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W/ Scoil Mhuire and 30 TY participants 

Why us? Why Now?

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A mobile educational journey that explored local and global sustainability. This student led experience transcended into a mural that displayed graphic reactions around deforestation, air pollution, water pollution and consumption in Ireland and the world. In this community art programme, 30 TY Scoil Mhuire’s participants worked on ideas and plans for the topic “Sustainability/Greener Ways To A Better Future''.  The programme was formed around a learning process of 8 sustainability workshops that evolved into two pieces of artwork.

Firstly, a graffiti art wall highlighted the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, which was displayed on a school wall. Secondly, a mobile mural was designed from doodles within the participants' climate anxiety notebooks and development drawing sheets. Each mural stage has an individual story established around air pollution, water pollution, deforestation and consumption. Together the murals describe locally and globally issues. The four elements (air, water, fire, and earth) shape the narrative within each mural, in addition, four endangered Irish animals are dominant in each phase. 

'TY Programme' (2022)
Learning Journey

W/Guest Educator François Matarasso

(Thinking about culture as if people matter)

 

This podcast primarily focused on François Matarasso’s practice and research behind community art. The conversation featured perspectives on participatory art, marginalisation in education/society, socio-economic issues in western society and the key role art educators play. Additionally, a discussion surrounding Matarasso’s book 'A Restless Art' and its connection to the training course 'Systems’ took place.

'SYSTEMS' (2020)

 Podcast 

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Matarasso’s practice focuses on writing, research and work in community art. His process rests on the belief that everyone has the right to create art and to share the result, as well as to enjoy and participate in the creations of others. “Shaping your own cultural identity – and having it recognised by others – is central to human dignity and growth. If people can’t represent themselves culturally how can they do so in any other way, including politically? If people are only imagined and portrayed by others, how can they be full, free and equal members of society?”

'SYSTEMS' (2019)

 FÉILTE 

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Systems is a large (8 by 4 ft) blackboard panel divided in 8 to form single wooden pieces (A1). The interconnect pieces are similar to a jigsaw puzzle that form a cognitive blackboard panel that’s a rich and highly visual narrative. Previously the blackboard panel was inscribed with various expository words, sketches, diagrams and doodles by the young adults of YR. The art-form mediums is a mixture of traditional with contemporary art (illustration, graphic art and sculpture), with this, aiming to break the design grid by expanding the limitations of creative practice.

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The target audience is directed at four distinct learners (activist, pragmatist, theorist, reflector) which is relates to Honey and Mumford’s (1982) analysis on learning styles. The Irish society cohort will align to elicit creative self-reflection of the individual(s) learning and educational experiences, as the panels provoke conversations, note-taking and doodles. The creative construction relates to the two art patterns coined by Bourriaud (1998) and Beuys (1973); where relational aesthetics and the social sculpture meet to expand arts potential to transform social and human relations. 

 

 'View Artwork' 

This programme aimed to present a creative comprehension and empirical account of how disengaged and disadvantaged young adults in education respond to the amalgamation of the development education and social art practice. The study is primarily concerned with examining the experiential conditions of the young adults institutionalised relationships within a formal and informal context, by analysing the role of perspective, value and awareness within their learning and social cycle. Engagement strategies within the field prompted the participants too critically think, problem solve, experiment, interpersonally connect and creatively act for the betterment of their social and human relations.  A discussion and analysis of the participants experiences, opinions, behaviours and attitudes has identified a number of injustices in contemporary education.

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The transformative practice has ascertained if the featured learning paradigm can be performed as an incentive for social change. On the strength of the sessions, participants developed four artwork phases: a ladder (includes sign posts, safety net and podium), sandwich boards, and two YR murals (ex-students work, stepping board). Each phase has four depictions: process, disparate directions, reflection, and engagement: It included three project actions: t-shirt printing, badge making and social engagement: note the badge and T-shirt graphics were enhanced by the researcher’s graphic art abilities. 

