ARTS
An Ealaín
What are the Arts? 
The Arts include, visual artforms like painting, drawing, sculpture, printmaking. They also include music, drama, writing, poetry, and dance. Arts activities involve imagination and creative expression. People that have a career in the arts are usually called artists. Artists can be painters, sculptors, printmakers actors, scriptwriters, poets, dancers, choreographers, musicians etc, or sometimes people work in several different artforms.
What does the Arts Office do?
The Arts Office organises and supports a broad range of arts activities including 3 festivals – The Festival of World Cultures, The Poetry Festival and a Festival of Youth Dance. We also run exciting programmes in literature, dance, music and visual arts that includes the Artist-in-Schools Programme for primary school pupils and their teachers.
Festivals …
The Irish Youth Dance Festival and Dance Group
Dublin Youth Dance Company is a dance troupe of 16 – 25 year olds supported by the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Arts Office and made up of approximately 20 young dancers from around the Dublin area. They are based out of Dún Laoghaire. The Arts Office also organises the Irish Youth Dance Festival where for one night in the Pavilion Theatre hosts an exciting show of up and coming young dance groups from around Ireland and abroad.
Go to the website: click here
back to top
What is the Artist-in-Schools Residency Programme?
The Artist-in-Schools Residency Programme was first started in 1994. In the Artists in Schools Scheme Programme artists work with a teacher and their primary school class on an arts project. The Arts Office organises and runs the programme.
What kinds of art projects?
In the past artists have worked with pupils on drawing and painting projects, ceramics projects, printmaking, puppet making and sculpture. Some projects have also involved pupils visiting exhibitions and artist's studios to see other artists work. Pupils have written and performed their own play on a drama project. A poetry project involved pupils working with a writer to write their own poems and put together a book of the class's work. In a music project the musician and the pupils made their own drums and wrote and performed their own musical performance for the whole school.
What else might happen on an art project?
On an art project the artist may work with the teacher to show the pupils new ways of using their imaginations and thinking about art. Generally there is lots of exploring and experimenting. Depending on the artform pupils might be working with different materials and different ways of looking at and making things, with words and movement or with sounds and rhythms. Pupils might be introduced to an artform they have not tried before or go and see the work of other artists.
Which schools are involved in 2007?
Dalkey
School Project NS; Dominican Convent; Monkstown Educate Together; Our Lady
Of Good Counsel, Johnstown; Scoil Mhuire, Shankill; Scoil Colmcille Senior;
Good Shepherd National School; Harold National School; Our Lady's girls
School, Ballinteer; Oatlands Primary, Stillorgan.
For further details on the Artists in Schools Programme Contact:
Máire Davey, Education and Community Co-Ordinator on 2719528 or mdavey@dlrcoco.ie
A couple of Artists in Schools Projects from 2007
Dominican Convent Primary School
Artist Julie Merriman
This is Julie's second year working in Dominican Convent and her work with the school links to her Carlisle Pier residency. This year she worked with 5th class and the main focus was on looking at and exploring the local environment. Julie introduced the children to mono-printing, dry point and a type of lino printing called quick print. The children took some of their printing plates outside on site and made their images in response to what was around them. These were printed in the classroom where Julie and the class had set up a printing studio. The children also paid a visit to Killiney Hill, which gave them an aerial view back down onto Dun Laoghaire. Here they encountered Sally Timmon's LAND project which the class visited in the Concourse Space as part of the concourse Installation Programme in 2006.
Harold School
Artists: Lucinda Jacob and Jackie Ball
This project was based around puppet-making. Using a mixture of skills,
the artists channelled the children's creativity from two-dimensional drawing
into the creation of three-dimensional puppets. The project was designed
to give opportunities for both imaginative and practical creative work.
At times the craft elements informed the storytelling. Using their imaginations,
the children sketched and drew characters they would like to bring to life.
They then brought their characters to life through personality, costume,
accessories and how each interacted with its fellow puppets. They worked
individually on their own puppets and in groups to create their stories,
building co-operation and team work.
back to top
To find out more
For further information contact the Arts Office (01) 2719531 or Email: arts@dlrcoco.ie website: www.dlrcoco.ie/arts