The four Dublin Local Authorities are delighted to present this opportunity and invite submissions for: Exploring & Thinking Bursary Award 2022/23.

The Bursary Award will support individual professional artists to develop their artistic practice working with and/or producing work for early childhood arts.

It is open to individual professional artists who wish to develop their practice in early childhood arts, artists practicing in all artforms, artists resident in Ireland.

Join Laura & Ciarán of Islander Architects for a free interactive architectural workshop for teenagers on June 11th as part of Cruinniú na nÓg 2022.

This is a collaborative project with illustrator Chris Judge and ten schools in Fingal.

This is a collaborative project in conjunction with the Irish Institute of Music and Song focussing onexploring Irish Music with 12 - 18 year olds.

This is a collaborative project in conjunction with the Irish Institute of Music and Song focussing on exploring music with young people aged 12-18

This is a collaborative project in conjunction with the Irish Institute of Music and Song, focussing on exploring music with primary school kids.

This is a collaborative project in conjunction with the Irish Institute of Music and Song, focussing on exploring music with infants and toddlers.

Children and their carers are invited to explore and spend time together in this beautiful sensory play space for children of 3 years and up designed to
explore a variety of materials (wood, stone, sand, mirrors, modelling clay, fabric) and processes (weaving, plaiting, drawing, making, arranging).
Created by art educator Anne Bradley, this space was originally designed as a response room for Elemental, a sculptural
exhibition for children by artists Caoimhe Kilfeather and Karl Burke curated by Cleo Fagan of Superprojects.

Make Space would provide a contemplative, reflective place encouraging children and adults to explore a variety of natural materials considering their physical qualities: weight, texture, colour, sound. Participants are invited to consider how these everyday materials make up the natural and built environment around us. They are encouraged to manipulate and explore the characteristics of the materials through pouring, weaving, tracing, mark making, arranging.

The space also provides a place for relaxing, open-ended, intergenerational shared play and the opportunity for quiet, reflective conversation.
Ideally Make Space would be installed in a gallery space or other public context such as a library or museum.

The four Dublin Local Authorities are delighted to present this opportunity and invite submissions for: Exploring & Thinking Bursary Award 2021/22.

The Bursary Award will support individual professional artists to develop their artistic practice working with and/or producing work for early childhood arts.

It is open to individual professional artists who wish to develop their practice in early childhood arts, artists practicing in all artforms, artists resident in Ireland.

Bursary range: €500 - €5,000

The closing date: 2pm, 1st of December 2021

Email applications to: Julie.clarke@fingal.ie

Exploring and Thinking is a collaborative framework for early childhood arts in the Dublin region. It came about in 2016 when the four Dublin Local Authorities – Fingal County Council, Dublin City Council, South Dublin County Council and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, partnered for the first time to collectively consider early childhood arts provision in the Dublin region.

Please find Bursary information & application criteria in the attached document.

A Creative Movement Workshop with Dublin Youth Dance Company.

Age: 5 – 10 years

Duration: 30 minutes

Virtual workshop.

Registration required: https://free-as-a-bird-dance-workshop.eventbrite.ie

Blakestown Students plant micro forest of 450 native broadleaf trees on school grounds.

This week students of Blakestown Community School proudly launched their Micro Forest of over 450 broadleaf trees on the school grounds. This beautiful concept of planting a forest outside of their art classroom was developed by artist Gareth Kennedy in partnership with woodwright Eoin Donnelly.

The art project, co-produced by Fingal County Council Arts Office and Superprojects, involved seasonal art and ecology activities led by Gareth and Eoin. It included tree planting, wood splitting and turning, mulching, and planting while learning about the ecology of our native woodlands and contemporary art practice in the open air.

Watch our video here

Blakestown Students plant micro forest of 450 native broadleaf trees on school grounds. Watch here

This week students of Blakestown Community School proudly launched their Micro Forest of over 450 broadleaf trees on the school grounds. This beautiful concept of planting a forest outside of their art classroom was developed by artist Gareth Kennedy in partnership with woodwright Eoin Donnelly.

The art project, initiated by Fingal County Council Arts Office and Superprojects, involved seasonal art and ecology activities led by Gareth and Eoin. It included tree planting, wood splitting and turning, mulching, and planting while learning about the ecology of our native woodlands and contemporary art practice in the open air.

Growing Up:D15

Draiocht's Youth Theatre & FeliSpeaks

Dublin 15 Youth Theatre will present two new poetry works on June 12th.  Created by the members while working with poet, performer and playwright  FeliSpeaks aka Felicia Olusanya, and actor and facilitator Emily Matthews, these works reflect the lives of these young people living in Dublin 15 today.

You can watch this beautiful documentary here

Fox, Bird, River, Sing! An audio adventure for families of all ages & all abilities.

Premiere: RTE Jnr 11.55 am and 4.55 pm Saturday 12th June 2021

(Excerpt) 'Where the land meets the salty water you stand, barefoot.  The sea laps upon your feet and in-between your toes. It’s dawn and the birds are wakening the land and as you lift your eyes, you see the sun peep over the blue horizon. It all looks mysterious today. You curl your hands to your eyes to make magic binoculars and as you scan the horizon you see appearing far away, where the sky meets the sea, a red fur-bodied, big-eared, white-chested creature sitting proudly on a floating log, the wise Red Fox'

This radio play is a whole family audio adventure that transports listeners from the sea to the singing forest on an epic, interactive, musical journey of dancing and singing, frolics with curious creatures and fantastic fun for the whole family. You decide where the venue is; the comfort of your own sitting room, garden or forest. Turn on your imagination, tune in the radio or download the audio link and travel through rich soundscapes and beautiful music in the world of Fox, Bird, River, Sing!

