Duffy Mooney-Sheppard

Duffy Mooney-Sheppard is a visual artist, storyteller and children’s theatre maker with over fifteen years of experience bringing creativity to life for children from toddlers to primary school age. She brings this playful methodology to the adults she works with too.

She is currently the Creativity in the Classroom Artist at St James’s Primary School in Dublin 8, part of a long-running programme weaving the arts into everyday school life. Her recent work includes The Butterfly Doctor and Island Homelands, immersive visual arts experiences for young children in The Ark’s theatre and The Well, a permanent visual arts and performance space developed with theatre maker Darren Yorke at Marino Institute of Education.

In children’s theatre, she collaborates with Darren Yorke and Liam McCarthy. Their production Boss Rob: A Masterclass for Aspiring Artists won the Excellence in Innovation in Children’s Theatre award at Dublin Fringe Festival 2024.

Her illustration work has been shown at the Graphic Studio Gallery (Dublin), Candid Arts Trust (London) and the Bologna Children’s Book Fair (Italy). She holds an MA in Children’s Book Illustration from Cambridge School of Art and qualifications in Art & Design Education and Fine Art Print from NCAD, and is supported by Arts Council funding. She also regularly shares her practice with educators and community workers through CPD programmes.

Creativity in the Classroom is an artist – teacher collaborative programme involving five primary schools in Dublin 8 and 12. Established in 1997, this innovative school-based arts programme was set up in the belief that the arts could actively and positively support the emotional and social wellbeing of the children in the area. The programme was a recipient of a Portal Documentation Award in 2025.