inhabit. Can we make space to dream, to listen, to be?

Sneak Peek at the 2023 National Arts in Education Portal Day Programme

Presentation & Discussion: Seen and Heard – Refracting responses of children to a school-based theatre workshop and arising implications for the Arts and Education sectors

Lecturer in Drama Education Dr Tríona Stokes and Creative Producer/Curator Hannah Mullan will reflect on the findings from an engaged research project featuring a consultation with key stakeholders, including children, about the extent to which they felt seen and heard in a pre-production school-based theatre workshop by Monkeyshine. They will invite audience consideration and discussion for artists, teachers and teacher-artist collaboration and partnership.

Creative Workshop: Reflective Data Visualisation – Using art-based reflections to encourage participants to promote an individual as well as a collective understanding of social injustices.

Visual Art Education lecturer Anne Marie Morrin from Mary Immaculate College will present an original methodology called  ‘The Data Reflective Wall’. The focus of this workshop is (in)equality and will place the participants’ own understanding of inequality and social justice at the forefront of the learning experience, building a sense of empathy and collective responsibility into a teaching and learning experience.

Ticket bookings open at 12 noon, Thursday 12th October 2023. Tickets are free but pre booking is essential as capacity is limited.

For further enquiries please contact events@artsineducation.ie.

 

This year the 2023 National Arts in Education Portal Day is taking place at Mary Immaculate College, Limerick on Saturday, 11 November 2023 in partnership with the Department of Arts Education & Physical Education.

The Portal Team is delighted to welcome guest speaker, artist/researcher Dr. Jill Goodwin, highly respected for her practice working with children labelled as having profound and multiple learning disabilities, who will deliver the conference keynote address.

Dr Jill Goodwin

Dr Jill Goodwin is a UK-based artist/researcher with a background in education. Her experience working with children labelled as having ‘profound and multiple learning disabilities’ has led her to seek and explore ways of sharing meaning without words, and she sees the arts as key to this process. Jill has recently worked as a consultant, mentor and trainer with arts and educational organisations, as well as with individual artists. She was Visiting Research Fellow with the ‘Centre for Research in Inclusion’ at the University of Southampton from 2020 – 2023, and Researcher-in-Residence with Oily Cart, a London-based sensory theatre company, from 2020 – 2022. Jill’s own art work privileges the sensory over the intellectual, making it innately inclusive.

The full line-up of the national day will be announced soon when ticket bookings will open online. This year’s event will again 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.

For further enquiries please contact events@artsineducation.ie.

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.

Proposals should be submitted via Google Forms, click here to access the form.

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.

A sample of Helen’s work ‘Sculptunes’ can be found here: https://vimeo.com/368841151/4f10695b16

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.

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.

Arts in Education Portal 

Date: Saturday, 6th May 2023

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 Hayes will 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 Linnane will 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.

Book your place at https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/arts-in-education-portal-regional-day-south-west-tickets-600696769207

Online Viewing:

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

27th April – 27th May

Exhibition opening hours:

Tuesday – Saturday, 11am – 4pm

For further information on the Regional Day email events@artsineducation.ie.

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.

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.

Stay tuned for the full Spring Regional Day programme and booking details which will be announced in the coming weeks. Pre booking will be essential for attendance.

Deadline: 3 February 2023, 5pm

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

Download the submission form Portal Spring Regional Day Proposal Form 2023.

Deadline: 24 February 2023

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:

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.

How to make a submission:

Arts in Education Portal 

On Saturday 5th November, our community of artists, teachers and arts in education professionals came together for the seventh annual National Arts in Education Portal Day, our first in-person national conference since 2019. This years event took place at East Quad, TU Dublin, in partnership with TU Dublin School of Art and Design and Conservatoire of Music and Drama and the Erasmus+ International Teacher-Artist Partnership (I-TAP-PD) PD Programme.

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.

Dame Evelyn Glennie in conversation with Mark O'Brien at TU Dublin Conservatoire of Music and Dance Concert Hall

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.

St Agnes Teenage Chamber Orchestra performing at TU Dublin for the 2022 National Arts in Education Portal Day

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.

Delegates in discussion at 2022 National Arts in Education Portal Day

Image credit: 2022 National Arts in Education Portal Day. Photographer Cían Flynn (lookalive.ie)

This year the 2022 National Arts in Education Portal Day is back in-person and taking place at TU Dublin, School of Art and Design on Saturday, 5 November 2022 in partnership with the School of Art and Design and the Erasmus+ International Teacher-Artist Partnership (I-TAP-PD) PD Project.

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.

For further enquiries please contact events@artsineducation.ie.

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

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

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:

The successful applicant will have:

Desirable:

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.

Annual remuneration: €33,000–35,000 DOE. (pro-rata)

Applications:

Candidates should send a detailed CV and cover letter to Kids’ Own Creative Director,

Ciara Gallagher at: ciara@kidsown.ie by Wednesday 13 July, 5pm

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

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

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.

 

 

 

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.

 

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”.

Arts in Education
Deadline: 5pm, 31 March 2022

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 and workshops for the Portal Spring Regional Day 2022 with a focus on Kildare, Wicklow, Meath and Louth. This regional event will take place in the Mid-East at the Kildare Education Support Centre on Saturday, 7 May, 2022.

The event aims to connect teachers, artists, arts managers and anyone with an interest in arts in education based in Kildare, Wicklow, Meath and Louth. 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 Mid-East, 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.

Deadline: 5pm, 31 March 2022

Do you have a workshop or presentation that you would like to be included in the programme for the Portal Spring Regional Day? If so, please get in touch by email to editor@artsineducation.ie.

Further Information

 

Deadline: 25 February 2022

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:

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:

Please send your submission to: editor@artsineducation.ie by 5pm, Friday 25 February 2022.

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.

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.

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:

Additional criteria

How to make a submission:

Please send your submission to: editor@artsineducation.ie by 5pm, Friday 26th March 2021.

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.

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.

Facebook Live Video Links

Cultural Diversity in the Arts

Quality and Access; Can you have both?

Cultural Practice and the Digital Realm

Roundtable Panel Discussion

Session Resources 

Cultural Diversity in the Arts – Resources & Reference Document

Quality and Access; Can you have both? –Resources & Reference Document

Cultural Practice and the Digital Realm – Resources & Reference Document

Roundtable Panel Discussion –Resources & Reference Document

 

 

 

 

Arts in Education Portal

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.

For further information or queries please email editor@artsineducation.ie

 

 

 

The Creative Ireland Programme

Date: 13 June 2020

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. 

Cruinniú na nÓg 2020 is a collaboration between the Creative Ireland Programme, local authorities and RTÉ.

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/

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.

Download the submission form National Portal day Proposal Form 2020.

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.

‘Sculptunes’ interactive sculptural installation in the National Concert Hall 2019

‘Spine’ for promotional purposes 2017 (3 mins)

‘The Kaleidoscopic Child’ 2018

A few words from lead educator Audrey Fagan

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.

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.

Deadline: Friday 24th January 2020

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:

Additional criteria

How to make a submission:

Please send your submission to: editor@artsineducation.ie by 5pm, Friday 24th January 2020.

The Portal Team are delighted to announce the second two recipients of the 2019 Portal Documentation Awards. Starting next month, these projects will be showcased on the portal as the documentation progresses.

About the recipients….

Project – Gaelscoil an Chaisleáin with contemporary dance artist Lisa Cliffe

Lisa Cliffe (Cahill) is a contemporary dance artist, movement facilitator and educator. Lisa is working with Gaelscoil an Chaisleáin in Ballincollig, Co. Cork. Lisa and class teacher Sinéad Joy and school principal Máire Uí Shé are interested in creative engagement and active learning in and with the natural environment of a school site.

In October 2018, Lisa received an Arts Council Bursary Award to examine frames and methods of facilitating ‘experiential engagement’  with the natural environment through active exchange and performance appreciation. This research is taking place in partnership with Gaelscoil an Chaisleáin.

In partnership with the staff, children and wider community of Gaelscoil an Chaisleáin, they have developed a seasonal programme of activity, exchange and performance at the school site. A seasonal approach feels important to the partners in this project as they wish to slow down their engagement in the ‘artist/ teacher/ children’ partnership over the period of a year. The intention of this seasonal approach is to offer time to learn about, respond to and engage creatively with the changing environment of the school site in each season.

Developing the body’s sensory attunement through engagement with the natural environment is a key element of Lisa’s performance and facilitation practice. In partnership with Sinéad and Máire, Lisa wishes to make visible the processes, moments of joy and learning as part of this arts in primary education engagement.

Project – Creative Cluster Initiative – Bee Creative 

This project stemmed from the Teacher and Artist Partnership and the “Creative Cluster Initiative”.  Four schools in Kerry; Firies N.S, Killahan N.S, Dromclough N.S and Lenamore N.S, have come together to form a creative cluster. Each school has been paired with one of the following artists; Silke Michels – visual artist, Zoe Uí Fhaoláin Green – dance artist, Nicholas McLachlan – Writer and Fiona Ladden Loughlin – Textile artist; under facilitator Nikki Roberts.

The children’s work will be showcased in the national folk theatre, Siamsa Tíre on 3rd April 2019. There are 94 children involved in the project.  The stimulus for the project is bees and each school has used different forms of art to portray the importance of bees in our world.  The partners aim is to develop the creative potential of every child and to give participating children a high quality experience working with an artist and expert in their fields leading them to an appreciation of the interaction between artistic genres.

The Portal Team are delighted to announce that we have been in a position to award four Documentation Awards in 2019. Here we announce the first two recipients of the award.  These projects will be showcased on the portal as the documentation progresses.

About the recipients….

Project – Táim (Trail of Art in Midleton)

We are two visual artists based in Cork who have joined forces to collaborate with children and staff at Midleton College under the initiative entitled TÁIM. TÁIM (Trail of Art in Midleton) is also the Irish expression for ‘I am’. As such, we seek to instigate a collaborative and participatory conversation with students, which not only situates, but also explores and expands upon the theme of identity and place within our locale. 