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 'View Artwork' 

'YOUTHREACH' (2019)

 Crumlin 

The SDG Advocate programme will offer 26 active citizens an opportunity to become one of Ireland’s SDG Advocates through this innovative project. This training course will allow the advocates to deepen their understanding of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals, represent the project internationally and lead transformative change in Ireland. Phase 1: The first phase involves two full weekends, including an overnight residential. The emphasis is on critical analysis, discussion and understanding the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) and our role as active citizens. Each Advocate will start to the process of designing an action project that they can implement in their own communities connected to achieving the SDG’s by 2030. Phase 2: The overseas phase takes place in Tanzania and/or Vietnam during June/July.

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The SDG Advocates spend two weeks working and studying alongside local partner organisations abroad; sharing ideas, perspectives and design of sustainable models of community-based projects. Experiential learning forms the bedrock of the 2nd phase. Irish Participants have an opportunity to learn from the immersion phase and connect their SDG project with other initiatives that are happening at a global level. Phase 3: The final phase comprises of two weekends including a residential with an emphasis on implementing the Advocates SDG action initiatives. Mentoring support will be provided and an opportunity to showcase each project during a “Exhibition of Experience” hosted in a Louth location in October. The Irish team will be joined by 8 advocates from Vietnam and Tanzania as part of a reciprocal visit. 

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'SDG's PROGRAMME' (2018 - 2019)

 SDG Challenge 

Chapter two: to 'engage the players in the game’, with the application of social engaged art practice? with irelands over-consuming workforce. snap back: process: participatory! event: consumerism dialogue! environment: localised on the emerald isle! individuals pondering over the essential relationship of consumption within the natural resources matrix. flashback: Ireland ranked worst in eu for performance on climate action. buying products, services, foods, constantly shopping, repurchasing, repacking, reforming, rejoining, reconstructing, appreciating the plastic cup, it fills a plastic straw full of liquid to funnel chemicals into bodies, atmosphere, animals; tut tut…shame on you humanity, never-mind, lets move on. player one: a group of educators: covered topics: (over) consumption, society, governance, irelands, the worlds destroyed natural resources. player two: a group of workforce labourers;

'ZERO-SUM GAME' (2019)

 National College of Art & Design 

joining the mould to talk about the societal overconsumption of products, foods & services. the meaning: socially engaged art: art at work in an out of control over-consuming human monopoly game adhering money, institute, government, business; wants, desires, needs. online mobilisation that forms the unique community  audience, this round the facilitator is not artist, rather the orchestra of the practice; step one. player three: Irish volunteers; conversed on conspicuous consumption, digital influencers, material waste. player four: digital workers; communicated on technological disruption, food consumption, purchase impulses, economics. the artist was the participants, relationship, dialogue, space, content, time, performance; aspiring to create. player four: the audience of global health activists: focusing on climate change order, environmental health, human scarcity. 

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 'View Video' 

The projects are established on developing the Advocacy capacities of youth organizations and young people towards Civil Society in general, and developing competences of staff of civil society organizations to become champions of youth participation. It is intended as a long-term process providing youth engagement and sharing activities, including a youth exchange and 2 seminars and a practice space with local, national and global initiatives. Activities are designed in such a way as to maximize the outcomes and to ensure that the participants have enough space for applying the learned material and develop the targeted competences.

Tom was a participant of the two Erasmus+ training courses: "The Danger of a Single Story’ and Youth Development from International Perspective. Both courses combined to tell stories around media, global education and active citizenship to empower trainers, artists, educators, youth workers and give them better tools to do their work in the fast changing times. Objectively reflecting on elements such as violence, extremism, racism, intolerance, tools to improve society and the life of individuals, refugee crisis and environmental struggles. 

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 'View Blog'  'View Video' 

'ERASMUS+' (2017 - 2019)

 Czech Republic/Macedonia 

On the 27th of January, 2019 we held a 5 hour interactive event called RAWTAC (Raising Awareness Through Art and Conversation) in Cork City Ireland. The event aimed to bring together young people in Cork to engage with global issues in an interactive, participatory way. The first aspect of the event was hosted in partnership with an organization called Creativity and Change. This brought participants out to the street to co-create a mural focused on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals using the slogan “I’m putting change in motion”. This mural is aimed to be an interactive space for people in the city to share their voice on social media about the SDGs.

