KCAT Exhibition Learning Programme

Book on Eventbrite

Friday 8 May, 2 - 3pm, Gallery, Level 3, dlr LexIcon.

Free, booking required.

Join curator Dominic Thorpe and artist Olivia Normile on an informal walk through of the exhibition.

Join curator Dominic Thorpe and artist Olivia Normile on an informal walk through Lifework - an exhibition of artworks by seven artists who work at the Kilkenny Collective for Arts Talent (KCAT) Studio. Dominic will discuss his ideas and approaches to curating the Lifework exhibition and give insights into each artist's work. In conversation with Olivia, this event is for anyone who would like to get more background information on the exhibition and on the ways that curators work with artists.

Olivia Normile is an artist exploring language, communication, and perception through animation, installation, and experimental film. Activated by an interest in the peripheral, these layerings of methods allow for an exchange of roles and narratives.

Dominic Thorpe is an Irish visual artist, curator and writer. He has shown work extensively in Ireland and internationally. He has engaged and collaborated on a range of projects related to arts and disability, migration and arts and health. As a curator and writer, he regularly engages with the practices of artists within inclusive art studios, including artists from the KCAT studio Kilkenny.

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Saturday 16 May, 2.30 - 4pm, Project Room, Level 3, dlr LexIcon.

€10

Join Kathy Tynan as she leads this workshop on painting, aimed at discovering the wonder and visual interest in our day to day surroundings.

For anyone who loves to paint and would like to explore how they could take inspiration from their local surroundings or develop a new skill.

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Tuesday 19 May, 12 - 1pm, Project Room, Level 3, dlr LexIcon.

€8

Tickets will be available to the public on May 04 2026.

KCAT artist Erin Hacking will lead this workshop, dedicated to exploring how drawings on paper can be turned into colourful 3D artworks.

Over one hour, participants will learn a process developed by Erin in which they will create abstract geometrical drawings using pencils and rulers, which they will cut and open out to form delicate dimensional paper works.

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Tuesday 19 May, 2 - 3pm, Project Room, Level 3, dlr LexIcon.

€8

This workshop will be led by KCAT studio artist, Declan Byrne, whose vibrant art practice explores the link between flat and 3D surfaces through paint. You will experiment with making your own artworks using this technique. Paint and materials will be supplied but you are asked to bring a small object from home to use as a base for your new artwork.

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Tuesday 26 May, 2 - 3pm, Project Room, Level 3, dlr LexIcon. 

Free, booking required

Using a combination of acrylic paint, pencil and acrylic marker, Brianna Hurley will create a new painting in her Tornado series and talk about her fictional painting storytelling. You are invited to come and see how Brianna works and learn some tips and tricks about how Brianna uses paint to depict powerful weather systems. 

Project Room, Level 3, dlr LexIcon. 

Free, No booking required

Let's explore an art exhibition and then create some artwork inspired by what we see in the gallery. Children and families are warmly invited to this uniquely creative experience with visual artist Jinny Ly. Using coloured paper, markers, wool and collage, children and families are invited to spend some time with Jinny making, drawing and having fun! 

Book on Eventbrite

Friday 12 June, 2 - 3pm, Online

€8. Material packs provided for local residents. (details on Eventbrite)

Join artist Olivia Normile at home as she guides you through the process of drawing animation using paper, pencil and erasing. Thinking about the traces left behind in the process of drawing, participants will reframe the ‘mistakes’ in your work as essential and valuable details.

*You do not need to have animation experience for this workshop.

Book on Eventbrite

Saturday 13 June, 2.30 - 4pm, Project Room, Level 3, dlr LexIcon.

€10

Join Kathy Tynan as she leads this workshop on painting, aimed at discovering the wonder and visual interest in our day to day surroundings.

For anyone who loves to paint and would like to explore how they could take inspiration from their local surroundings or develop a new skill.

Book on Eventbrite

Tuesday 30 June, 6pm (95 minutes),

The Studio, Level 1, dlr LexIcon. Beside Roots café.

Free, booking required

In a small wooden house in County Kilkenny, Ireland, Patrick Lydon’s life is ebbing away. Throughout his final year he reflects on an extraordinary life that took him from a budding career in rock journalism in America to trailblazing in Ireland with his wife, Gladys, the development of the radically inclusive Camphill Movement, sharing life in community with people of diverse needs, abilities, and backgrounds.

Patrick’s story calls forth the story of Camphill itself and articulates the impulse driving an approach to life struggling for survival in today’s consumerist climate. At a time when the world is in need of inspiration, Patrick and Gladys’ story is just the ticket. 

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Tuesday 7 July, 6pm (82 minutes),

The Studio, Level 1, dlr LexIcon. Beside Roots café.

Free, booking required

Living Colour is a film about an abstract watercolour painter who takes three and a half minutes to climb into a van, a chatterbox stone carver with the shakes, a woman who colours her dreams, a precision ink-drawer who stares into fires, a diminutive sage who makes satirical animations and the motley collective of other artists with special support needs with whom they share a studio. It is a charming, moving and hilarious reflection on the deeply human need to make art. 

This observational documentary film explores the world of an unusual artists' collective in Callan, Co. Kilkenny, a studio which focuses on the artists' lives and extraordinary work. As it takes us farther into their unique world, the film builds into an often hilarious and intimate portrayal of a medley of charming and vibrant characters. Living Colour is a rich and rewarding cinema experience and is, in itself, a celebration of what it is to be human.

Project Room, Level 3, dlr LexIcon. 

Free, No booking required

Let's explore an art exhibition and then create some artwork inspired by what we see in the gallery. Children and families are warmly invited to this uniquely creative experience with visual artist Jinny Ly. Using coloured paper, markers, wool and collage, children and families are invited to spend some time with Jinny making, drawing and having fun! 

Book on Eventbrite

Friday 18 July, 2 - 3pm, Online

€8. Material packs provided for local residents. (details on Eventbrite)

Join artist Olivia Normile at home as she guides you through the process of drawing animation using paper, pencil and erasing. Thinking about the traces left behind in the process of drawing, participants will reframe the ‘mistakes’ in your work as essential and valuable details.

*You do not need to have animation experience for this workshop.

Project Room, Level 3, dlr LexIcon. 

Free, No booking required

Let's explore an art exhibition and then create some artwork inspired by what we see in the gallery. Children and families are warmly invited to this uniquely creative experience with visual artist Jinny Ly. Using coloured paper, markers, wool and collage, children and families are invited to spend some time with Jinny making, drawing and having fun!