Belinda Walsh, Visual Artist

Belinda is one of the founders and coordinators of Midleton Arts Festival, which is a celebration of creativity in the community where she lives. She enjoys the surprises and wellbeing benefits of bringing together artists and community groups in participatory projects. One of her special interests is the use of stop motion animation techniques to encourage both children and adults to communicate stories, ideas and concepts in a creative and original way.
She graduated from Crawford College of Art and Design, Cork in 2012 and lectures on Arts in Education and ICT in the Early Years in St Nicholas Montessori College.
She also works part time as an arts facilitator with East Cork Music Project.

For more information go to scribblemore123.simplesite.com

Lucia Parle, Visual Artist

Lucia is a social Entrepreneur with excellent communication and administration skills. She has over 20 years experience of community arts facilitation, engaging with a broad spectrum of individuals and groups. Her strong coordination skills are underpinned by a strengths based, person centered approach. She is highly committed to the core principles of community development and the arts. She graduated from Crawford College of Art and Design, Cork in 2003, after which she received a research and development award from Social Entrepreneurs Ireland. In 2015, she co coordinated an Erasmus+ project to take twenty five young ECMP course participants to Sweden to take part in a music and arts project.

In 2016, herself and Belinda Walsh received an award from Cork county Municipal districts Creative communities Scheme to co-ordinate an art project entitled RAW in the local area of Midleton – view the video.

She is currently working in East Cork Music Project as an assistant coordinator leading the art department.

Project – Future Forms Activate Citizenship

Future Forms is a creative engagement project that invites Cork schools, third-level students and community groups to work with artists to create artworks that imagine what their city and urban environment might look like in 200 years time. Participants will explore future visions of Cork through a focus on active citizenship, encouraging all of us to think about ways in which we can get involved in positively influencing the form of our own city.

The Glucksman

The Glucksman is a contemporary art museum in the historic grounds of University College Cork. It was opened by President Mary McAleese in October 2004 and since then has won numerous awards for its architecture and creative programmes. The Glucksman presents ambitious exhibitions of Irish and international art in tandem with a wide range of events and activities designed to encourage participation from all visitors, whether an art professional or first time gallery-goer.

The Glucksman is a place of creative connections between people and disciplines, and is committed to providing world- class art and architecture for all ages and abilities. Enabling access to, and creative engagement with, contemporary art is one of the central pillars of our work, and the team has a strong record of arts in education at every level from primary to postgraduate to professional development. The beautiful setting of the museum in the historic lower grounds of the university as well as a dedicated education space and restaurant, mean that the specific provisions necessary to provide a fully supported experience for people of all ages and abilities can be delivered directly on site.

For more information go to – www.glucksman.org/

 

 

 

 

As 2018 comes to a close, members of the Arts in Education Portal Editorial Committee have paid tribute to Orla Kenny, long-time Creative Director of Kids’ Own Publishing Partnership, who passed away in July. Here, members of the committee remember their first encounters with Orla and reflect on their experiences of working with her in different capacities within the arts and education sector. As director of Kids’ Own (the organisation that won the tender for leading the development of the Portal in 2014) Orla was instrumental in the stakeholder consultation process, design, development and management of the Arts in Education Portal in close consultation and collaboration with the Editorial Committee.

Remembering Orla

I first met Orla when Kids’ Own Publishing Partnership won the tender to advise on the building of the Arts in Education Portal in 2014. I had been aware of her work and publications prior to that. Apart from her vast knowledge I was instantly struck by her skills and expertise in working with the Portal Advisory Committee who were a heterogeneous group of people from education, arts and technology backgrounds. No question posed was too basic and her warm encouraging smile led to great working relationships. She took the concept of the Portal from concept phase to its official launch in the Printworks in Dublin Castle on the 19th May 2015. The Portal is now the key national digital resource for arts and education practice in Ireland, and thanks to Orla and her team, underpinning the continued development of the Portal is a strong and implicit shared belief amongst all stakeholders of the intrinsic value of the arts in the lives of children. She was a passionate advocate for the integration of the arts in education and she championed the voice of the child and the rights of all children to fulfil their creative potential. She is sadly missed by the large community of practice which has developed over the last six years and amongst whom she was a shining star. The last time we met she was with her beautiful son Oscar. I count myself very lucky to have worked with Orla.

Katie Sweeney, Chair of the Arts in Education Portal Editorial Committee

I recall my first meeting with Orla when Simon Spain introduced her as the new Director at Kids’ Own and his successor (he was departing for Australia). He chose well! – as the legacy of his and her work will ultimately prove. Orla worked with us in 2003 on their first exhibition to share the innovative work that they were developing in schools north and south of the border – Multimedia Maps (the result of a three-year project initiated and run by Kids’ Own Publishing Partnership) The project placed artists in school communities in the border counties in Ireland to investigate the use of new technologies as tools for creativity and the exchange of ideas. From 2000 to 2001 over 500 children in the border counties of Armagh, Cavan, Donegal, Down, Sligo and Tyrone, worked with six artists – Owen Crawford, Julie Forrester, Angela Ginn, Rachel Glynne, Ann Henderson and Sharon Kelly – in a series of residencies as part of the project. Orla was a perfectionist and knew that to show the quality of engagement that was happening in the artists’ residencies she had to have this reflected in the exhibition as well.

Seeing how the work of Kids’ Own developed since then and talking with artists who were nurtured by her supportive process has been wonderful. She will be missed by so many and it was a privilege to work with her over the past few years as a member of the Portal Steering Group.

Helen O Donoghue, Senior Curator Engagement and Learning IMMA

I first encountered Orla when we were both working towards a Postgraduate Teaching Diploma in Art and Design Education in Limerick School of Art, which she embraced with energy, ambition and inquisition. Some years later, our paths crossed again, soon after I started working in Kildare County Council and Orla, in Kids’ Own, when we collaborated on ‘Can’t Loose Cant’, a stunning pictionary with words in English, Irish and Cant. I admired her commitment to creating something with a strong aesthetic, while ensuring that the children involved were immersed in the process and that the local Traveller community were consulted on the use of Cant. In recent years, Orla and Kids’ Own led a series of artists workshops in Kildare (and further afield) on documentation, reflection and evaluation of work in education contexts – a much needed discipline that many artists neglect and that Orla was a huge advocate for. More recently again, Orla put her shoulder to the wheel on www.artsineducation.ie.

My children are a similar age to Orla’s son and over the years, we compared the usual milestones and dramas. My heart hurts at the idea of a child loosing a parent. I’m not sure that there is comfort to be found when a vibrant young woman dies. But if there is comfort, let it be in a life lived to the full, jam packed with passion, creativity and a desire to share what is good.

Lucina Russell, Arts Officer, Kildare County Council

The first time I met Orla was in The Model in Sligo. In spite of wearing a suit and tie, by the afternoon, she had me sitting in the lotus position, in a circle with artist Maree Hensey and others reflecting on the art work we had completed. She smiled when she saw me. With that smile she was able to disarm everyone of their inhibitions and positive work ensued. This sense of humour combined with a vision for the arts witnessed her bringing Kids’ Own Publishing on to a national and international stage. One of her great legacies will be the first ever Arts in Education Portal in Ireland. She was taken from us all too soon. It was wonderful to have known and worked with her.

Dermot Carney, Arts Officer, National Association of Principles and Deputy Principle 

My overriding memory of Orla is of her great positivity, her humour and her practicality. You always laughed a lot in her company but she was completely serious about the work of Kids’ Own and its impact on children and young people. The depth of her knowledge was incredible and you can see this in the Arts in Education Portal which is her great legacy to us that she built with such passion with her wonderful team. It was a privilege to know her.

Deirdre Behan, Strategic Development Director, The Arts Council

Orla was the sort of person who lit up a room, whom you smiled to see when she walked into a meeting. She was fun and funny, and knew that levity was never mutually exclusive to serious intent. You knew she took her work and your work and especially children’s work very seriously. She respected it all alike, and made you feel valuable by that respectful attention. And she was a very attentive and bright presence, responsive, quick to pick up on people’s feelings and concerns. Jo and she came to teach us about documentation once at the Abbey and she was a clear and patient teacher, eager to involve us in the learning and to build on what existing skills we could bring to the process. It was in that session I realised how enormously skilled she was and how lightly she could deliver it. Personally I liked her very much and felt grateful that such a dynamic and visionary figure was part of the Arts in Education Portal and so we would work together regularly. Quietly I’d started to use her as a measure for what artistically inspired project leadership looked like. Her loss hurts but I hope she can be continuously celebrated by keeping her standards of commitment and joyful engagement alive in our work.

Phil Kingston, Community and Education Manager, The Abbey Theatre 

What I loved most about Orla was her passion for the Arts and Education – a marriage which offers children and young people experiences which open up their lives and their creativity. She was always a pleasure to work with – her expertise and her dogged determination underpinned by humour, compassion and joy brought us all pathways to investigate, express and take delight in the work we all try to do. We will sadly miss her inspiring presence but will continue to celebrate the Kids’ Own legacy created by herself and Jo and carry her inspiration with us.

Emelie Fitzgibbon, CEO Graffiti Theatre Company 

Deadline: Friday 7th December 2018

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 2019.

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:

 

Additional criteria

 

How to make a submission:

Please send your submission to: editor@artsineducation.ie by 5pm, Friday 7th December 2018.

The Arts in Education Portal Documentation Award recipient project, the Young Playwright’s Programme, culminated on Friday, June 22nd in a presentation of staged readings involving professional actors and directors at the Everyman as part of the Cork Midsummer Festival and in association with Landmark Productions and The Everyman’s staging of Louise O’Neill’s award winning novel Asking For It.

Between January and June 2018, the nine young playwrights selected over a series of Saturday workshops, had the the opportunity to work with  professional playwright mentors John McCarthy and Katie Holly at Graffiti Theatre Company as part of Fighting Words Cork to help them create the short dramatic pieces that were staged last week.  In addition, the young playwrights were invited by The Everyman to attend selected performances throughout the programme, to inspire and inform their work.

