The Art Life

A project that unites Transition Year and Third-level Fine Art students in an enquiry into the interconnected ways that cultural producers use their creativity to work, live and affect change in their localities. With artists Ruth Lyons and Jenny Brady, Callan Workhouse Union and Proeftuin Pioniers (tiny house collective based in The Hague) . In partnership with Fingal Arts Office and The School of Creative Arts, TU Dublin.

Working closely with transition year students from two schools in the Fingal area, Bremore Educate together and Fingal Community College, this project provided a framework for second level students to explore what it means to be an artist, both from the point of artistic practice, and the reality of making a living as an artist and in creative professions.

The programme began with a field trip to the Fine Art Department at TU Dublin, where the transition year students worked on a creative making workshop in collaboration with the fine art students. This gave the pupils an insight into what is involved in studying art and served help broaden their horizons to different approaches and processes. Later in the month of February, two artists, Jenny Brady and Ruth Lyons, conducted week-long workshops in both schools, giving students and insight into their lives and work practices as artists and looking at the different practical skills that they have developed through their work as artists in both film and video creation and sculpture.

The students also took a field trip to the town of Callan in Co. Kilkenny where they toured three different arts organisations, Workhouse Union, Fennelly’s, and KCat, and took part in a workshop with Proeftuin Pioneers, a Tiny House collective from the Netherlands. This aimed to give an insight into alternative modes of living and working outside of more recognised societal systems.

Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the final planned day of artist talks and discussions could not take place, but we are delighted that the main part of the programme was able to occur and we could work so closely with such an inspiring group of young people. We hope that you enjoy seeing the outcomes on the video, created by Paddy Cahill.

With thanks to Julie Clarke, Naomi Sex, Claire Power, Rosie Lynch, Angela Keane and Students of Bremore Educate Together, Balbriggan, Siobhan Lynch and students of Fingal Community College Swords, Ruth Lyons, Jenny Brady, Bernhard Horl, Maria Miculkova, Etain Holohan, Paddy Cahill