Exploring & Thinking Residential Mentorship Programme

The Exploring & Thinking Partnership – Fingal County, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County, South Dublin County and Dublin City Council, is delighted to announce this unique opportunity for artists that currently work in or are interested in working in Early Childhood Arts.

We have invited Professor Suzanne Zeedyk to work with artists on a two-day residential mentorship programme that will support artists’ capacity building in this specialised area of arts practice.

What does this residency offer?
The opportunity is for 12 artists to attend a fully funded two-day residential in Balbriggan, County Dublin, on the 9 and 10 of October 2024. It will include group work, workshops, and mentoring facilitated by Professor Zeedyk. The content will be tailored by Professor Zeedyk in response to the selected artists proposals and experience.

Dates & Times (full schedule to follow)

Wednesday 9 October 2024
10am – 7pm, includes lunch and dinner

Thursday 10 October 2024
10am – 4pm, includes breakfast and lunch

Who can apply? 
– Individual professional artists who wish to develop their practice in early childhood arts. 
– Artists working in/or interested in working in contexts that align with the Exploring & Thinking Partnerships priorities.  
– Artists practicing in all artforms.  
– Artists resident in Ireland.

Please note that Artists do not have to be based in the Dublin region, but their application should articulate how this opportunity will impact existing early childhood arts practice in the Dublin region.

Priorities for this opportunity 
The Exploring & Thinking Partnership has identified the need to support artists that work in or wish to work in early childhood settings that align with our priorities. Each local authority is working with services that support early childhood locally. Our focus is to create greater access to the arts in communities and neighbourhoods across the Dublin region that may traditionally not have these opportunities. Collectively we are interested in the capacity building of artists that work in, or are interested in working in, contexts that are an intersection of arts and health, community, and/or integration.  
 
How do I apply? 
Proposals must include the following:
– An outline of your professional arts practice (max 400 words).
– An expression of interest that details the following (max 900 words):
          • How Professor Zeedyk’s area of expertise could be of value to your practice now?
          • What issue/theme/question can Professor Zeedyk assist you with to help develop your arts practice?
          • What might the benefit/impact be from the insights gained from this opportunity to your practice?
– Confirmation of availability on 9 and 10 October 2024.  
– Two examples of relevant projects in support of proposal.
If you have any access requirements, please let us know.

Proposals should be submitted via https://dlrcoco.submit.com/
Closing date for proposals: 2pm, 12 August 2024 
 
How will we select the successful artists?  
Representatives from the four Dublin Local Authorities and Professor Zeedyk will sit on the selection panel.

We will use these criteria and marks: 
– Demonstrated experience of working in early childhood art. (This will be marked by assessing the overview of your practice, expression of interest and examples of previous work). (40/100)
– Quality of proposal. (This will be marked by assessing your expression of interest). (50/100)
– Availability on 9 and 10 October to avail of the residential opportunity. (10/100)

Timeline 
Invitation call out: Week of 21 June
Closing date for queries:  2pm, 30 July
Closing date for proposals: 2pm, 12 August
Assessment period: Week of 19 August

Late applications will not be assessed
Please note that the pass mark required for this opportunity is 70%. If none or not enough of the proposals submitted reach the minimum marks required, we may decide to look at a different way to use this funding.

Queries? 
You can contact the following local authority arts office staff with any queries that you may have:

Fingal County Council
Julie Clarke, Youth & Education Officer 
Email: julie.clarke@fingal.ie 
Telephone: 01 890 5000

Dublin City Council
Liz Coman, Assistant Arts Officer 
Email: liz.coman@dublincity.ie 
Telephone: 01 222 5455

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council
Máire Davey, Assistant Arts Officer – Participation and Learning 
Email: mdavey@dlrcoco.ie 
Telephone: 01 236 2756

South County Dublin
Meabh Butler, Assistant Arts Officer – Early Years 
Email: mbutler@sdublincoco.ie 
Telephone: 01 414 9000

More information 
Professor Suzanne Zeedyk is a research scientist fascinated by babies’ innate capacity to communicate. Since 1993, she has been based at the University of Dundee, Scotland, within the School of Psychology, where she now holds an honorary post. In 2011, she stepped away from full time academic work to set up her own independent training enterprise to disseminate what she calls the Science of Connection. Human beings are born connected, and as a species we have a physiological need for emotional connection in order to lead happy, healthy lives. In 2014, she expanded her reach by founding the organisation Connected Baby, which enabled her team to create events and resources that support her message. Suzanne brings to her work her awareness of the latest discoveries on infant communicative capacities and brain development, as well as her own research expertise on parent-infant relationships and the socio-political contexts within which scientific information emerges.

Suzanne now works closely with organisations throughout the world, holding on to the same goal with which she set out: We need to increase awareness of the decisions we take about caring for children, because they are integrally connected to our vision for the kind of society we wish to build.
www.suzannezeedyk.com

Exploring & Thinking Partnership 
Exploring & Thinking is a collaborative framework for early childhood arts in the Dublin region. Initiated in 2016 by the four Dublin Local Authority Arts Offices to collectively consider Early Childhood Arts. Since this time, we have collectively supported commissions, bursaries, research, and sector sharing days all with a view to supporting artists, the wider early years sector and developing this area of arts practice with a direct impact on the Dublin region.

Freedom of Information 
The provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2014 apply to all four Dublin Local Authorities. Applicants should state if any of the information supplied by them is confidential or sensitive and should not be disclosed in response to a request for information under the Act. Applicants should state why they consider the information to be confidential or commercially sensitive. Submissions from applicants will be kept for twelve months for the purpose of documenting the selection process and ensuring transparency of the selection process.

Insurance 
We reserve the right to seek confirmation of public liability insurance.

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 
Data protection laws mean that your personal data should only be stored where there is a lawful basis, such as your consent, or where there is a legal obligation. Any information you provide for this application will be held for one year from the date you submit it. We will only use the information you give in your application to administer and manage the application and selection process (this will include several external panel members who will read your application). You may withdraw your consent to the retention of the information relating to your application at any point by sending an email to arts@dlrcoco.ie