Award-winning Cork author Louise O’Neill is a patron of Fighting Words Cork, and Asking For It has been described as “one of the most important books for young people ever written. Deeply moving, incredibly written.”

The Fighting Words programme was developed by Roddy Doyle and Séan Love in 2009 in Dublin to provide a space to support creative writing among children and young adults. In January 2017 the programme was launched at Graffiti Theatre Company.

The Young Playwright’s Programme

Date: 2pm 22nd June, 2018

The Arts in Education Portal Documentation Award recipient project the Young Playwright’s Programme to showcase at The Everyman as part of the Cork Midsummer Festival.

The Young Playwrights’ Programme brought together nine aspiring young writers to develop and hone scriptwriting skills, supported by professional playwright mentors John McCarthy and Katie Holly at Graffiti Theatre Company as part of Fighting Words Cork.

The project culminates in a presentation of their work as staged readings at the Everyman for Cork Midsummer Festival. The process which these young people have engaged with was truly transformative, far more powerful than the simple assembly of words on pages. This enriching collaborative environment has acted as a catalyst for the unique voices of the Young Playwrights and led to the creation of these nine compelling pieces.

Graffiti/Fighting Words Cork are really proud to be working with these wonderful young people in collaboration with The Everyman, Landmark Productions and The Cork Midsummer Festival as part of a programme of events in connection with Asking For It funded through the Arts Councils Open Call Awards.

This event is free but ticketed.

To RSVP you can just call the Everyman box office at 021 450 1673 or emailing info@everymancork.com

Professor John Coolahan R.I.P.

Chairperson of the High Level Implementation Group for the Arts in Education Charter, Professor John Coolahan, passed away last Sunday 3rdJune 2018, surrounded by his loving family. He had been ill for the last year and fought his illness in the same way he lived his life, with dignity.

John was a pivotal figure in Irish education policy for more than 50 years and was often referred to as the “Father of Irish Education”. He was an academic, a researcher, an author, a primary and second-level teacher and an adviser to successive governments on the drafting of educational policy. John Coolahan, who was Professor Emeritus of Education at Maynooth University, lectured extensively in Ireland and abroad. He wrote three books, including Irish Education, its History and Structure (1981), and published more than 120 articles in Irish and international journals. He is widely credited with shaping a modern vision for Irish education, underpinned by legislation, and he also chaired the Irish Forum on Patronage and Pluralism in the primary sector. He was a “colossus in Irish education” and his life was an inspiration for all who care about teaching, learning and research.

He was a founding member and president of the Educational Studies Association of Ireland and was editor of Irish Educational Studies. He had numerous public service roles and served on a range of Ministerial committees and on the boards of educational and cultural bodies. At international level, he was a member of the OECD’s review team on education and was vice-president of the EU committee on education. He was also a consultant to the World Bank and the Council of Europe, a member of the review body on education in Northern Ireland, and the co-founder and co-chairman of the standing conference on teacher education, North and South.

To us associated with the Arts in Education Portal, he will be remembered as the Chairperson and the voice of the Arts in Education Charter. He was jointly appointed in 2013 by the then Minister for Education and Skills Ruarai Quinn and Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Mr Jimmy Denihan as Chairperson of the High Level Implementation Group for the Arts in Education Charter. He was a passionate advocate for the integration of the arts in education both within and outside of the school environment and he championed the rights of all children to fulfil their creative potential. He was so delighted and proud of the achievements of the Arts in Education Charter which included initiatives such as the launch of the Arts in Education Portal, Teacher-Artist Partnership as a model for CPD, Irelands Arts Education Research Repository and various other initiatives. He believed in dialogue, collaboration and mutual respect for all organisations and stakeholders in the area of arts in education.

I had the privilege of working with John as a member of the High Level Implementation Group for the Arts in Education Charter since 2013. I count myself very lucky to have had this experience and be mentored by John on the integration of the arts in education. I learned so much from him and all the fantastic people and committee’s we met over the last five years. I was proud to call him my friend as was everyone we encountered. He was a gentleman, a scholar and the kindest and most modest person I have ever had the pleasure to work with.  Ní bheidh a leithéid arís ann.

Dr. Katie Sweeney, Chairperson of the Arts in Education Portal Editorial Committee & National Director for the Integration of the Arts in Education.

“Be assertive in making space for the arts in education” Professor Gary Granville

On April 21st the third arts in education portal national day took place at Maynooth University in partnership with Froebel Department of Primary and Early Childhood Education. The portal national day is building momentum as a very significant event in the arts and education calendar in Ireland. With over 100 artists, teachers and arts in education professionals in attendance with 22 workshops and lectures across the day by a range of presenters from the sector and inspirational insights from our guest speakers Professor Gary Granville and Paul Collard. Thanks to all involved in making day a huge success!

Clare Breen's breadfellows' chats workshop

We are delighted to announce the guest speakers for the third annual Arts in Education Portal National Day on April 21st in Maynooth University in partnership with Froebel Department of Primary and Early Childhood Education. Our day begins with a welcome from Professor Gary Granville, Emeritus Professor of Education at the National College of Art and Design (NCAD) & Dr. Katie Sweeney – National Director for the Integration of the Arts, Department of Education and Skills (DES).

We welcome Josepha Madigan T.D, Minister for Culture, Heritage & the Gaeltacht to speak on the day along with guest speaker Paul Collard, Chief Executive of Creativity, Culture and Education (CCE). 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.

To book your place go to arts-in-education-portal-national-day-2018-tickets.eventbrite.ie

Josepha Madigan T.D, Minister for Culture, Heritage & the Gaeltacht

Josepha Madigan was appointed as Minister for Culture, Heritage & the Gaeltacht on 30th November 2017.  She is an award-winning Family Lawyer, a qualified mediator and is passionate about mediation. She published a book entitled “Appropriate Dispute Resolution in Ireland” and served as Specialist Liaison Officer for Family Mediation with the Mediators’ Institute of Ireland, lectured in the area of family law and has written newspaper articles on this subject.

The Minister believes in a society that is progressive and creative, and is passionate about using both her business and legal skills in assisting citizens.

Professor Gary Granville, Emeritus Professor of Education at the National College of Art and Design (NCAD)

Gary Granville is Emeritus Professor of Education at the National College of Art and Design (NCAD), Dublin. He served as Interim Director of NCAD after spending some sixteen years as Head of School of Education.  The School of Education NCAD is the leading centre of research in art education in Ireland, with graduate programmes in arts leadership, in socially engaged art and in doctoral research in arts education.

He was formerly Assistant Chief Executive of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) in Ireland. In that capacity, he oversaw the design and introduction of national programmes, including the Leaving Certificate Applied, the Junior Cycle Schools Programme and initiatives in citizenship education, in enterprise education and in the arts.  In recent years he has chaired the NCCA Development Group for Art at junior cycle and more recently, the design of a new programme for Leaving Certificate Art.

Dr. Granville has been a member of the Higher Education Authority and of specialist committees of the Teaching Council, NCCA and other national and international bodies. He has worked on international projects in Europe and Africa. His research interests are in the fields of education policy, art and design education, curriculum and assessment, and educational evaluation.

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.

Paul Collard, Chief Executive of Creativity, Culture and Education (CCE)

Paul Collard is Chief Executive of Creativity, Culture and Education (CCE) an international foundation dedicated to unlocking the creativity of young people in and out of formal education.  CCE was established to design and  manage the delivery of the Creative Partnerships (CP) programme in England from 2002-11. The success and impact of the programme attracted considerable international attention and CCE now supports the delivery of programmes modelled on CP across a wide range of European countries including Norway, Lithuania, Holland, Germany, the Czech Republic, Romania, and Hungary.   In Wales, CCE is advising the Arts Council of Wales and the Welsh Government on its £20 million Creative Learning through the Arts Plan, which now has over 550 schools enrolled and in Scotland, it is piloting its Art of Learning programme in partnership with Creative Scotland and Education Scotland.

 

 

The Arts in Education Portal editorial team have begun visiting sites of the recipients of our Documentation Award.

Earlier this month, we visited St Ibar’s National School, in Castlebridge, Wexford where artist Clare Breen has been working since October 2017 with 3rd and 5th classes. Each Wednesday she has worked in 2 sessions, responding to the work of 10 different international artists, including her own. The project is titled Breadfellows’ Chats with the Living Arts Project. The Living Arts Project was established in 2013 as a long-term visual arts education scheme, supporting the existing partnership between Wexford Arts Centre and the Arts Department of Wexford County Council.

The question “what does an artist do?” is at the center of this project. Breen selected 10 artists whose work is very diverse, and she has introduced the children to as wide a spectrum as possible of contemporary material processes. They have worked with painting, collage, sculpture, performance and the body, textiles, writing, film, photography, ceramics and sound. It was also important to Breen that the activities would cover the 3rd and 5th class art curriculum during the weekly sessions.

IMG_8173_edit

In week one the children made tunics to wear each week to protect their clothes. The tunics are painted with images responding to the question

If you were not a human, what would you like to be?

This could be an animal or an object, an alien or a monster, anything you can think of, but it should reflect some of your best qualities. (If this question is very difficult you can ask your friends for some help!)

This question was formulated as an alternative introduction that is not based on nationality, age, gender etc. to leave space for improvisation, allowing all to introduce themselves on their own terms. Working collaboratively, the children drew around one another while lying on the ground to find their shape; the traced figure became the outline for a tunic. Each child then painted on the tunic’s ‘tummy’ the animal/ object/ monster/ alien they had selected to wear over their uniform for the coming weeks.

The accompanying photos show the children in their tunics working on a painting project responding to the work of artist Sarah de Wilde.

