Schools art project getting ready to start
The Arts Department of Wexford County Council and Wexford Arts Centre have announced the names of the successful artists and schools in this year’s Living Arts Project.
The aim of the annual project is to provide children with an understanding and appreciation of contemporary visual art with selected primary schools having the opportunity to host an artist in residence for nine weeks during the school year.
An open call for interested artists and schools took place last April and resulted in the following pairings: artists Caoimhe Dunn and Aoife Banville with Edmund
Rice senior school, New Ross; Deirdre Meehan-Buttimer and Nadia Corridan with St. Mary’s national school, Enniscorthy; Mary Claire Kehoe and Deirdre Travers with Scoil Naomh Maodhog, Enniscorthy and Kate Murphy and Rachel Rothwell with St. Teresa’s national school, Gorey.
A mentorship programme runs alongside each residency with each artist nominating an independent artist or curator they feel is relevant to their professional practice. The mentorship will help to ensure the effectiveness of the project on an ongoing basis, while also providing a positive critique for the resident artist.
In addition, the programme helps to refine methods of engaging with the students throughout each residency. The mentors involved to date in the 2020-21 project are Clodagh Emoe, Eamonn Maxwell, Ann Mulrooney, and Una Sealy.
All residencies begin will begin November and will culminate in an exhibition from participating schools at Wexford Arts Centre in March/April 2021.
Pupils taking part in the project have the benefit of detailed guidance from the artists over the period of the residency and the opportunity to see their work exhibited in a gallery. The Living Art Project is funded by the Arts Department of Wexford County Council, the Arts Council, Creative Ireland, and participating schools. and is administered by Wexford Arts Centre.