The second aspect of the event took place in a café in the city called Kino Café. It brought together three speakers to share their journeys of activism within democratic spaces, on global citizenship and the SDGs. The audience was then offered an opportunity to engage with the panel with any questions they had. Partnership with organizations in Cork was key to ensure sustainability of the activities. In total 30 young people between the ages of 18 and 35 attended this event. This was an open call to all young people in the area with the information circulated to various organisations who are working with youth with fewer opportunities.

'STREET ART' (2019)

 Development Perspectives/Creativity & Change 

'EMPATHY' (2018)

 Marino Institute of Further Education 

It is Marino's mission to support each student to advance to satisfying and financially rewarding employment or to a related area of further studies. We are constantly working to ensure that our programmes, facilities and equipment are updated to meet the ever-changing needs of students and ongoing advances in technology. The Empathy exhibit: was adult education process that displayed an understanding to the word empathy through their interactive creation. The chosen topic related to each students individual community (.i.e. student must emphasise with something in their community through their artwork creation). 

Which is to demonstrate an in-depth understanding of the scope and stages involved in the practical implementation of a major original and innovative creative project. They utilized the theme ‘Empathy’ as platform in creating artwork that is original, niche, innovative, compassionate and creative. Basically, what the learner was setting out to the achieve is to teach people about the theme ‘empathy’ in a creative, active and experiential setting. Thus by presenting their artworks in public exhibition, the curator and the students must vision the end piece presentation prior to displaying the collection of items. 

Realign is a practice-based research project that aimed to tackle the stigma surrounding schizophrenia in Irish media using creative media methods. The project, which consists of three stages - educate, raise awareness and destigmatise - presents schizophrenia in an informed and creative way. Exploring the theme of hyper labelling, we discovered that terminology or labels often carry a stigma. “Schizophrenia” and associated words are widely misused in news and social media, misrepresented in entertainment media and misunderstood by the general public. This creates serious stigma surrounding the condition, which is so intrusive that people living with schizophrenia consider it to be another symptom. Education is achieved through an animated infographic which presents the key facts about schizophrenia.

The project then raises awareness through photography and illustrations that depict the real lives of those living with schizophrenia. The final stage is destigmatisation, which is a short video that allows the stories of those living with schizophrenia to be heard. Realign found that the three stage process did challenge people's perceptions surrounding schizophrenia.   We found an increase in understanding of the condition when users were exposed to the infographic. Furthermore, the level of empathy and acceptance increased when users were exposed to stories of those living with schizophrenia. This research used schizophrenia as a case study to explore the effectiveness of the three stage process. This process could be used to challenge the stigma surrounding other conditions or issues. 

 

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'REALIGN' (2017)
 Dundalk Institute of Technology 

S.E.E is the abbreviated title for Stop Economic Exploitation. We are a multimedia awareness project aiming to change how people perceive the socio-economic system in which we live. We will focus on the examination of money and its pivotal role in paralyzing our society’s potential for evolution. Our project is following a three stage methodology model: Stop, think, and change. We are creating an interactive exhibit installation that will be constructed based on these three stages; the installation will be constructed in a manner to follow the methodology which we have developed resulting in an interactive narrative.

The second aspect of the event took place in a café in the city called Kino Café. It brought together three speakers to share their journeys of activism within democratic spaces, on global citizenship and the SDGs. The audience was then offered an opportunity to engage with the panel with any questions they had. Partnership with organizations in Cork was key to ensure sustainability of the activities. In total 30 young people between the ages of 18 and 35 attended this event. This was an open call to all young people in the area with the information circulated to various organisations who are working with youth with fewer opportunities.

'S.E.E' (2016)

 Dundalk Institute of Technology 

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