IMG_8021-1-edit

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are delighted to announce that the recipients of the Arts in Education Portal Documentation Award are playwright and actor John McCarthy and Visual Artist Clare Breen. We are very excited to be working with them in the coming months to document their projects, the Young Playwrights Programme (Cork) and Breadfellows’ Chats (Wexford). These projects will be showcased on the portal as the documentation progresses.

About the recipients….

IMG_0001_edit2John McCarthy, Playwright & Actor

I am a playwright and actor who works with young people in theatre and writing. I work as a facilitator with Activate Youth Theatre and Fighting Words Cork, as well as Creative Learning coordinator with Graffiti Theatre Company.

I was part of the Next Stage at Dublin Theatre Festival this year, and am currently the recipient of an Arts Council Theatre Bursary for playwriting. Finished Once, and Ready, a new work in development with Arts Council project funding was performed in recent showings in Cork (School of Music) and Dublin (Irish Theatre Institute). I wrote Stage Irish, which won the Writers Guild of Great Britain Playwrights Progress Award 2014 and and co-wrote Hollander, nominated Best Production at Irish Theatre Awards 2010. I write and direct the online audiodrama `In Darkness Vast’.

For more information go to www.hammergrin.com

Clare Breen, Visual Artist

Clare_Breen_compaions_yellow_brick_edit_sq_smI am an artist and arts educator working in a variety of contexts. In my practice I conduct Breadfellows’ Chats. I have developed this artistic research methodology to adapt to many different environments. It is based on dialogical and relational artistic processes, considering conversation and collaborative making as constructive learning methodologies. I produce ceramics, meals, exhibitions and workshops collaboratively with other artists, curators, arts educators, historians, conservators, teachers and children. Talking and making together, followed by the sharing of food, are foregrounded in my practice as intimate gestures of care.

I obtained a BA in Fine Art from NCAD, Dublin in 2011 and a Masters in Education in the Arts from the Piet Zwart Institute, Rotterdam in 2016. In 2017 I moved to Athens to work as part of the documenta 14 education team and completed a residency at Yellow Brick Project Space. I am currently artist in residence at Castlebridge National School through the Living Arts Project run by Wexford Arts Center. I have developed a programme over 15 weeks with 3rd and 5th class beginning from the Breadfellows’ Chats methodology. I am also working in collaboration with Katy Fitzpatrick and Aislinn O’Donnell at Temple Bar Gallery + Studios in response to the work of Otobong Nkanga and with Jennie Guy’s Art School as part of the EVA International education programme.

For more information go to www.clarebreen.net

Artists, teachers, academics and arts education professionals….Do you want to be part of the third annual Arts in Education Portal National Day?

The Arts in Education National Day will take place at Maynooth University – Froebel Department of Primary and Early Childhood Education on Saturday 21st April. The event aims to 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.

We are inviting 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.

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.

Deadline for submission of proposals is Friday 2nd February 2018. .

Download the submission form here

Deadline: Friday 8th December 2017

The Arts in Education Portal editorial team are pleased to invite applications for a documentation award from organisations or individuals who are leading arts in education initiatives. Through the award, successful applicants will receive services to the value of €4,000 that will support them in the documentation of a current or upcoming project.

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 April 2018.

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:

Additional criteria

How to make a submission:

Please submit the following to the Arts in Education Portal Team:

Please send your submission to: editor@artsineducation.ie by Friday 8th December 2017

We just had our final session of the online course, ‘Documenting Projects and Events’. The five weekly online conversations covered a range of topics surrounding the documentation of artwork and events. The participants on the course included a mixture of artists, educators and organisations working in different media (painting, sculpture, lens-based, performance) and carrying out different processes (workshops, artworks, and live events). Given this variety, the course took a participant-led format that based discussion around individual responses to weekly tasks and provocations.

Week-to-week, participants were asked to populate their own mini-website with their responses to tasks that focused on varying forms of artwork documentation. These included documentation in text, still image, and audiovisual (moving image/sound). In an attempt to broaden and challenge each participant’s approach to documentation in these media, tasks solicited examples of a range of formats with varying intentions and potential audiences.  For example, promotional material for the general public; report for a funding organisation; material for an archive or portfolio; and notation for another artist to carry out a project.

The pace of the conversation really heated up in the last two weeks, darting around the various aspects of capturing and processing still and moving image. The discussion regularly turned to the online presence of artists and organisations and the various functions of their websites and social media presence – portfolio/archive/promotion/journalling. Whilst the chat sometimes took in tech-talk (digital file-types, recording gear, etc.), the diversity of the group led to a most advantageous sharing of ideas and concepts around the intentions and potentials of arts education documentation.

The group related an invigorated enthusiasm and curiosity about the ways in which they might capture their work, encouraged by the interdisciplinary discussion. In exploring what (and how) artefacts might be logged and captured, we have considered more critically how works and events might be preserved, shared and perceived by a myriad of potential stakeholders. I have been taking notes and observations throughout the course and will be sharing these as a resource with the group and other members of the Arts in Education Portal for future reference and inspiration.

Artist, John D’Arcy (Course Leader)

The Arts in Education Portal online documentation course kicked off on January 16th. Digital artist John D’Arcy gives us an update:

“We recently had our first session of the online course ‘Documenting Projects and Events’.  The course brings together artists, educators and organisations in a weekly online conversation about how we document the work we make.

During the first session the course participants introduced themselves, each waving into the webcam of their laptop, tablet or phone from a different corner of the island.  We practice in a diverse range of artforms: painting, sculpture, lens-based, performance, dance, sound – some working as freelance artists and others with arts organisations.

Our conversation revealed that many of us have experience capturing documentation of our own work (and that of others) through still image, video and audio.  However, many of us identified problematic aspects with these processes and are looking for alternative ways to capture documentation whilst in the flow of a workshop or event.  Some of the group are particularly interested in exploring experimental techniques for documenting their work.

We also spoke about some of the issues related to presenting work online in web portfolios and on social media, with some participants hoping to discuss this further in future sessions.

As the conversation came to a close, I gave the group their task for the next session – to create a website or blog where they will host their work for the course from week to week. To kick off the conversation next time we will be discussing some examples of documentation that have particularly inspired us in the past and jump off from there”.

Writers in Schools Scheme

Poetry Ireland’s 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).

Over the past 22 years, the scheme has given more than 500,000 children the chance to work closely with writers in the classroom. Poetry Ireland believes that the creative energy sparked by these first-hand encounters with writers can trigger an appreciation of the emotional and intellectual power of language that lasts a lifetime.

Writers in Schools single visits are:

B type visits (4 hours/ cost €200/ £170) are reserved for special projects, with more information available upon request.

To apply for the Writers in Schools single visit, please visit: Writers in Schools scheme | Poetry Ireland | Poetry Ireland


!!!! 2024 Portal Spring Regional Day – Programme Announced

Arts in Education Portal 

Date: Saturday, 25th May 2024

The Arts in Education portal team are delighted to announce the full programme for our Spring Regional Day on Saturday 25 May in Sligo at Sligo Education Centre. 

We invite teachers, artists, arts managers and anyone with an interest in arts in education in Donegal, Mayo, Leitrim, Roscommon and Sligo to join us for this free event.

The programme for the day includes a series of presentations in the morning; teacher Triona O’Dowd Hill and artist Andy Parsons will discuss the collaborative journey embarked with Triona’s class in St. Cecilia’s School, a school that caters for students with moderate to profound learning disabilities. Following this discussion, Karen Brogan, a teacher from the West Sligo Creative Cluster will share their cluster journey where they explored themes within ecology and heritage through sculpture, sound and visual art and how they developed new and innovative ways of working co-operatively.

In the afternoon sample some creative spark with the choice between two creative workshops. STEAM facilitator Kathleen Gallagher, will provide educators with comprehensive training on utilising Scratch, a visual programming language, and Makey Makey, a circuit building invention kit, to create interactive art projects. Alternatively join Maeve Pudney to explore colour and pattern through Donegal yarn using a small weaving loom invented through her creative business Pop Out Projects. 

How to Book
Tickets for the 2024 Portal Spring Regional Day are free.  It is essential to book in advance as capacity is limited.

Book your place at:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/890236971747

– – – – – – – –

Schedule 

10:30am — Registration & coffee  

11.00am — Welcome & Introduction – The Portal: a brief introduction by Edel Doherty, Kids’ Own Publishing Partnership (Portal Content Manager) 

11:15am — Presentation: “Collaborations in Abstract sculpture” with Triona O’Dowd Hill and Andy Parsons

11:30am — Presentation: “Dúlra agus Dúchas: The Ties that Bind Us”; A Creative Cluster Journey from Beach Foraging to Beach Installation with Karen Brogan

11:45am — Bulletins from the Arts and Education sectors

12:00pm — Q & A: whole panel of presenters

12:20pm — Lunch & networking

1:00pm – 3:00pm — Parallel session: choice between two creative workshops:
“Engaging Minds: Interactive Art Workshop with Scratch and Makey Makey” with Kathleen Gallagher

Or 

“Learn to Weave Irish Tweed” with Maeve Pudney

– – – – Close – – – – 

!!!! Opportunity: Portal Documentation Award 2024

Deadline extended: 6 March 2024

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 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 2024.

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 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:

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.

How to make a submission:

Note: this article was amended on 29/02/24 to revise the deadline for submission from Friday 1 to Wednesday 6 March

!!!! Get Ready for the 2023 National Arts in Education Portal Day!

Ticket Booking Opens on 12th October!

Ticket booking for the Arts in Education 2023 National Portal Day will open on 12th October.

This year’s conference is taking place at Mary Immaculate College, Limerick 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 Programme will see a mix of presentations, smaller discussion-led sessions and creative workshops each addressing the special focus of ‘Seldom Heard Voices’ reflecting diversity and inclusion across school communities.

As previously announced The Portal Team is delighted to welcome guest speaker, artist/researcher Dr Jill Goodwin, who will deliver the conference keynote address. Using personal examples from her experience in schools, her research and her art practice, Jill will consider the spaces – both physical and psychological – we provide and inhabit. Can we make space to dream, to listen, to be?

