The Arts Council and Arts & Disability Ireland announce Arts and Disability Connect awardees 2018
Posted: 2 July, 2018
The Arts Council/ An Chomhairle Ealaíon and Arts & Disability Ireland announce recipients of the Arts and Disability Connect scheme 2018
Arts and Disability Connect is a scheme designed to support artists with disabilities to make new and ambitious work.
2018 marks the fifth year of this Arts Council scheme managed by Arts & Disability Ireland. €29,052 has been awarded to thirteen artists under the scheme’s three strands: New Work, Mentoring and Training.
Pádraig Naughton, Executive Director of Arts & Disability Ireland says, “At the heart of every Arts and Disability Connect award is the chance to engage in new learning experiences, build new working relationships and to reach new audiences. Above all else it is an opportunity for all thirteen artists to further develop their professional practice and reach a new level of creative ambition”.
Mairéad Folan and Vukašin Nedeljković have been awarded New Work awards.
Mairéad, the Galway based Artistic Director of NoRopes Theatre Company, will stage the world première of Wake by award-winning author Deirdre Sullivan in partnership with Town Hall Theatre. Inspired by the barren landscape of rural Galway, Wake offers a feminist’s take on the classic Hans Christian Andersen fairytale The Little Mermaid, to explore the ways in which society approaches unspoken things.
Vukašin has received a New Work award to present photographic work which documents Direct Provision Centres in Ireland. In collaboration with Unit 4 at Basic Space in Dublin, Vukašin will present new photographs and sound recordings during Refugee Week to critically foreground accounts of exile, displacement, trauma, memory and marginalisation under the Direct Provision scheme.
Seven artists received Mentoring awards.
Dr. Noel O’Connell, a playwright based in Co Limerick, will work with Dr. Marie Kelly and Fionn Woodhouse at University College Cork to develop an ethnodrama which transforms real-life stories of deaf peoples’ experiences of marginalisation.
David Joyce, a Galway based playwright, will work with Eileen Gibbons to stage rehearsed readings of his scripts and to progress and broaden his writing abilities.
Suzie McCormack, a visual artist based in Dublin, will work with visual and textile artist Maeve Mulrennan in Galway to develop journaling, curating and portfolio development technique to progress and expand her studio practice.
Ruth Larkin, a visual artist from Dublin, will work with Offaly artist Ann Lawlor to explore the themes of time, cycles, and science as well as Leonardo Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man concept in a Sci-Art context.
Thomas Martin from Co Wexford will team up with mentor Sylvia Cullen to develop his writing practice through an exploration of non-rhyming poetry, blank verse and a satirical approach to short story writing in a current affairs context.
Maureen Portsmouth (Mo Harte), a performance artist, audio describer, and dancer based in Dublin will work with mentor Amanda Coogan to explore methods of accessing kinetic wisdom and endurance through embodied arts practice.
Sean Hillen, a photo artist based in Dublin, will work with Tanya Kiang of the Gallery of Photography to develop a set of curatorial and networking skills to apply to editing and mounting exhibitions, and perhaps a publication, of his ambitious and well-known works.
Four artists were awarded Training awards:
Mohetia Furniss, a visual and performance artist based in Co Leitrim will undergo training courses with sound artist Cathal Roche, soprano Eunjoo Goh, and jazz vocalist Lauren Kinsella to support her work towards a multimedia installation exhibit.
Roderick Ford, a playwright based in Dublin and previous recipient of Mentoring and New Work awards, will continue his transition from poetry to playwriting with the support of a series of dramaturgical masterclasses with Pamela McQueen at The New Theatre in Dublin.
Emilie Conway, a jazz performer based in Dublin will train with Gearóidín Breathnach and Karan Casey during the Blas programme at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance in the University of Limerick to bring elements of Irish traditional song, storytelling and Sean-Nós into her professional practice.
Caroline Naughton, a visual artist from Co Roscommon, will work with visual artist Danika Casey to develop painting and paper-making techniques to apply to her practice.
The ADC scheme is funded by the Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon and managed by Arts & Disability Ireland. It offers artists the opportunity to connect with other practitioners or venues, make a change in their practice, ‘step up’ in terms of scope and scale, reach new audiences and to engage in mentoring and training. It has been created in response to the changing needs of the sector in the Republic of Ireland and in line with Arts Council commitments outlined in its Arts and Disability Policy 2012 – 2016.
Banner Image: Entropy by Katie Moore
Entropy was supported by an Arts and Disability Connect New Work award in 2017.
It was exhibited in Linenhall Arts Centre 4th May – 2nd June 2018. For more information, click here.
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