Where required and where additional budget is allocated a collaborative element is incorporated as part of a Commission. My experience and training in Educational programs in Visual Art has enabled me to deliver extensive creative Innovative Projects to Community groups, young Adults and Children.
In all collaborative works a connection is established between the overall work and the workshop groups. The workshops are planned to suite the candidates age and interests and creates a sense of pride and ownership in the resulting work.
A group of transition year students worked as part of a creative team in the collaborative work entitled “ New Horizons” . This work involved and creating an image for a large photo mosaic canvas for the School. I conducted workshops on some photographic compositional guides including the rule of thirds and the placement of the horizon line within an image. On subsequent field trips with the students through their local town they observed and took photographs applying creatively what they had learned and recording their journey through the town.
The resulting photo mosaic of their photographs is representative of their life journey from their formative years in this school to when they look towards new opportunities. It is important that they focal point in the resulting collaborative print, “the youths eye” is placed one third within the Composition. This large Canvas in the Entrance makes connection with the exterior boat like forms that also are based upon the theme of a journey.
"Aperture to Light" is a large scale glass installation that was made in collaboration with staff and students of Enniscorthy V.E.C. The theme reflects the educational ethos of the school takes advantage of a south facing window. The origin of the work involved visual interpretations of the student's research in subject areas including maths, biology, languages, music and Science into the theme of “ Light”. Visual interpretations of their research was incorporated into the work.
As part of this project I conducted workshops with community groups where participants created drawings from photographs they had taken of the urban features of their town.
As part of the drawing workshops the groups discussed sayings and translations related to home and a sense of belonging. These phrases were selected and inscribed around the stone forms.
As part of the initial planning for this project I conducted spring bulb planting with the children with the help of parents prior to the build project taking place. In this project Children collected images of pathways and roads that reflected the original place name for Enfield, “The Yellow road”. Children in other related Projects explored the role of light in the growth of plants and they made observations and Collages based on this theme. This project culminated in a launch where students performed musical pieces within the Space based upon their projects on growth and Light.