Sneak Peek at the 2023 National Arts in Education Portal Day Programme

Presentation & Discussion: Seen and Heard – Refracting responses of children to a school-based theatre workshop and arising implications for the Arts and Education sectors

Lecturer in Drama Education Dr Tríona Stokes and Creative Producer/Curator Hannah Mullan will reflect on the findings from an engaged research project featuring a consultation with key stakeholders, including children, about the extent to which they felt seen and heard in a pre-production school-based theatre workshop by Monkeyshine. They will invite audience consideration and discussion for artists, teachers and teacher-artist collaboration and partnership.

Creative Workshop: Reflective Data Visualisation – Using art-based reflections to encourage participants to promote an individual as well as a collective understanding of social injustices.

Visual Art Education lecturer Anne Marie Morrin from Mary Immaculate College will present an original methodology called  ‘The Data Reflective Wall’. The focus of this workshop is (in)equality and will place the participants’ own understanding of inequality and social justice at the forefront of the learning experience, building a sense of empathy and collective responsibility into a teaching and learning experience.

Ticket bookings open at 12 noon, Thursday 12th October 2023. Tickets are free but pre booking is essential as capacity is limited.

For further enquiries please contact events@artsineducation.ie.

 

!!!! Dr. Jill Goodwin Announced As Keynote Speaker for 2023 National Arts In Education Portal Day

This year the 2023 National Arts in Education Portal Day is taking place at Mary Immaculate College, Limerick on Saturday, 11 November 2023 in partnership with the Department of Arts Education & Physical Education.

The Portal Team is delighted to welcome guest speaker, artist/researcher Dr. Jill Goodwin, highly respected for her practice working with children labelled as having profound and multiple learning disabilities, who will deliver the conference keynote address.

Dr Jill Goodwin

Dr Jill Goodwin is a UK-based artist/researcher with a background in education. Her experience working with children labelled as having ‘profound and multiple learning disabilities’ has led her to seek and explore ways of sharing meaning without words, and she sees the arts as key to this process. Jill has recently worked as a consultant, mentor and trainer with arts and educational organisations, as well as with individual artists. She was Visiting Research Fellow with the ‘Centre for Research in Inclusion’ at the University of Southampton from 2020 – 2023, and Researcher-in-Residence with Oily Cart, a London-based sensory theatre company, from 2020 – 2022. Jill’s own art work privileges the sensory over the intellectual, making it innately inclusive.

The full line-up of the national day will be announced soon when ticket bookings will open online. This year’s event will again 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.

For further enquiries please contact events@artsineducation.ie.

!!!! Call for Papers, Presentations and Workshops! 2023 National Arts in Education Portal Day

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.

Proposals should be submitted via Google Forms, click here to access the form.

!!!! Part 3: Announcing the Arts in Education Portal Documentation Award Recipients

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.

A sample of Helen’s work ‘Sculptunes’ can be found here: https://vimeo.com/368841151/4f10695b16

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.

!!!! Part 2 – Announcing the 2023 Arts in Education Portal Documentation Award Recipients

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.

!!!! 2023 Portal Spring Regional Day – Programme Announced

Arts in Education Portal 

Date: Saturday, 6th May 2023

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 Hayes will 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 Linnane will 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.

Book your place at https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/arts-in-education-portal-regional-day-south-west-tickets-600696769207

Online Viewing:

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

27th April – 27th May

Exhibition opening hours:

Tuesday – Saturday, 11am – 4pm

For further information on the Regional Day email events@artsineducation.ie.

!!!! Part 1 – Announcing the 2023 Arts in Education Portal Documentation Award Recipients

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.

!!!! Portal Spring Regional Day 2023: Collaborative Arts in Education exhibition with Sample-Studios

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.

Stay tuned for the full Spring Regional Day programme and booking details which will be announced in the coming weeks. Pre booking will be essential for attendance.

!!!! Call for presentations: Portal Spring Regional Day 2023

Deadline: 3 February 2023, 5pm

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

Download the submission form Portal Spring Regional Day Proposal Form 2023.

!!!! Opportunity: Portal Documentation Award 2023

Deadline: 24 February 2023

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:

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.

How to make a submission:

!!!! 2022 National Arts in Education Portal Day – Roundup

Arts in Education Portal 

On Saturday 5th November, our community of artists, teachers and arts in education professionals came together for the seventh annual National Arts in Education Portal Day, our first in-person national conference since 2019. This years event took place at East Quad, TU Dublin, in partnership with TU Dublin School of Art and Design and Conservatoire of Music and Drama and the Erasmus+ International Teacher-Artist Partnership (I-TAP-PD) PD Programme.

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.

Dame Evelyn Glennie in conversation with Mark O'Brien at TU Dublin Conservatoire of Music and Dance Concert Hall

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.

St Agnes Teenage Chamber Orchestra performing at TU Dublin for the 2022 National Arts in Education Portal Day

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.

Delegates in discussion at 2022 National Arts in Education Portal Day

Image credit: 2022 National Arts in Education Portal Day. Photographer Cían Flynn (lookalive.ie)

!!!! 2022 National Arts in Education Portal Day – Guest Speakers

This year the 2022 National Arts in Education Portal Day is back in-person and taking place at TU Dublin, School of Art and Design on Saturday, 5 November 2022 in partnership with the School of Art and Design and the Erasmus+ International Teacher-Artist Partnership (I-TAP-PD) PD Project.

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.

For further enquiries please contact events@artsineducation.ie.

!!!! 2022 Portal Documentation Award Update

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

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

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!

!!!! Opportunity: Project Manager for the Arts in Education Portal

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:

The successful applicant will have:

Desirable:

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.

Annual remuneration: €33,000–35,000 DOE. (pro-rata)

Applications:

Candidates should send a detailed CV and cover letter to Kids’ Own Creative Director,

Ciara Gallagher at: ciara@kidsown.ie by Wednesday 13 July, 5pm

!!!! Portal Spring Regional Day 2022 – Roundup

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

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

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.

 

 

 

!!!! Part 2 – Announcing the 2022 Arts in Education Portal Documentation Award Recipients

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.

 

!!!! Part 1 – Announcing the 2022 Arts in Education Portal Documentation Award Recipients

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”.

!!!! Call for presentations and workshops: Portal Spring Regional Day 2022

Arts in Education
Deadline: 5pm, 31 March 2022

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 and workshops for the Portal Spring Regional Day 2022 with a focus on Kildare, Wicklow, Meath and Louth. This regional event will take place in the Mid-East at the Kildare Education Support Centre on Saturday, 7 May, 2022.

The event aims to connect teachers, artists, arts managers and anyone with an interest in arts in education based in Kildare, Wicklow, Meath and Louth. 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 Mid-East, 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.

Deadline: 5pm, 31 March 2022

Do you have a workshop or presentation that you would like to be included in the programme for the Portal Spring Regional Day? If so, please get in touch by email to editor@artsineducation.ie.

Further Information

 

!!!! Opportunity: Portal Documentation Award 2022

Deadline: 25 February 2022

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:

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:

Please send your submission to: editor@artsineducation.ie by 5pm, Friday 25 February 2022.

!!!! Part 2 – Announcing the 2021 Arts in Education Portal Documentation Award Recipients

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.

!!!! Part 1 – Announcing the 2021 Arts in Education Portal Documentation Award Recipients

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.

!!!! Opportunity Deadline Extended: Portal Documentation Award 2021

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:

Additional criteria

How to make a submission:

Please send your submission to: editor@artsineducation.ie by 5pm, Friday 26th March 2021.

!!!! The National Arts in Education Portal Virtual Conference 2020 – Round Up

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.

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.

Facebook Live Video Links

Cultural Diversity in the Arts

Quality and Access; Can you have both?

Cultural Practice and the Digital Realm

Roundtable Panel Discussion

Session Resources 

Cultural Diversity in the Arts – Resources & Reference Document

Quality and Access; Can you have both? –Resources & Reference Document

Cultural Practice and the Digital Realm – Resources & Reference Document

Roundtable Panel Discussion –Resources & Reference Document

 

 

 

 

!!!! Invitation to take part in the Arts in Education Portal Audience Forum

Arts in Education Portal

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.

For further information or queries please email editor@artsineducation.ie

 

 

 

!!!! Unleash Your Creative Spirit – Cruinniú na nÓg 2020

The Creative Ireland Programme

Date: 13 June 2020

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. 

Cruinniú na nÓg 2020 is a collaboration between the Creative Ireland Programme, local authorities and RTÉ.

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/

!!!! On Hold – Call for papers, presentations and workshops! National Arts in Education Portal Day 2020

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.

Download the submission form National Portal day Proposal Form 2020.

!!!! Part 2 – Announcing the 2020 Arts in Education Portal Documentation Award Recipients

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.

‘Sculptunes’ interactive sculptural installation in the National Concert Hall 2019

‘Spine’ for promotional purposes 2017 (3 mins)

‘The Kaleidoscopic Child’ 2018

A few words from lead educator Audrey Fagan

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.

!!!! Part 1 – Announcing the 2020 Arts in Education Portal Documentation Award Recipients

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.

!!!! Opportunity: Portal Documentation Award 2020

Deadline: Friday 24th January 2020

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:

Additional criteria

How to make a submission:

Please send your submission to: editor@artsineducation.ie by 5pm, Friday 24th January 2020.

!!!! Part 2 – Announcing the 2019 Arts in Education Portal Documentation Award Recipients

The Portal Team are delighted to announce the second two recipients of the 2019 Portal Documentation Awards. Starting next month, these projects will be showcased on the portal as the documentation progresses.

About the recipients….

Project – Gaelscoil an Chaisleáin with contemporary dance artist Lisa Cliffe

Lisa Cliffe (Cahill) is a contemporary dance artist, movement facilitator and educator. Lisa is working with Gaelscoil an Chaisleáin in Ballincollig, Co. Cork. Lisa and class teacher Sinéad Joy and school principal Máire Uí Shé are interested in creative engagement and active learning in and with the natural environment of a school site.

