CARNDONAGH Community School are embarking on an ambitious, creative project in partnership with Donegal County Council’s Tús Nua regeneration project.
The school were successfully chosen last year to be part of Creative Ireland’s flagship ‘Creative Schools’ project, which seeks to embed creativity in school communities.
“The Arts Councils’ Creative Associate, Leanne McLaughlin, discussed how the project came about: “After a series of workshops to engage with the school community, we produced a creative plan – which focused on the creative needs of the students. One prominent area of focus that came from the plan was enhancing their environment and surrounds in a creative way.”
Leanne continued to describe the project, whereby the students of Carndonagh will work alongside artist Ben Holmes to design a public mural to enhance the local community.
In order to achieve their aims, Leanne organised a partnership with Paul Kelly, Senior Executive Planner, Donegal County Council, who was delighted to come on board:
He said: “Tús Nua is a radical regeneration project which seeks to empower revival of the town centre through the community. The project includes proposals for a transformed public realm inclusive of public art and murals.
“The chance to partner with the School and the Arts Council in the delivery of public art within the town centre through ‘Creative Schools’ presented a wonderful opportunity to access the creativity of the students and hopefully engender both civic pride and local ownership in the end result.
“We are confident that the new mural will become a special asset in the town centre which will greatly enhance the environment for all.”
In order to choose the winning design, there is an open competition with the theme of ‘New Beginnings’. It is hoped the entrants will incorporate elements of local history and culture.
There will be five winners, the five images chosen will be turned into a mural design by artist Ben Holmes. Ben has been using this technique within the school already.
He said: “The aim is to design and create a large mural where the students drive the overall concept. There will be some brainstorming to begin with which ultimately becomes the building blocks for the final design.
“What’s really exciting is bringing together the different drawing styles from the students into one whole design which leads to something totally unique. It is a new experience for everyone including myself and I look forward to the project.”
Pauline McDermot, from the Art Department of Carndonagh Community School said: “The art department in Carndonagh Community School are delighted to collaborate with Creative Schools and Donegal County Council on this community mural competition.
“It is an exciting opportunity for our students to have their artwork in such a prominent place in the community and to be given the chance to work with Ben Holmes a talented local artist. We think the theme of new beginnings is very relevant given the current climate. We are excited to see where our students’ creativity and imagination bring them.”
The competition is open from Friday 29th until Friday 12th of February. For further information contact Leanne McLaughlin – leanne-mclaughlin@hotmail.com. Entries can be submitted to competitions@carndonaghcs.ie.
The Arts Council/ Creative Schools Ireland and Donegal County Council would like to acknowledge the support of the Marner Family in facilitating this project.
