The first highly anticipated community art project to be funded under ‘…the lives we live’1 is about to get underway in Grangegorman.
The Masterplan is a collaboration between a group of artists and young people from Dublin 7 Educate Together, who are coming together to explore the changing education environment in the 21st Century.
This project is being curated by Jennie Guy and features artists John Beattie and Ella de Búrca. It aims to facilitate a creative conversation amongst students about the arc of their transition from an older environment to a newly built one. The artists will work with the students through a process of artist residencies, workshops, performance, events and collaborative explorations.
Speaking about the launch of this exciting collaboration, Chair of the Grangegorman Public Art Working Group Ciaran Benson, commented on how great it is to arrive at this milestone.
He said “The Public Art Working Group has been working hard over the last two and a half years to implement the Grangegorman Art Strategy. It is fantastic to now see the first project begin and even better that it is a community collaboration. All the artists involved bring with them a wealth of experience, reputation and vision and I look forward to seeing them progress.”
Principal of Dublin 7 Educate Together, Patricia Clerkin, expressed the feelings of the school saying “The staff and students of Dublin 7 Educate Together are really excited to have been successful in their application to be part of this project.”
Dublin 7 Educate Together is scheduled to re-locate from its current temporary accommodation into a brand new home on the Grangegorman site. This new home is being designed by Grafton Architects. Speaking on behalf of the company, Simona Castelli said that Grafton will be happy to engage in the art project and “think it is a wonderful opportunity for the students and all involved.”
An underlying premise of this work is Jennie Guy’s belief that if you place an artist as an active researcher in a learning environment that the students quickly become inventive and creative learners. The process will be documented and shared with a wider audience later this year.
The Masterplan has been commissioned under Pathway 2 of the ‘…the lives we live’1, the Grangegorman Public Art Project. This pathway centres on community based projects and events and aims to increase local participation and engagement with life through the arts. Projects are chosen through an open call and by an independent panel of experts. The next closing date for submissions under Pathway 2 is Friday 24th June, 2016. For full information on all of the pathways under ‘…the lives we live’ go to www.ggda.ie/public_art.
1 Extract from ‘Dreams of a Summer Night’, New Collected Poems (2011), by kind permission of the author, Derek Mahon, and The Gallery Press.