In October 2018, Lisa received an Arts Council Bursary Award to examine frames and methods of facilitating ‘experiential engagement’  with the natural environment through active exchange and performance appreciation. This research is taking place in partnership with Gaelscoil an Chaisleáin.

In partnership with the staff, children and wider community of Gaelscoil an Chaisleáin, they have developed a seasonal programme of activity, exchange and performance at the school site. A seasonal approach feels important to the partners in this project as they wish to slow down their engagement in the ‘artist/ teacher/ children’ partnership over the period of a year. The intention of this seasonal approach is to offer time to learn about, respond to and engage creatively with the changing environment of the school site in each season.

Developing the body’s sensory attunement through engagement with the natural environment is a key element of Lisa’s performance and facilitation practice. In partnership with Sinéad and Máire, Lisa wishes to make visible the processes, moments of joy and learning as part of this arts in primary education engagement.

Project – Creative Cluster Initiative – Bee Creative 

This project stemmed from the Teacher and Artist Partnership and the “Creative Cluster Initiative”.  Four schools in Kerry; Firies N.S, Killahan N.S, Dromclough N.S and Lenamore N.S, have come together to form a creative cluster. Each school has been paired with one of the following artists; Silke Michels – visual artist, Zoe Uí Fhaoláin Green – dance artist, Nicholas McLachlan – Writer and Fiona Ladden Loughlin – Textile artist; under facilitator Nikki Roberts.

The children’s work will be showcased in the national folk theatre, Siamsa Tíre on 3rd April 2019. There are 94 children involved in the project.  The stimulus for the project is bees and each school has used different forms of art to portray the importance of bees in our world.  The partners aim is to develop the creative potential of every child and to give participating children a high quality experience working with an artist and expert in their fields leading them to an appreciation of the interaction between artistic genres.

!!!! Part 1 – Announcing the 2019 Arts in Education Portal Documentation Award Recipients

The Portal Team are delighted to announce that we have been in a position to award four Documentation Awards in 2019. Here we announce the first two recipients of the award.  These projects will be showcased on the portal as the documentation progresses.

About the recipients….

Project – Táim (Trail of Art in Midleton)

We are two visual artists based in Cork who have joined forces to collaborate with children and staff at Midleton College under the initiative entitled TÁIM. TÁIM (Trail of Art in Midleton) is also the Irish expression for ‘I am’. As such, we seek to instigate a collaborative and participatory conversation with students, which not only situates, but also explores and expands upon the theme of identity and place within our locale. 

Belinda Walsh, Visual Artist

Belinda is one of the founders and coordinators of Midleton Arts Festival, which is a celebration of creativity in the community where she lives. She enjoys the surprises and wellbeing benefits of bringing together artists and community groups in participatory projects. One of her special interests is the use of stop motion animation techniques to encourage both children and adults to communicate stories, ideas and concepts in a creative and original way.
She graduated from Crawford College of Art and Design, Cork in 2012 and lectures on Arts in Education and ICT in the Early Years in St Nicholas Montessori College.
She also works part time as an arts facilitator with East Cork Music Project.

For more information go to scribblemore123.simplesite.com

Lucia Parle, Visual Artist

Lucia is a social Entrepreneur with excellent communication and administration skills. She has over 20 years experience of community arts facilitation, engaging with a broad spectrum of individuals and groups. Her strong coordination skills are underpinned by a strengths based, person centered approach. She is highly committed to the core principles of community development and the arts. She graduated from Crawford College of Art and Design, Cork in 2003, after which she received a research and development award from Social Entrepreneurs Ireland. In 2015, she co coordinated an Erasmus+ project to take twenty five young ECMP course participants to Sweden to take part in a music and arts project.

In 2016, herself and Belinda Walsh received an award from Cork county Municipal districts Creative communities Scheme to co-ordinate an art project entitled RAW in the local area of Midleton – view the video.

She is currently working in East Cork Music Project as an assistant coordinator leading the art department.

Project – Future Forms Activate Citizenship

Future Forms is a creative engagement project that invites Cork schools, third-level students and community groups to work with artists to create artworks that imagine what their city and urban environment might look like in 200 years time. Participants will explore future visions of Cork through a focus on active citizenship, encouraging all of us to think about ways in which we can get involved in positively influencing the form of our own city.

The Glucksman

The Glucksman is a contemporary art museum in the historic grounds of University College Cork. It was opened by President Mary McAleese in October 2004 and since then has won numerous awards for its architecture and creative programmes. The Glucksman presents ambitious exhibitions of Irish and international art in tandem with a wide range of events and activities designed to encourage participation from all visitors, whether an art professional or first time gallery-goer.

The Glucksman is a place of creative connections between people and disciplines, and is committed to providing world- class art and architecture for all ages and abilities. Enabling access to, and creative engagement with, contemporary art is one of the central pillars of our work, and the team has a strong record of arts in education at every level from primary to postgraduate to professional development. The beautiful setting of the museum in the historic lower grounds of the university as well as a dedicated education space and restaurant, mean that the specific provisions necessary to provide a fully supported experience for people of all ages and abilities can be delivered directly on site.

For more information go to – www.glucksman.org/

 

 

 

 

!!!! Members of the Portal Editorial Committee pay tribute to Orla Kenny

As 2018 comes to a close, members of the Arts in Education Portal Editorial Committee have paid tribute to Orla Kenny, long-time Creative Director of Kids’ Own Publishing Partnership, who passed away in July. Here, members of the committee remember their first encounters with Orla and reflect on their experiences of working with her in different capacities within the arts and education sector. As director of Kids’ Own (the organisation that won the tender for leading the development of the Portal in 2014) Orla was instrumental in the stakeholder consultation process, design, development and management of the Arts in Education Portal in close consultation and collaboration with the Editorial Committee.

Remembering Orla

I first met Orla when Kids’ Own Publishing Partnership won the tender to advise on the building of the Arts in Education Portal in 2014. I had been aware of her work and publications prior to that. Apart from her vast knowledge I was instantly struck by her skills and expertise in working with the Portal Advisory Committee who were a heterogeneous group of people from education, arts and technology backgrounds. No question posed was too basic and her warm encouraging smile led to great working relationships. She took the concept of the Portal from concept phase to its official launch in the Printworks in Dublin Castle on the 19th May 2015. The Portal is now the key national digital resource for arts and education practice in Ireland, and thanks to Orla and her team, underpinning the continued development of the Portal is a strong and implicit shared belief amongst all stakeholders of the intrinsic value of the arts in the lives of children. She was a passionate advocate for the integration of the arts in education and she championed the voice of the child and the rights of all children to fulfil their creative potential. She is sadly missed by the large community of practice which has developed over the last six years and amongst whom she was a shining star. The last time we met she was with her beautiful son Oscar. I count myself very lucky to have worked with Orla.

Katie Sweeney, Chair of the Arts in Education Portal Editorial Committee

I recall my first meeting with Orla when Simon Spain introduced her as the new Director at Kids’ Own and his successor (he was departing for Australia). He chose well! – as the legacy of his and her work will ultimately prove. Orla worked with us in 2003 on their first exhibition to share the innovative work that they were developing in schools north and south of the border – Multimedia Maps (the result of a three-year project initiated and run by Kids’ Own Publishing Partnership) The project placed artists in school communities in the border counties in Ireland to investigate the use of new technologies as tools for creativity and the exchange of ideas. From 2000 to 2001 over 500 children in the border counties of Armagh, Cavan, Donegal, Down, Sligo and Tyrone, worked with six artists – Owen Crawford, Julie Forrester, Angela Ginn, Rachel Glynne, Ann Henderson and Sharon Kelly – in a series of residencies as part of the project. Orla was a perfectionist and knew that to show the quality of engagement that was happening in the artists’ residencies she had to have this reflected in the exhibition as well.

Seeing how the work of Kids’ Own developed since then and talking with artists who were nurtured by her supportive process has been wonderful. She will be missed by so many and it was a privilege to work with her over the past few years as a member of the Portal Steering Group.

Helen O Donoghue, Senior Curator Engagement and Learning IMMA

I first encountered Orla when we were both working towards a Postgraduate Teaching Diploma in Art and Design Education in Limerick School of Art, which she embraced with energy, ambition and inquisition. Some years later, our paths crossed again, soon after I started working in Kildare County Council and Orla, in Kids’ Own, when we collaborated on ‘Can’t Loose Cant’, a stunning pictionary with words in English, Irish and Cant. I admired her commitment to creating something with a strong aesthetic, while ensuring that the children involved were immersed in the process and that the local Traveller community were consulted on the use of Cant. In recent years, Orla and Kids’ Own led a series of artists workshops in Kildare (and further afield) on documentation, reflection and evaluation of work in education contexts – a much needed discipline that many artists neglect and that Orla was a huge advocate for. More recently again, Orla put her shoulder to the wheel on www.artsineducation.ie.

My children are a similar age to Orla’s son and over the years, we compared the usual milestones and dramas. My heart hurts at the idea of a child loosing a parent. I’m not sure that there is comfort to be found when a vibrant young woman dies. But if there is comfort, let it be in a life lived to the full, jam packed with passion, creativity and a desire to share what is good.

Lucina Russell, Arts Officer, Kildare County Council

The first time I met Orla was in The Model in Sligo. In spite of wearing a suit and tie, by the afternoon, she had me sitting in the lotus position, in a circle with artist Maree Hensey and others reflecting on the art work we had completed. She smiled when she saw me. With that smile she was able to disarm everyone of their inhibitions and positive work ensued. This sense of humour combined with a vision for the arts witnessed her bringing Kids’ Own Publishing on to a national and international stage. One of her great legacies will be the first ever Arts in Education Portal in Ireland. She was taken from us all too soon. It was wonderful to have known and worked with her.

