Archive | Youth Arts

Work It! Youth Theatre Development Programme

By Ken McGuire on February 14, 2012 in Theatre, Youth Arts

Close on a year ago I went to an open meeting of theatre practitioners and drama facilitators in Wexford Opera House to spend a few hours hearing from NAYD about Coracle, an inclusive programme of cross-border activities improving competitiveness in a commercial landscape and employability for creative practitioners in South East Ireland and South West Wales.

Youth groups and theatre groups were surveyed by NAYD on their needs and wants in terms of development and one the results of the survey is a new initiative being delivered by the Wexford Arts Department called the Work It! Youth Theatre Development Programme.

Between March and May there are a number of half day, one day and two day training sessions and workshops on youth drama facilitation, setting up your own youth theatre, child protection training and introducing basic drama skills and group skills to young people have have never done drama before. As well as that, through the NAYD’s involvement there is free mentoring and development available to groups in the south east along with access to Skillshare (sharing theatre skills and workshops between groups) and access to Fuse, a cross-border collaborative youth theatre seminar taking place later this year.

As the work of The Devious Theatre Company continues to expand and we continue to develop the company at adult and youth level, some of us will be in attendance at at least one if not two of the session days taking place between March and May.

All workshops are free and should attract people in the Southeast who are working, or interested in working, in a youth drama/theatre context with young people; beginner and experienced youth theatre facilitators, senior youth theatre members, youth workers, volunteers from local amateur drama groups, community workers, teachers and parents etc.

Brochure Download & Applications

You can download a brochure here or for more information contact The Arts Department of Wexford County Council at arts@wexfordcoco.ie or 053 – 9196369. Places are strictly limited and will be assigned on a first come first served basis – early booking advised so you don’t miss out. To find out more about Coracle and to upload a profile as an individual practitioner, youth theatre or arts organisation visit www.coracle.eu.com

Artists Mentoring Scheme through Kildare County Council

By Ken McGuire on January 28, 2012 in Youth Arts

Kildare County Council Arts Service invites applications from artists across artforms with an interest in working with children to participate in a new Artist Mentoring Programme. Facilitated in partnership with Barretstown and Helium, this programme offers artists a unique opportunity to receive training, experience the recreational activity model, develop their facilitation skills and reflect on scope for potential project development.

Founded by Paul Newman, Barretstown is a specially-designed camp that provides Therapeutic Recreation programmes for children with serious illnesses, and their families. Activities include visual arts, drama, music and photography.

During this Mentoring Programme training will be provided by Helium, the arts and health organisation for children and Barretstown.

Participating artists will also gain practical experience working alongside activity leaders to facilitate a programme on two weekends during Spring and Autumn 2012. On conclusion of the programme, artists will have opportunity to explore potential scope to develop further projects.

Deadline for applications is: Monday 6 February 2012.

For further information and an application form please contact: Nicola Dunne, Email:nicoladunne@kwaras.ie or Tel: 086 3536928.

A Video Response to Arts Funding in Ireland

By Ken McGuire on November 12, 2011 in Youth Arts

Arising from the recent Carlow/Kilkenny National Campaign for the Arts (NCFA) public meeting a number of local artists became involved in raising the profile of the campaign. Their aim was to produce a creative response to the campaign making the value and impact of the arts more readily understood. The result of their work is a very short captivating video that captures the essence of the NCFA. The crew at Young Irish Film Makers have put together the above video response to arts funding in Ireland.

Meet The Curators from Butler Gallery

By Ken McGuire on August 19, 2011 in Visual Arts, Youth Arts

Ian Burns Supreme Fiction - Currently showing at Butler Gallery, Kilkenny

This year, the Butler Gallery worked with 11 16-18 year olds to curate an exhibition from the Butler Gallery Collection dubbed From Us, Through Them, To You.

For Heritage Week, Butler Gallery have organised another ‘Meet The Curators’ event, this time to be held at Butler House on Patrick, Street in Kilkenny. The event will run on Thursday August 25th from 2-5pm. This Heritage Week event offers a chance to meet the curators and hear about their experience through a visual presentation and discussion. It includes discussion on some of the works shown in the exhibition that have recently been conserved through a grant from the Heritage Council.

