AAEX bring art project to mothers and toddlers
Art As Exchange (AAEX), a collective of almost 40 local artists supported by Creative Spark, continued their programme of developing creative collaborations with other community groups this year with a project engaging young mothers and toddlers at the Craobh Rua community centre.
Over several weeks, artists Jennifer Slater, Úna Curley, Susan Farrelly and Caoimhe O’Dwyer guided the mothers and their children in art-making activities across a range of disciplines including print, performance, textiles, photography, sound and music.
‘ The original ideawas broadly inspired by the assemblage work of Joseph Cornell, who created three dimensional sculptural boxes, a kind of 3d story or narrative art piece,’ explains artist and art therapist Jennifer Slater.
‘ The intention was to highlight and honour the importance of creativity and the arts in helping to co-create warm creative relationships between parents and their children. Much scientific re
search now supports the view that early relationships between parents and their children between the ages 0 to 5, has a major impact on a child’s health and
wellbeing across the lifespan. What better way to help create secure and happy children of the future than by extending fun and playful arts activities to mums and their babies to work on together.’
As the project idea developed, all artists added their own individual creative response to the programme, bringing performance, sculpture, play, textiles and intimate mother and baby photographs to the weekly sessions.
Hosted kindly by Roisin Keenan and Jacinta Grimes at Craobh Rua Youthwork Ireland in Muirhevnamor, the artists and mums collaborated to discuss themes of mothering and produced a wide variety of art objects such as memory boxes, prints and art journals in response.
The programme was due to take place in early summer but had to be postponed due to COVID 19 but fortunately it was completed later on as restrictions allowed in more direct socially distanced interaction to take place. A final presentation of the programme and the artworks created will take place once restrictions allow.