Dermot Carney, Arts Officer, National Association of Principles and Deputy Principle 

My overriding memory of Orla is of her great positivity, her humour and her practicality. You always laughed a lot in her company but she was completely serious about the work of Kids’ Own and its impact on children and young people. The depth of her knowledge was incredible and you can see this in the Arts in Education Portal which is her great legacy to us that she built with such passion with her wonderful team. It was a privilege to know her.

Deirdre Behan, Strategic Development Director, The Arts Council

Orla was the sort of person who lit up a room, whom you smiled to see when she walked into a meeting. She was fun and funny, and knew that levity was never mutually exclusive to serious intent. You knew she took her work and your work and especially children’s work very seriously. She respected it all alike, and made you feel valuable by that respectful attention. And she was a very attentive and bright presence, responsive, quick to pick up on people’s feelings and concerns. Jo and she came to teach us about documentation once at the Abbey and she was a clear and patient teacher, eager to involve us in the learning and to build on what existing skills we could bring to the process. It was in that session I realised how enormously skilled she was and how lightly she could deliver it. Personally I liked her very much and felt grateful that such a dynamic and visionary figure was part of the Arts in Education Portal and so we would work together regularly. Quietly I’d started to use her as a measure for what artistically inspired project leadership looked like. Her loss hurts but I hope she can be continuously celebrated by keeping her standards of commitment and joyful engagement alive in our work.

Phil Kingston, Community and Education Manager, The Abbey Theatre 

What I loved most about Orla was her passion for the Arts and Education – a marriage which offers children and young people experiences which open up their lives and their creativity. She was always a pleasure to work with – her expertise and her dogged determination underpinned by humour, compassion and joy brought us all pathways to investigate, express and take delight in the work we all try to do. We will sadly miss her inspiring presence but will continue to celebrate the Kids’ Own legacy created by herself and Jo and carry her inspiration with us.

Emelie Fitzgibbon, CEO Graffiti Theatre Company 

!!!! Opportunity: Portal Documentation Award 2019

Deadline: Friday 7th December 2018

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 2019.

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:

 

Additional criteria

 

How to make a submission:

Please send your submission to: editor@artsineducation.ie by 5pm, Friday 7th December 2018.

!!!! Documentation Award Update – Playwright & Actor John McCarthy & The Young Playwrights Programme

The Arts in Education Portal Documentation Award recipient project, the Young Playwright’s Programme, culminated on Friday, June 22nd in a presentation of staged readings involving professional actors and directors at the Everyman as part of the Cork Midsummer Festival and in association with Landmark Productions and The Everyman’s staging of Louise O’Neill’s award winning novel Asking For It.

Between January and June 2018, the nine young playwrights selected over a series of Saturday workshops, had the the opportunity to work with  professional playwright mentors John McCarthy and Katie Holly at Graffiti Theatre Company as part of Fighting Words Cork to help them create the short dramatic pieces that were staged last week.  In addition, the young playwrights were invited by The Everyman to attend selected performances throughout the programme, to inspire and inform their work.

Award-winning Cork author Louise O’Neill is a patron of Fighting Words Cork, and Asking For It has been described as “one of the most important books for young people ever written. Deeply moving, incredibly written.”

The Fighting Words programme was developed by Roddy Doyle and Séan Love in 2009 in Dublin to provide a space to support creative writing among children and young adults. In January 2017 the programme was launched at Graffiti Theatre Company.

!!!! Documentation Award Update – Young Playwrights’ Programme Showcase at the Cork Midsummer Festival

The Young Playwright’s Programme

Date: 2pm 22nd June, 2018

The Arts in Education Portal Documentation Award recipient project the Young Playwright’s Programme to showcase at The Everyman as part of the Cork Midsummer Festival.

The Young Playwrights’ Programme brought together nine aspiring young writers to develop and hone scriptwriting skills, supported by professional playwright mentors John McCarthy and Katie Holly at Graffiti Theatre Company as part of Fighting Words Cork.

The project culminates in a presentation of their work as staged readings at the Everyman for Cork Midsummer Festival. The process which these young people have engaged with was truly transformative, far more powerful than the simple assembly of words on pages. This enriching collaborative environment has acted as a catalyst for the unique voices of the Young Playwrights and led to the creation of these nine compelling pieces.

Graffiti/Fighting Words Cork are really proud to be working with these wonderful young people in collaboration with The Everyman, Landmark Productions and The Cork Midsummer Festival as part of a programme of events in connection with Asking For It funded through the Arts Councils Open Call Awards.

This event is free but ticketed.

To RSVP you can just call the Everyman box office at 021 450 1673 or emailing info@everymancork.com

!!!! Chair of the Arts in Education Portal Committee pays tribute to Professor John Coolahan

Professor John Coolahan R.I.P.

Chairperson of the High Level Implementation Group for the Arts in Education Charter, Professor John Coolahan, passed away last Sunday 3rdJune 2018, surrounded by his loving family. He had been ill for the last year and fought his illness in the same way he lived his life, with dignity.

John was a pivotal figure in Irish education policy for more than 50 years and was often referred to as the “Father of Irish Education”. He was an academic, a researcher, an author, a primary and second-level teacher and an adviser to successive governments on the drafting of educational policy. John Coolahan, who was Professor Emeritus of Education at Maynooth University, lectured extensively in Ireland and abroad. He wrote three books, including Irish Education, its History and Structure (1981), and published more than 120 articles in Irish and international journals. He is widely credited with shaping a modern vision for Irish education, underpinned by legislation, and he also chaired the Irish Forum on Patronage and Pluralism in the primary sector. He was a “colossus in Irish education” and his life was an inspiration for all who care about teaching, learning and research.

He was a founding member and president of the Educational Studies Association of Ireland and was editor of Irish Educational Studies. He had numerous public service roles and served on a range of Ministerial committees and on the boards of educational and cultural bodies. At international level, he was a member of the OECD’s review team on education and was vice-president of the EU committee on education. He was also a consultant to the World Bank and the Council of Europe, a member of the review body on education in Northern Ireland, and the co-founder and co-chairman of the standing conference on teacher education, North and South.

To us associated with the Arts in Education Portal, he will be remembered as the Chairperson and the voice of the Arts in Education Charter. He was jointly appointed in 2013 by the then Minister for Education and Skills Ruarai Quinn and Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Mr Jimmy Denihan as Chairperson of the High Level Implementation Group for the Arts in Education Charter. He was a passionate advocate for the integration of the arts in education both within and outside of the school environment and he championed the rights of all children to fulfil their creative potential. He was so delighted and proud of the achievements of the Arts in Education Charter which included initiatives such as the launch of the Arts in Education Portal, Teacher-Artist Partnership as a model for CPD, Irelands Arts Education Research Repository and various other initiatives. He believed in dialogue, collaboration and mutual respect for all organisations and stakeholders in the area of arts in education.

I had the privilege of working with John as a member of the High Level Implementation Group for the Arts in Education Charter since 2013. I count myself very lucky to have had this experience and be mentored by John on the integration of the arts in education. I learned so much from him and all the fantastic people and committee’s we met over the last five years. I was proud to call him my friend as was everyone we encountered. He was a gentleman, a scholar and the kindest and most modest person I have ever had the pleasure to work with.  Ní bheidh a leithéid arís ann.

Dr. Katie Sweeney, Chairperson of the Arts in Education Portal Editorial Committee & National Director for the Integration of the Arts in Education.

!!!! Arts in Education Portal National Day 2018 Roundup

“Be assertive in making space for the arts in education” Professor Gary Granville

On April 21st the third arts in education portal national day took place at Maynooth University in partnership with Froebel Department of Primary and Early Childhood Education. The portal national day is building momentum as a very significant event in the arts and education calendar in Ireland. With over 100 artists, teachers and arts in education professionals in attendance with 22 workshops and lectures across the day by a range of presenters from the sector and inspirational insights from our guest speakers Professor Gary Granville and Paul Collard. Thanks to all involved in making day a huge success!

Clare Breen's breadfellows' chats workshop

!!!! Arts in Education National Day 2018 – Guest Speakers Announced

We are delighted to announce the guest speakers for the third annual Arts in Education Portal National Day on April 21st in Maynooth University in partnership with Froebel Department of Primary and Early Childhood Education. Our day begins with a welcome from Professor Gary Granville, Emeritus Professor of Education at the National College of Art and Design (NCAD) & Dr. Katie Sweeney – National Director for the Integration of the Arts, Department of Education and Skills (DES).

We welcome Josepha Madigan T.D, Minister for Culture, Heritage & the Gaeltacht to speak on the day along with guest speaker Paul Collard, Chief Executive of Creativity, Culture and Education (CCE). 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.

To book your place go to arts-in-education-portal-national-day-2018-tickets.eventbrite.ie

Josepha Madigan T.D, Minister for Culture, Heritage & the Gaeltacht

Josepha Madigan was appointed as Minister for Culture, Heritage & the Gaeltacht on 30th November 2017.  She is an award-winning Family Lawyer, a qualified mediator and is passionate about mediation. She published a book entitled “Appropriate Dispute Resolution in Ireland” and served as Specialist Liaison Officer for Family Mediation with the Mediators’ Institute of Ireland, lectured in the area of family law and has written newspaper articles on this subject.

The Minister believes in a society that is progressive and creative, and is passionate about using both her business and legal skills in assisting citizens.

Professor Gary Granville, Emeritus Professor of Education at the National College of Art and Design (NCAD)

Gary Granville is Emeritus Professor of Education at the National College of Art and Design (NCAD), Dublin. He served as Interim Director of NCAD after spending some sixteen years as Head of School of Education.  The School of Education NCAD is the leading centre of research in art education in Ireland, with graduate programmes in arts leadership, in socially engaged art and in doctoral research in arts education.

He was formerly Assistant Chief Executive of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) in Ireland. In that capacity, he oversaw the design and introduction of national programmes, including the Leaving Certificate Applied, the Junior Cycle Schools Programme and initiatives in citizenship education, in enterprise education and in the arts.  In recent years he has chaired the NCCA Development Group for Art at junior cycle and more recently, the design of a new programme for Leaving Certificate Art.

