Loretto students curate unique exhibition from Arts Council Collection
Fifth year classmates in Clonmel’s Loretto Secondary School have curated their own, unique exhibition of paintings and sculpture from the Arts Council Collection, and the local arts centre has opened it to the public for the next five weeks.
The Leaving Certificate students worked closely with visual artist Mollie Anna King, South Tipperary Arts Centre, the Tipperary Arts Office and the Arts Council to create Transition, which runs from 11th April to 18th May at the popular Clonmel venue.
The project saw the teenagers choose carefully from the Arts Council’s outstanding collection of almost 1,100 works of modern and contemporary Irish art, learning at first hand all aspects of curating, from planning and developing to the selection of works and overseeing the installation in the gallery.
Transition features works by artists John Behan, Carmel Benson, Pauline Bewick, Melanie leBrocquy, Jennifer Brady, Michelle Brown, Amanda Coogan, Dorothy Cross, Mary Ann Duffy, Anita Groener, Dragana Jurisic and Helena Kelly.
Orlaith McBride, Director of the Arts Council said:
“The Arts Council is delighted to be part of this wonderful project giving students an opportunity to experience working directly with one of the national collections of this country to design a unique exhibition of work selected from amongst the important Irish Visual Artists from the 1960s to the present day.
Congratulating the students, she said projects like Transition represented one of the Arts Council’s key priorities of supporting public engagement with the arts, as set out in its 10-year strategy Making Great Art Work: Leading the Development of the Arts.
And she added: “If your school is interested in undertaking your own project of this kind, please get in touch with your local arts office or arts venue to see if they are interested in planning an exhibition of work from the Arts Council Collection.”
For more information on borrowing works from the Arts Council Collection please contact Ben Mulligan, Visual Arts: Collection Officer, ben.mulligan@artscouncil.ie.
The Arts Council Collection
The Arts Council Collection established in 1962 is comprised of almost 1,100 works of modern and contemporary art spanning 1940 until the present day.
Approximately 50 percent of the Collection is on display across Ireland at any one time and the works are available for public organisations and bodies to borrow and showcase for the benefit of the public.
The Arts Council Collection coordinates a programme of exhibitions in cooperation with Galleries and arts venues throughout the country as well as for lending for international exhibitions.
Exhibitions drawn from works in the Arts Council Collection taking place this Spring:
- MAKing Art: PAINTing, Draoicht Blanchardstown Dublin, 14 March –18 May
- Transition, South Tipperary Arts Centre April 11th- May 18th
- Shaping Ireland: Landscapes in Irish Art, National Gallery of Ireland, 13 April – 7 July 2019
The Arts Council Collection Mission:
‘The Arts Council’s collection supports artists’ and public engagement with the arts. It does this by purchasing excellent contemporary work to be enjoyed and valued through display and programmes delivered directly and with partners. Through the collection, the Arts Council also acts as a custodian and carer of great art on behalf of the people of Ireland.’
