Increasing constraints and difficulties as a result of the depleted economy has provoked Visual Arts Ireland to organize clinics for artists to come together and discuss difficulties.
In the first of a regular program of art clinics, VAI’s Northern Ireland Representatives Damien Duffy and Laura Graham will be chairing a clinic to support and hear from visual artists in Northern Ireland.
The first of these workshops will be held Saturday 4th June from 2-4pm at Lagan Barge, Belfast.
The Clinic is free but booking may be required.
Contact [email protected] for info.
VAI are also running professional development workshops in June. Limited places are still available for the following:
‘Peer Critique New Media with Saoirse Higgins’
Saoirse will present her work and chat about the different genres of work she has undertaken in public art, gallery and interactive contexts. She will also discuss how she operates as an artist to get the projects done e.g collaborations, residencies, avenues of funding etc. Then each participant will present their work each 20 mins or so, using the session to discuss issues and questions they have with their work. All participants will ask the presenting artist at least one question and make some suggestions on how to solve issues within their peer’s work. Saoirse will choose a person to sketch up the discussion so each artist goes away with the notes and ideas without having to actually take them as they are ‘on the spot’. The group will dissect what the artist is trying to get at in the work and whether it is successful or not and who it is talking to/who is the public or publics…and ideally what they want to happen.
It is intended the workshop will create dialogue and openness between artistic peers. The session will foster networking and continued peer support amongst participants. Attendees will be asked to come prepared with a short presentation as described above on their practice and on future projects they would like to develop.
Thursday 2nd June 10.30am-4.30pm at Digital Art Studios, Belfast.
‘Sustaining your Practice with Rosie Burrows’
This session will examine how to balance creative work and lively hood as an
artist. This workshop is for artists at any stage of development. The workshop will include effective personal and group activities that support you to:
i. Orient to your own and environmental resources, including practices for anchoring these resources. This will include digging deep to discover more self and peer support, particularly during difficult economic conditions and the natural emotional vulnerabilities that can and do occur.
ii.Become more aware of your current practice and how/where you wish to develop. This will include identifying your current ‘artistic edge’, naming 3 key competencies and what this actually means in practice for you.
iii. Take opportunities for super-vision on current problematic situations (whether inner or/and outer). This will include increasing awareness of integrity and boundaries in relation to terms and conditions of work.
The focus of the work will be negotiated with participants at regular moments of the day, and artists are likely to leave the workshop with a solid, practical sense of their own and environmental ‘buried treasure’. A range of creative practices that engage the full range of human embodied experience will be used.
Thursday 9th June 10.30am – 4.30pm at BX, Belfast.
For more information on the courses go to Visual Arts Ireland Events
Visual Artists Ireland is the all Ireland development and resource body for professional visual artists. It provides services, facilities and resources for artists, operates an artistic programme and acts as an advocate for the interests of artists.
