News

10 May 2010

President Mary McAleese announced Siobhán Parkinson as Laureate na nÓg, Ireland’s first laureate for children’s literature, presenting her with the Laureate na nÓg medal at a special event at the Arts Council.

Laureate na nÓg is a new initiative of the Arts Council with the support of the Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Children’s Books Ireland and Poetry Ireland. The honour has been established to engage young people with high quality children’s literature and to underline the importance of children’s literature in our cultural and imaginative life. Laureate na nÓg is also supported by Eason’s and by the Irish Times.

Speaking to an audience of children and adults, the President said writers had "woven magic into people's minds and hearts with words".

"Books are stepping stones to your best self," President McAleese said. "They take you right into your own head, they give you a great realm of friends, they open you to the whole world around you."

Pat Moylan, Chairman of the Arts Council, said, "The Arts Council is proud to initiate Ireland's first laureate for children's literature. Laureate na nÓg seeks to broaden and enrich young people's imaginative worlds, to encourage a love of reading and to inculcate the value of literature among children and young people."

"Literature plays a unique role in helping us to interrogate who we are as a society, it has the power to make us understand what it means to be human, and it offers us that most subversive of things - pleasure," Ms Moylan added.
 
She continued, ‘This is an exciting and valuable initiative and it comes at a time when good news and optimism, particularly in relation to children and young people, are vital. Through the Laureate, and the Arts Council's overall support for children's literature, we are working to get more children reading and reading more adventurously.'
 
Speaking about her appointment Siobhán Parkinson said, "I am thrilled and honoured to be chosen as the first Laureate na nÓg. I believe that children's literature lays the foundations of the imaginative life of a people, and that every child deserves to have access to a reading haven -- a well-stocked and well-run library in their school and in their community."

01 April 2010

Young people have vowed to transform derelict and unused buildings into vibrant cultural centres - if Nama and local authorities around the country give them the space and the opportunity.

The idea emerged from the first ever Arts Council youth arts forum, which saw some 60 young people from all over Ireland gather in Dublin. They said that, given the chance, young people could take over buildings now lying empty around the country and turn them into exciting exhibition centres, rehearsal spaces, film sets and artists' studios.

The gathering, made up of young people from all over the country, played an active role throughout the weekend, participating vigorously in the debates and discussions.

The participants, all aged between 15 and 24, said they wanted agencies like the Arts Council to form their own "youth advisory committees" to nurture their creativity. Such initiative within state bodies would mean that young people could represent themselves, putting forward their own ideas and proposals on cultural policy, not merely being represented by older adults.

Delegates from Wicklow, Antrim, Donegal, Monaghan, Sligo, Galway, Limerick, Cork, Waterford, Wexford, Westmeath, Laois, Louth as well as various parts of Dublin said they wanted to form a national union for youth arts to create more opportunities for talent to emerge.

Art-Youth-Culture: FYI, a series of arts-based workshops, discussions and meetings between young people and policy makers, took place in Filmbase, Exchange Dublin and the Civic Office on Dublin's Wood Quay. Organised by the Arts Council with support from the European Commission's Youth in Action programme administered by Leargas, the gathering quickly burst into life. Young visual artists took to the streets, musicians jammed with a mixture of French horn, cello, electric guitar and more, while ideas about the arts and cultural policy were "tweeted" and used to update blogs.

Gaye Tanham , Arts Council’s Head of Young People, Children, and Education said the weekend had been a huge success, giving voice to the 15 percent of the citizenship of Ireland between 15 and 24 years of age in an unprecedented and direct way. 35 percent of the population Ireland is made up of 0-24 year olds (CSO 2006 figures).

"FYI represented a great opportunity to shed light on the important contribution of young people to the arts and cultural life, and to listen to the ideas, views and experiences of the young people from different backgrounds who took part in the event" she said.

"It allowed us to reflect on the art and practice of consulting, listening to and transferring power to young people in policy-making processes that impact on their experience of the arts and cultural life. It has undoubtedly opened a new chapter in young people's participation in Ireland." Gaye Tanham added.

More information available on the conference website:  www.futurearts.ie

01 April 2010

We are pleased to announce that two new resources are available on our website for arts organisations working with children and young people.

Both resources have been designed as templates that can be adapted by arts organisations for their own use. 

Child protection policy and procedures sample information for young people and children is designed as a leaflet that can be given to children and young people. It is intended to provide them with a brief guide to the measures that are in place in their arts organisation to ensure their safety and welfare. Information covered includes code of behaviour, making a complaint and how they can expect to be treated.

