 CARNAUN
NATIONAL SCHOOLTranscending the Territory is the title of a post-graduate research project that John Langan is undertaking at the School of Art & Design, Limerick Institute of Technology. In the research he is examining the concept of - An artist centered approach to residencies in educational settings. Investigations of extant residencies in educational settings have resulted with the hypothesis that an artist-centered approach is not common to such residencies. The project at Carnaun National School employs an action research model involving a creative intervention within the school. The fieldwork element of the project requires placing an artist in the school over a six-month period to test methods of working and collaboration suitable for an artist centered approach. Transcending the Territory is informed by Langan’s artistic practices and pedagogical experiences. His artistic work tends to be a series of collaborative, interventionist and infiltratist investigations of the time, place and society he inhabits that often involve activities in the social sense. He advocates through his actions and projects the concept of a socially-engaged arts practice. As an educator with such a philosophy he has engaged in the concept of learning as a means of problematizing social and cultural destines. As a lecturer in Sculpture at the Galway - Mayo Institute of Technology, he is interested in the challenges of instructing students who are interested in an area of practice which stretches beyond how they create art to how they might share the creative processes of art making. By developing this project he wishes to explore the professional opportunities that might be created for such artists/students in educational settings. Profile of Participating School: Carnaun National School, Athenry, Co Galway Phone 091 844668, E-mail carnaun.ias@eircom.net Website: http://homepage.eircom.net/~foregan According to the school’s website Carnaun National School is a small rural school surrounded by fields with stone wall boundaries in which cattle, sheep and horses graze. The surrounding countryside is dotted with small patches of woodland and long wild hedgerows of whitethorn and blackthorn, which are used as stockproof fencing on the farms. Many of the children live on farms. There are fifty pupils in the school and three Teachers, Mr. Finbarr O'Regan, Mrs. Anita Coffey and Ms. Mary Murray who is a Resource Teacher for Special Needs, a Learning Support teacher Des Neylon, a secretary Vera Browne and a Special Needs Assistant Bridie Browne. There are about 3 acres of school grounds in which the pupils have a playing area, wildlife areas, flower and vegetable gardens. The gardens are sown and maintained by the pupils, indeed the pupils do much of their schoolwork through projects and include most of the school subjects in them. The main project for the past few years was on Environmental Awareness. For this the pupils have won many prizes and were awarded the European Green Flag last year. The school has also undertaken other projects including a delightful project on Butterflies with Glade Creek School, North Carolina, USA “Irish emigration to America” was the name of another project undertaken with Glade Creek School. A report on the project work on Environmental Awareness and their European Project can be seen on the projects page of the school’s website at http://homepage.eircom.net/~foregan. Their current primary project is a schools partnership initiative called “I eat, therefore I am” ad ca be see at www.eat-online.net . A Comenius Project, under the Socrates Action Plan it involves sixteen different schools in fourteen different European countries. This prestigious communications project entails students and teachers from Carnaun School visiting the participating schools and meeting the pupils and teachers. Carnaun School receives many visitors to their school website and the students and staff love to hear from people. They also have many visitors to the school and the students bring all guests on the School Heritage trail. Carnaun has been featured on TV and in the newspapers and has won many awards for the work. Many foreign students come to the school and they have friends in France, Germany and Luxembourg, Sweden, Finland, Italy, Wales, Greece, Malta and Eastern Europe. Carnaun National School has worked with a professional artist in the past but they have never been involved with an artist in primary schools scheme. In order to facilitate the project the school has a large resource room, which they will make available as an artist’s studio. Other resources that the artist might avail of include the school’s website, photocopier, computers and printer. A television, VCR, digital stills camera and video camera are available through a school booking system. The board of management, staff and pupils are supportive and excited by the proposed Transcending the Territory project and the possibility of gaining an insight into the life and work of a contemporary artist. Residency details
The Residency Project: Five artists were
short-listed and invited to apply for the residency at Carnaun N.S.
There were three applications, which were adjudicated by a panel which
comprised of;
Elizabeth Porritt was selected as the successful
artist. The project was launched with a short slide show of the
artist’s work in the school on 12 March 2004.
As part of this exhibition it is hoped to hold
a Group discussion/Seminar "Artist in the school - A Response"
on the evening of Thursday 2nd of December which focuses on the
place of art in the school/classroom, children’s creativity, residencies
in schools-with particular reference to the Galway experience.
 BAILE
ÁTHA 'N RÍ |