Dr. Granville has been a member of the Higher Education Authority and of specialist committees of the Teaching Council, NCCA and other national and international bodies. He has worked on international projects in Europe and Africa. His research interests are in the fields of education policy, art and design education, curriculum and assessment, and educational evaluation.

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.

Paul Collard, Chief Executive of Creativity, Culture and Education (CCE)

Paul Collard is Chief Executive of Creativity, Culture and Education (CCE) an international foundation dedicated to unlocking the creativity of young people in and out of formal education.  CCE was established to design and  manage the delivery of the Creative Partnerships (CP) programme in England from 2002-11. The success and impact of the programme attracted considerable international attention and CCE now supports the delivery of programmes modelled on CP across a wide range of European countries including Norway, Lithuania, Holland, Germany, the Czech Republic, Romania, and Hungary.   In Wales, CCE is advising the Arts Council of Wales and the Welsh Government on its £20 million Creative Learning through the Arts Plan, which now has over 550 schools enrolled and in Scotland, it is piloting its Art of Learning programme in partnership with Creative Scotland and Education Scotland.

 

 

!!!! Documentation Award Update – Artist Clare Breen & Breadfellows’ Chats

The Arts in Education Portal editorial team have begun visiting sites of the recipients of our Documentation Award.

Earlier this month, we visited St Ibar’s National School, in Castlebridge, Wexford where artist Clare Breen has been working since October 2017 with 3rd and 5th classes. Each Wednesday she has worked in 2 sessions, responding to the work of 10 different international artists, including her own. The project is titled Breadfellows’ Chats with the Living Arts Project. The Living Arts Project was established in 2013 as a long-term visual arts education scheme, supporting the existing partnership between Wexford Arts Centre and the Arts Department of Wexford County Council.

The question “what does an artist do?” is at the center of this project. Breen selected 10 artists whose work is very diverse, and she has introduced the children to as wide a spectrum as possible of contemporary material processes. They have worked with painting, collage, sculpture, performance and the body, textiles, writing, film, photography, ceramics and sound. It was also important to Breen that the activities would cover the 3rd and 5th class art curriculum during the weekly sessions.

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In week one the children made tunics to wear each week to protect their clothes. The tunics are painted with images responding to the question

If you were not a human, what would you like to be?

This could be an animal or an object, an alien or a monster, anything you can think of, but it should reflect some of your best qualities. (If this question is very difficult you can ask your friends for some help!)

This question was formulated as an alternative introduction that is not based on nationality, age, gender etc. to leave space for improvisation, allowing all to introduce themselves on their own terms. Working collaboratively, the children drew around one another while lying on the ground to find their shape; the traced figure became the outline for a tunic. Each child then painted on the tunic’s ‘tummy’ the animal/ object/ monster/ alien they had selected to wear over their uniform for the coming weeks.

The accompanying photos show the children in their tunics working on a painting project responding to the work of artist Sarah de Wilde.

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!!!! Announcing the Arts in Education Portal Documentation Award Recipients

We are delighted to announce that the recipients of the Arts in Education Portal Documentation Award are playwright and actor John McCarthy and Visual Artist Clare Breen. We are very excited to be working with them in the coming months to document their projects, the Young Playwrights Programme (Cork) and Breadfellows’ Chats (Wexford). These projects will be showcased on the portal as the documentation progresses.

About the recipients….

IMG_0001_edit2John McCarthy, Playwright & Actor

I am a playwright and actor who works with young people in theatre and writing. I work as a facilitator with Activate Youth Theatre and Fighting Words Cork, as well as Creative Learning coordinator with Graffiti Theatre Company.

I was part of the Next Stage at Dublin Theatre Festival this year, and am currently the recipient of an Arts Council Theatre Bursary for playwriting. Finished Once, and Ready, a new work in development with Arts Council project funding was performed in recent showings in Cork (School of Music) and Dublin (Irish Theatre Institute). I wrote Stage Irish, which won the Writers Guild of Great Britain Playwrights Progress Award 2014 and and co-wrote Hollander, nominated Best Production at Irish Theatre Awards 2010. I write and direct the online audiodrama `In Darkness Vast’.

For more information go to www.hammergrin.com

Clare Breen, Visual Artist

Clare_Breen_compaions_yellow_brick_edit_sq_smI am an artist and arts educator working in a variety of contexts. In my practice I conduct Breadfellows’ Chats. I have developed this artistic research methodology to adapt to many different environments. It is based on dialogical and relational artistic processes, considering conversation and collaborative making as constructive learning methodologies. I produce ceramics, meals, exhibitions and workshops collaboratively with other artists, curators, arts educators, historians, conservators, teachers and children. Talking and making together, followed by the sharing of food, are foregrounded in my practice as intimate gestures of care.

I obtained a BA in Fine Art from NCAD, Dublin in 2011 and a Masters in Education in the Arts from the Piet Zwart Institute, Rotterdam in 2016. In 2017 I moved to Athens to work as part of the documenta 14 education team and completed a residency at Yellow Brick Project Space. I am currently artist in residence at Castlebridge National School through the Living Arts Project run by Wexford Arts Center. I have developed a programme over 15 weeks with 3rd and 5th class beginning from the Breadfellows’ Chats methodology. I am also working in collaboration with Katy Fitzpatrick and Aislinn O’Donnell at Temple Bar Gallery + Studios in response to the work of Otobong Nkanga and with Jennie Guy’s Art School as part of the EVA International education programme.

For more information go to www.clarebreen.net

!!!! Call for papers, presentations and workshops! Arts in Education National Day 2018

Artists, teachers, academics and arts education professionals….Do you want to be part of the third annual Arts in Education Portal National Day?

The Arts in Education National Day will take place at Maynooth University – Froebel Department of Primary and Early Childhood Education on Saturday 21st April. The event aims to 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.

We are inviting 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.

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.

Deadline for submission of proposals is Friday 2nd February 2018. .

Download the submission form here

!!!! Opportunity: Portal Documentation Award

Deadline: Friday 8th December 2017

The Arts in Education Portal editorial team are pleased to invite applications for a documentation award from organisations or individuals who are leading arts in education initiatives. Through the award, successful applicants will receive services to the value of €4,000 that will support them in the documentation of a current or upcoming project.

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 April 2018.

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:

Additional criteria

How to make a submission:

Please submit the following to the Arts in Education Portal Team:

Please send your submission to: editor@artsineducation.ie by Friday 8th December 2017

!!!! ‘Documenting Projects and Events’: Course summary from artist John D’Arcy

We just had our final session of the online course, ‘Documenting Projects and Events’. The five weekly online conversations covered a range of topics surrounding the documentation of artwork and events. The participants on the course included a mixture of artists, educators and organisations working in different media (painting, sculpture, lens-based, performance) and carrying out different processes (workshops, artworks, and live events). Given this variety, the course took a participant-led format that based discussion around individual responses to weekly tasks and provocations.

Week-to-week, participants were asked to populate their own mini-website with their responses to tasks that focused on varying forms of artwork documentation. These included documentation in text, still image, and audiovisual (moving image/sound). In an attempt to broaden and challenge each participant’s approach to documentation in these media, tasks solicited examples of a range of formats with varying intentions and potential audiences.  For example, promotional material for the general public; report for a funding organisation; material for an archive or portfolio; and notation for another artist to carry out a project.

The pace of the conversation really heated up in the last two weeks, darting around the various aspects of capturing and processing still and moving image. The discussion regularly turned to the online presence of artists and organisations and the various functions of their websites and social media presence – portfolio/archive/promotion/journalling. Whilst the chat sometimes took in tech-talk (digital file-types, recording gear, etc.), the diversity of the group led to a most advantageous sharing of ideas and concepts around the intentions and potentials of arts education documentation.

The group related an invigorated enthusiasm and curiosity about the ways in which they might capture their work, encouraged by the interdisciplinary discussion. In exploring what (and how) artefacts might be logged and captured, we have considered more critically how works and events might be preserved, shared and perceived by a myriad of potential stakeholders. I have been taking notes and observations throughout the course and will be sharing these as a resource with the group and other members of the Arts in Education Portal for future reference and inspiration.

Artist, John D’Arcy (Course Leader)

!!!! Online Documentation Course Update

The Arts in Education Portal online documentation course kicked off on January 16th. Digital artist John D’Arcy gives us an update:

“We recently had our first session of the online course ‘Documenting Projects and Events’.  The course brings together artists, educators and organisations in a weekly online conversation about how we document the work we make.

During the first session the course participants introduced themselves, each waving into the webcam of their laptop, tablet or phone from a different corner of the island.  We practice in a diverse range of artforms: painting, sculpture, lens-based, performance, dance, sound – some working as freelance artists and others with arts organisations.

Our conversation revealed that many of us have experience capturing documentation of our own work (and that of others) through still image, video and audio.  However, many of us identified problematic aspects with these processes and are looking for alternative ways to capture documentation whilst in the flow of a workshop or event.  Some of the group are particularly interested in exploring experimental techniques for documenting their work.

We also spoke about some of the issues related to presenting work online in web portfolios and on social media, with some participants hoping to discuss this further in future sessions.

As the conversation came to a close, I gave the group their task for the next session – to create a website or blog where they will host their work for the course from week to week. To kick off the conversation next time we will be discussing some examples of documentation that have particularly inspired us in the past and jump off from there”.

!!!! Writers in Schools: Republic of Ireland & Northern Ireland

Writers in Schools Scheme

Poetry Ireland’s 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).

Over the past 22 years, the scheme has given more than 500,000 children the chance to work closely with writers in the classroom. Poetry Ireland believes that the creative energy sparked by these first-hand encounters with writers can trigger an appreciation of the emotional and intellectual power of language that lasts a lifetime.

Writers in Schools single visits are:

B type visits (4 hours/ cost €200/ £170) are reserved for special projects, with more information available upon request.

To apply for the Writers in Schools single visit, please visit: Writers in Schools scheme | Poetry Ireland | Poetry Ireland