Child protection policy and procedures sample information for parents and guardians provides an outline for parents/guardians on the policies and procedures that are in place in an arts organisation attended by their child. It includes guidance on recruitment procedures, how the organisation will communicate with the parents in the event of a concern regarding their child and lists points on how parents can cooperate with them to ensure the safety and welfare of their child.

These resources were drawn up in consultation with arts organisations who work with children and young people. Their assistance and expertise is appreciated. 

• Child protection policy and procedures sample information for young people and children (0.24 MB, MS Word)
• Child protection policy and procedures sample information for parents and guardians (0.09 MB, MS Word) 

19 March 2010

The next Young Ensembles Scheme (Yes) closing date has been set for Friday 30 April 2010.

Applications are invited for activities beginning between July 1st and December 31st 2010 and completed by June 30th 2011. The primary purpose of this award is to support  groups of young people between the ages of 12 and 23 to create ambitious and original work together in any art form (e.g.: circus, dance, digital media, film, music, theatre, literature, visual arts, or any combination of the above). Groups/ensembles must be made up of 3 or more members.

The maximum award available is €10,000. 

Full details on this award, including guidelines and criteria, are available on the Arts Council website.

Please feel free to print out the flyer for distribution and display!

• Flyer (0.08 MB, Adobe PDF) 
  

You are invited to attend an open meeting at the Arts Council, on Friday 19 February, to assist in planning the three-day event, Art-Youth-Culture: FYI.

When: Friday, 19th February, 2 - 4pm
Where: The Arts Council, 70 Merrion Square, Dublin 2
Who: This planning meeting is for young people between the ages of 15-23, and youth arts leaders.

Background - Art-Youth-Culture: FYI invites young people between the ages of 15 and 23 to discuss young people's participation in cultural life and the arts with their peers and key policy-makers. The event will take place in Dublin from March 27th -29th and will include three days of arts-based workshops and discussions, concluding with a meeting between young people, arts policy makers, and government representatives. Art-Youth-Culture FYI is an initiative of the Arts Council’s Young People, Children and Education team and is supported through the EU Youth in Action programme, administered by Léargas.

On Friday, 19th February, the Arts Council will host an informal meeting for anyone interested in participating in Art-Youth-Culture: FYI. At the meeting, we will share a rough outline for this event and invite you to share your ideas about the structure over the three days and the key questions you consider important to explore. Young people interested in attending as delegates, as well as youth arts leaders, are welcome to attend the planning meeting.

If you wish to attend the planning meeting on Friday February 19th, please reply to: Mathilde.veldt@artscouncil.ie

For more information on Art-Youth-Culture: FYI, and how to get involved, please visit the Arts Council website: http://www.artscouncil.ie/en/areas-of-work/actions/FYI.aspx

If you are unable to attend the planning meeting, have too far to travel, or learn about it too late, we welcome your ideas by email. If you wish to send suggestions by email, please sent a completed suggestions template (0.07 MB, Adobe PDF)  to Mathilde.veldt@artscouncil.ie.

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This communication reflects the views only of the author and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

19 October 2009

Natural Born Artists, the international conference on arts for early years, organised by Baboró, took place this October in Galway.

The conference was opened by Michael D Higgins, TD. Keynote speakers included Martin Drury, Arts Director of the Arts Council, and David Coleman, psychologist, author and radio and television presenter.

Download the text of Martin Drury's speech (0.08 MB, Adobe PDF).

July 2009

Music Network is delighted to announce a major philanthropic gift to be invested in music education in Ireland. €5 million has been donated by U2 and a further €2 million pledged by The Ireland funds to allow a national system of music education provision to be rolled out between 2010 and 2015.

With funding from the Arts Council, Music Network has over the last number of years been working to raise awareness of the value of music education, and of the need for enhanced provision through a national system of local music education services. A model developed by Music Network (as recommended in the Music Network report A National System of Local Music Education Services-Report of a Feasibility Study 2003) set out to make music education available to all children of the state irrespective of their geographical location and their social and economic circumstances. The model is widely agreed to be a workable and cost efficient solution.

"This gift allows us to implement a planned, integrated approach to music education at a national level so that the potential and talent of our young people can be developed. The roll-out of our model will make an important contribution to music in Ireland, and to educational provision generally," Deirdre McCrea Music Network CEO explains.

The Edge, speaking on behalf of U2, says, "Being around music at a young age was important for us and we were lucky to have it at school. We had been looking for some time for a way to get involved in an initiative in music education in Ireland. After talking to various people in Ireland about what to do, we came to the conclusion that the Music Network scheme is really well thought out and that we, in partnership with the Ireland Funds, should just get behind it."

