APART IN ART
Hannah McArdle, St. Brigid’s School.
The annual art exhibition featuring work by pupils from St Brigid’s School which takes place in The Basement Gallery is a highlight in the school calendar.
This year, however, the exhibition has moved online due to the COVID-19 pandemic but the enthusiastic young artists have been busy producing colourful works to bring joy to the hearts of everyone who sees them.
School principal Patricia Ward explains that this year they took the theme of ‘ Together Apart’ for the exhibition and are showing the work in a virtual exhibition.
They have been working on their pieces for many months now, starting in lockdown and continuing when school resumed in September.
‘Usually we have our exhibition in An Táin Arts Centre and it’s a great occasion as it’s lovely for the children to see their work in the gallery and for the parents to see it as well.’
Patricia said that as they realised they couldn’t stage an actual exhibition, An Táin’s director Paul Hayes came to the rescue and is helping them create a virtual exhibition which can be viewed on the school’s website as well as An Táin’s.
Art, she says, ‘is a huge part of what we do in St Brigid’s.’
Students work with teacher Shauna Swords as they study for the Junior Cert and the QQI (Quality Qualifications of Ireland) certificate, producing 2D and 3D work. Over the years they have had great success in competitions such as the Mental Health Ireland Art and Photography Awards, the Texaco Children’s Art Competition and the local Credit Union competitions.
‘Since we’ve come back in September, we have done a lot of work based on creativity such as art, baking and horticulture.’
‘We’re also a Creative School and we have worked with Aisling Byrne and Kwaisie Boyce to do a piece of drama,’ Patricia continues. ‘While school is a very different world now, we have had to be more creative and think outside the box.’
To comply with the 2 metre social distancing requirements, they have come up with the idea of the students making a selfie video of themselves while making a phone call as they talk about how their lives have been impacted by COVID-19 and the lockdown.
St Brigid’s is also partnered with St Oliver’s NS in Carlingford as part of a Peace IV funded programme. ‘We are lucky that we began working together before the lockdown so the pupils got the opportunity to know each other. Now they are keeping up the relationship and are exchanging photos of their pets and animals.’
The programme also involves mental health and well-being training for the teachers, something which Patricia says is very useful in these stressful times.
‘ There are huge stresses for the children and staff alike as we came back to school. They are being told to ‘stay home’ and ‘stay apart’ to stay safe and now they have to come back to the classroom and we have to assure them that it is okay. They are doing amazing work.’