Brigid is the lead artist in this project originally designed for Cruinniù na nÒg during which she worked for 6 weeks with residents of Hughes Mills on Suir Island making art, using soil, planting seeds, and sharing food as part of a series of arts activities in a number of media such as clay, wool, cardboard and paint.
The range of creative engagement sessions culminated in a public arts event for Cruinniù na nÒg on Saturday 11th June. The six facilitated days were mostly aimed at residents of Hughes Mills, children & their parents, while the final public day was a large public event comprised of the core group and the general public. Following the completion of the Cruinniù nà nÒg event, we hosted a shared meal with the main participants in the project.
This coincided with the news that Brigid Teehan and Poet and filmmaker Grace Wells were awarded one of the special commissions to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Arts Council, focussing specifically on article 31 of the the UN convention on the rights of the child to access to play, leisure, arts and culture. The aim of the project has been therefore to continue the work started in the Spring and deliver a site-specific artwork in collaboration with Clonmel Children and their families for Clonmel Applefeest in late September.
As a kick off to this project, Brigid held 4 Saturdays of Pop-Up conversations, story-sharing and non-directed creative play in 4 different public locations in Clonmel: the Showground Shopping centre, under the arches of the Main Guard, Denis Burke Park as part of National Wild Child Day and a final session at Suir Island Car Park mainly for & with the Hughes Mills residents, the latter attended by Grace Wells who was doing her own exploration into the world of children's play and the suitability of the Clonmel's public realm for children and their families.
During the month of September, Brigid took up residence in the grounds of Old St-Mary’s to design and construct the proposed commissioned site specific artwork in collaboration with the many children collaborators who attended her summer sessions. Children from the nearby Sisters of Charity school and the Parochial schools were also invited to join for some hands on cob making and painting sessions. Using cob, recycled Cori Board and second hand objects and salvaged materials, Brigid facilitated a multi layered vibrant creative process, the culmination of which was unveiled on Culture Night, Friday 23rd September with a children’s party.
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