Loretta Brennan Glucksman, Chair of The American Ireland Fund says, "Our goal is to stimulate philanthropy in Ireland and the scheme falls under two of our funding priorities-education and culture. We are thrilled to be part of a project, which will bring the Music Network Scheme nationwide as it is a proven success and has wide-ranging support from Government as well as the music education establishment. We believe that the programme will make a huge contribution to music education in Ireland."

The Minister for Education and Science, Batt O'Keeffe TD, says, "I'm delighted that U2 and The Ireland Funds have agreed to join us as partners in progressing the music agenda in Ireland. We recognised the gaps in music education in 2001 when a feasibility study was commissioned to examine how a national system of publicly supported local music schools might be provided. The pilot schemes which Government has funded since 2004 will now provide the model to roll the scheme out nationally. We are very grateful for the support of U2 and The Ireland Funds for the programme over the next six years. It has the potential to create a true legacy for music education in Ireland."

Music Network will administer the scheme, which will be rolled out on a phased basis, in a number of new locations each year, beginning in 2010 and including all musical genres. Involvement in the scheme will be offered on the basis of competitive tender. Local interests (for example one or more local VECs and/or local authorities, local private music schools, parents groups etc.) will be invited to bid for a three-year subsidy to provide for the costs of teachers and local administration; they must show how they will generate matching resources locally, and how they will plan to make the scheme sustainable in the longer term.

For further information please visit www.musicnetwork.ie.

08 May 2009

The Arts Council is pleased to announce funding decisions for the Young Ensembles Scheme in 2009. 66 eligible applications were received, and of these 14 have been offered funding. The total demand for funding was €822,202.92. The available funding in 2009 was €140,000. A list of successful applicants is now included in the decisions database.

The Young Ensembles Scheme was introduced in 2008 and includes an evaluation process that will help to inform the future provision of Arts Council support in this area. We invite you to view the video of a reflection and evaluation workshop carried out with groups funded in 2008 on the Vimeo website.

March 2009

Building on Guidelines for the protection and welfare of children and young people in the arts sector, we are pleased to introduce two new resources for artists and arts organisations working with children and young people. The resources are in response to requests from the arts sector. They are:

Guidelines for taking and using images of children and young people in the arts sector
The guidelines aim to provide support and guidance to arts organisations and artists working as arts practitioners, facilitators or tutors making, recording and using images of children and young people. Items such as informed consent, the legal context, privacy and publishing images on websites are covered in the resource.

Solo practitioner code of practice for working with children and young people
The code of practice aims to provide support and guidance to artists working with children and young people in a solo capacity as practitioners, facilitators or tutors. It is based on, and should be read in conjunction with established other good practice guidelines.

Both resources were developed in consultation with individual artists, arts organisations and the Health Service Executive Keeping Safe Information and Advice Persons.  We are very grateful for their assistance and expertise in developing the new resources

09 January 2009

On October 28th 2008, the Arts Council hosted a reflection and evaluation workshop for groups funded through the Young Ensembles Scheme. This highly interactive workshop, facilitated by David Kelly of the National Association of Youth Drama, aimed to gather recommendations and feedback about the pilot scheme and to give ensembles that received funding in 2008 an opportunity to meet each other and exchange experiences. 45 young people and leaders from 16 ensembles, representing a range of art-forms including film, dance, drama, writing, music, circus and street arts, shared their insights and ideas throughout the day.

The workshop was followed by a celebratory event, featuring music by the Mount Temple Jazz Ensemble and members of the Axis-Ballymun Ensemble.

The full list of ensembles funded through the scheme can be viewed at http://www.artscouncil.ie/en/we_funded.aspx.

09 January 2009

The document presents a wide range of research, primarily focusing on the area of arts-in-education but also includes information on work in other contexts such as arts in health, arts in youth work and arts in communities. The digest spans an almost thirty-year timeframe from 1979 to 2007.

For further information see http://newsletter.artscouncil.ie/e_article001232883.cfm?x=bdMr03w,b1SpHS2j,w.

The document is available to download at http://www.artscouncil.ie/Publications/Research_Digest.pdf.

01 July 2008

The Arts Council today published Points of Alignment (0.29 MB, Adobe PDF) the Report of the Special Committee on the Arts and Education. The report was presented to the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Martin Cullen, T.D., and the Minister for Education and Science, Batt O’Keeffe, T.D.

To read the full press release please visit: http://http://www.artscouncil.ie/en/news/news.aspx

A Summary Guide to the report is also available: Summary Guide_Treoir Achomhair (0.08 MB, Adobe PDF)