Meet The Curators will also see the launch of a symposium organized by PACE, the Partnership for the Arts and Creative Engagement set to occur in February 2012. Happening on the occasion of a youth-curated exhibition at the Model, Sligo – this event will platform, debate and discuss the different ways people can interact with visual art collections in a living way.

This is a free event, though booking is recommended and can be made through Butler Gallery. Contact Pauline or Colm on 056 7761106 for more information and to book a place or keep an eye on ButlerGallery.com.

Check the Facebook event details here.

Red Square Critics Interview Friday August 12th

By Ken McGuire on August 10, 2011 in Festivals, Youth Arts

Red Square Critics Group Interview with David Donaghue at Cleere's Theatre on Friday August 12th.

The Red Square Critics Group out of Butler Gallery will be put under the spotlight this Friday afternoon between 3pm and 5pm at Cleere’s Theatre as David Donaghue quizzes the group on their involvement with and experiences of covering the Kilkenny Arts Festival.

This is a free event, though booking is recommended. Eleanor, Fionn, Hugh, Kym, Leah, Mark, Michael, Suzanne, Tara and Turlough will be talking about their festival experiences, particularly around the visual arts and theatre strands of the festival. For more details you can contact the Butler Gallery on 056 7761106 or email jean@butlergallery.com to book a place.

While the group are out and about, you can catch up with their activities on the Red Square Kibosh blog at WordPress.com.

Red Square Critics at Kilkenny Arts Festival

By Ken McGuire on August 9, 2011 in Youth Arts

Butler Gallery's Req Square group, the young critics hitting the Kilkenny Arts Festival trail. Pictured with myself (front centre), John Morton (centre) and facitators Jean Tormey (far left) and Etaoin Holohan (far right). Photo by Ross Costigan.

The Red Square young critics group, borne out of the Butler Gallery’s education programme and funded by the Arts Council’s Young Ensembles programme, are back in action for the 2011 Kilkenny Arts Festival. I spent some time with the group last year working on some blog content and producing audio and video for the web and when contacted about getting involved with the group again this year, I was more than happy to do so.

The group, assembled by Butler Gallery’s Jean Tormey, spend the entire run of the Kilkenny Arts Festival exploring the visual arts, theatre, craft and music strands of the festival and in the build up to and over the course of the festival attend workshops with some of the artists, curators and other faciliators (like myself and John) learning about various facets of the festival and the arts world, with a particular focus on the critical side and interpretation of works for review.

Already this week they’ve attended and filmed the Brunch with the Artists (video of which I’ll have over at KilkennyArts.ie later today or tomorrow), 3epkano and Eric Sweeney, Tabernacle (which closed last night with a Q&A, audio of which I’ll have later today) and Beowulf. Today they’ll be spending some time with Ian Burns, whose Supreme Fiction exhibition runs during the festival and continues up to October 9th at Butler Gallery. An artist talk with Ian is scheduled today at Butler Gallery at 1pm.

Coming up to the weekend, they will also hold their own event on Friday afternoon at 3pm with a panel discussion reviewing their activities over the course of the festival.

You can follow the Red Square Kibosh blog on WordPress, find them on Facebook and keep an eye out for them on the festival trail again this year.

Callan Street Arts Open Evening This Thursday

By Ken McGuire on July 12, 2011 in Youth Arts

Callan Street Arts - Photo via Callan Street Arts Facebook

The KCAT building in Callan, Co. Kilkenny plays host to an open evening for Ossary Youth‘s Callan Street Arts this Thursday evening from 6.30pm. The evening is aimed at 13-19 year olds and there will be paint, spray paint and pizza on offer!

The evening also gives you a chance to put your name down for two weeks of fun, workshops, training and making between July 18th and 31st as part of the Abhainn Rí Festival in Callan. The festival itself opens officially on July 23rd (I’ll have more on that shortly as Event Media put the finishing touches to the festival website).

Workshops on offer cover drumming, performance, street art, improvisation, parade building and murals and those taking part in the workshops can also take part in the closing Spectacle event, a night time parade through the streets of Callan.

If you’re interested in taking part or attending the open evening this Thursday, call 086 1699 420 or email callanstreetarts@gmail.com or check out the Facebook event page.

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