Visit our beautiful website to hear the full piece and avail of resource guides www.foxbirdriversing.com

‘Talisman’

A creative collaboration between young people from St. Joseph’s Secondary School, Rush and artist Barbara Knežević. 

Commissioned by Fingal County Council’s Arts Office on the occasion of Cruinniú na nóg 2021.

The project introduced TY students of St. Joseph’s Secondary School to Barbara’s artistic practice and the idea of ‘a collection’.  Through virtual engagements the students learned about materials such as precious stones, clay and wax used by Barbara in her work. The group explored the collection of Newbridge House, Donabate and discussed why people collect objects, what makes some objects more precious to us than others and what meaning materials and objects can carry.

If Trees Could Talk

Artist Louis Haugh and eductaor Anne Bradley at Saint Marnock's Primary School, Portmarnock, Fingal. 

Please enjoy our project documentary here.

If Trees Could Talk is an exploration of artist Louis Haugh’s photographic work for primary school children.  His photographs are presented publicly on a billboard and several bus shelters in Portmarnock enabling children to view the work at scale.

The four Dublin Local Authorities – Fingal County Council, South Dublin County Council, Dublin City Council, and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council are delighted to announce this year’s recipients of the Exploring & Thinking Bursary Award. 

Fingal County Council (FCC) is working in partnership with Dublin and Dun Laoghaire Education and Training Board (DDLETB) to bring Music Generation to children and young people in Fingal.

As lead partner the DDLETB will recruit a Music Generation Development Officer and are now calling for suitably qualified and experienced individuals to apply for that role.

Fingal Arts Office has teamed up with Poetry Ireland this academic year to improve access to the Writers in Schools Scheme for Fingal schools. The Writers in Schools Scheme facilitates visits by writers and storytellers to primary and post-primary schools. Funding from Fingal Arts Office will ensure access to the scheme at a reduced rate. Schools are now invited to apply for a visit by a writer or storyteller.

For the duration of the Covid-19 crisis and its restrictions, you can apply for support for a virtual visit to your school by a writer or storyteller. Poetry Ireland will continue to support in-person visits upon formal agreement between the school and the writer and if in adherence with public health guidelines. 

Please read on for more details. 

The four Dublin Local Authorities invite submissions for:
Exploring & Thinking Bursary Award 2020

Purpose: The Exploring & Thinking Bursary Award will support individual professional artists to develop their artistic practice working with and/or producing work for early childhood arts.
Open to: Individual professional artists who wish to develop their practice in early childhood arts, artists practicing in all artforms, artists resident in Ireland
Bursary range: €500 - €5,000
The closing date: 5pm, 11th December 2020

Read on for more information.

What Do You See? Let's Explore the artwork of Catherine Barron.

Fingal Arts Office recently Celebrated 25 Years of Collecting Art! Over the next few days we will share an artwork from this amazing collection with you and invite you to respond with your own masterpieces.Ideal for all ages and abilities, you might like to focus on developing your drawing or painting skills by recreating the artwork you see, or you might prefer to focus on a small detail to get started and then let your imagination run wild to create your very own original piece in response. The choice is yours! All we ask is that you share your finished artwork for us all to see and enjoy. This way we stay together and connected through art.

Today we are delighted to share ‘Soup & Bread’ by Irish Artist Catherine Barron. It was made in 2013 using acrylic ink on sheet metal.  Artists use lots of different techniques and materials for creating their artwork. What do you think about the materials used to make this work, look at its shape? Can you look around your home and find interesting materials to draw or paint directly on to? Catherine once said that ‘windows frame a particular place, time and way of life. They are the eyes of a home’. Using your window look outside and capture the shapes, colours or objects you see. In Catherine’s piece she is looking from the outside in. Look around your home for materials to draw, colour and paint with; magazines & fabric cuttings for great for collage, what else can you find? Using your materials create an artwork in response to Catherine’s piece.

Let's Explore the artwork of John Kindness.

Fingal Arts Office recently Celebrated 25 Years of Collecting Art! Over the next few days we will share an artwork from this amazing collection with you and invite you to respond with your own masterpieces.Ideal for all ages and abilities, you might like to focus on developing your drawing or painting skills by recreating the artwork you see, or you might prefer to focus on a small detail to get started and then let your imagination run wild to create your very own original piece in response. The choice is yours! All we ask is that you share your finished artwork for us all to see and enjoy. This way we stay together and connected through art.

Let’s begin with Irish Artist John Kindness. This print is called, ‘Charles Coote’, made in 1998, using two plate etching, aquatint & drypoint. Artists explore their subject matter in detail and carefully consider their composition. Look closely, what can you see? Explore the focal character and his garments, look at the background drapes, what else can you find?  Look around your home and find objects to draw.  Maybe someone at home would like to volunteer to be the subject matter of your artwork! Using whatever and whoever you can find, make your very own artwork inspired by John Kindness’ print.