This week saw the launch of three separate Artist-in-Residence programmes at Mary Immaculate College (MIC); a Theatre-Maker residency; an Irish Traditional Musician residency and a Contemporary Drawing Practice residency.
Deirdre Dwyer, originally from Waterford, has been appointed as the Theatre Artist-in-Residence. Deirdre directs and adapts her own work for young audiences in addition to designing sets and costumes for theatre, opera, dance and film. She is a member of BrokenCrow Theatre Company for whom she has directed her own adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden. Deirdre was first introduced to theatre and design at Waterford Youth Arts and Waterford Spraoi. She trained in University College Cork (BA Drama and Theatre Studies and English) and at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Cardiff (MA in Theatre Design). She participated, as the Designer, in Rough Magic SEEDS3 and was awarded the first Pat Murray Bursary in 2009. Her work for and with young people has included working with Graffiti Theatre Company, Dublin Youth Theatre, Carlow Youth Theatre, Waterford Youth Arts, Little Red Kettle, Cork Opera House, LAMDA and UCC. She has worked as Costume Design Tutor on Tenderfoot, a project mentoring transition year students to present their own plays in the Civic, Tallaght. Deirdre teaches on the Drama and Theatre Studies BA in UCC and is a founder member of ISSSD (Irish Society of Stage and Screen Designers).
Speaking on her vision for the residency at MIC Deirdre said: “Being the Theatre Artist- in-Residence here in Mary Immaculate College allows me the time and space to create for Young Audiences in a child focused environment. Over the period of the residency I will spend time developing two adaptations that will become two more works for young audiences and I also hope to act as an ambassador for theatre to the student body, allowing them a little more access to theatre and drama through my presence."
Desi Wilkinson, originally from Belfast but now residing in Limerick, has been appointed Irish Traditional Musician Artist-in-Residence. Desi is an experienced, well-travelled and popular traditional musician and teacher with eclectic musical interests. He is mainly a concert flute player but also plays the tin-whistle, fiddle, bagpipes and clarinet. He maintains a strong interest in folk song and its relevance to educational contexts (e.g. local/national history, the environment, emigration). As a professional musician he has worked, toured and recorded extensively both as a soloist and with an array of talented artists from the world of Irish Traditional Music and other related genres. Apart from his prolific recording and performance career he is a qualified school teacher and an experienced academic/lecturer having worked as a full time lecturer in Ethnomusicology, performance and folk music studies at the International Centre for Music Studies (ICMuS) Newcastle University, UK. He has researched the specific repertory of the flute in Irish music and has published articles concerning Irish traditional music’s continually evolving performance contexts in academic books and journals. 2016 saw the publication of his book on the socio-cultural reality of traditional music in Brittany entitled Call to the Dance (Pendragon Press, New York).
Speaking on his hopes for the residency Desi said: “In this residency I seek to encourage students to explore the aesthetic and creative potential of traditional folk music and song and to make it an exciting and relevant part of their future teaching strategies”.
Maeve Clancy, originally from Wicklow but currently residing in Mayo, is an artist who works in installation, animation and comics, and has been appointed the Visual Artist-in-Residence in Contemporary Drawing. Maeve creates work for children and adults using cut paper, story and drawings. She has worked on music videos for singer Lisa Hannigan, mounted solo exhibitions and writes both fictional, documentary and historical comics. Past commissions include a pop-up book for the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 international advertising campaign, a large scale installation at a National Trust property in Somerset, UK, a fully paper set for Branar Téatar do Pháistí's object theatre work 'Bláth' and a solo exhibition at Corte Eremo, Mantova, Italy. She recently completed an outdoor commission for the Jackie Clarke Archive in Ballina, Co Mayo; the set design for Branar's 1916-themed play 'Maloney's Dream' and a graphic novel about Dr Kathleen Lynn for Mayo County Council as part of their centenary commemorations. Upcoming work includes an artistic director role on 'Srúth na Teanga', a Galway 2020 project with Branar Téatar do Pháistí.
Outlining her plans for the residency Maeve said: “The aims of this residency are threefold. The first is to expose the students at MIC to a working artist, my projects and process. The second is to develop an Observational Drawing Programme for 8-12 year olds. The aim is to produce a course that can be delivered by a teacher of any ability, with very structured lessons, support material and examples of other children's drawings to encourage working in one's own style. The third part of the residency will look at students past and present of Mary Immaculate College with a particular interest in women's education over 120 years in Ireland from 1900 to the present day”.
All three residencies are located within the context of the Mary Immaculate College’s focus on Initial Teacher Education (primary teaching) and are made possible by the Arts Council, in partnership with Mary Immaculate College (MIC) and the Lime Tree Theatre.
The Artist-in-Residence programmes are funded by the Arts Council as part of the Council’s commitment to the provision of artists in residence in all colleges of education; a commitment outlined in the Arts in Education Charter (2012). Speaking in advance of the launch Seóna Ní Bhriain, Head of Young People, Children and Education with the Arts Council, said: “The Arts Council is delighted to support three new residencies at Mary Immaculate College. We value these residency partnerships as a means of raising the profile of the arts disciplines within Colleges of Education and of creating a beneficial campus-wide arts experience for staff and students. By directing resources towards initial teacher education it is hoped that student teachers, if given opportunities to engage with the arts in a meaningful way during the course of their studies, will, in turn, seek to extend and enhance the experiences of their future pupils”.
MIC has a strong historical track-record of residences; having hosted, in association with the Lime Tree Theatre, Branar, Téatar do Pháistí, from 2013-2016 and multi-award winning composer, Anne-Marie O’Farrell from 2014-2017. Feedback from both residences showed the impact of the residencies extended beyond their initial remit; rather both residencies had a far reaching influence on the wider community and beyond.
Welcoming the three artists Professor Eugene Wall, President (Acting) of Mary Immaculate College said: “We are extremely excited at having these exceptional talented artists working in our midst. Experience tells us that these Artist-in-Residence programmes are of enormous benefit, not just to our students and future generation of teachers, but that they also have the potential for a far-reaching influence on the wider community and beyond. By allowing practicing artists to feed into our programmes and the work of the Lime Tree Theatre, they enliven not only the culture of the MIC campus, but the culture of Limerick and its environs”.
Pictured at the recent launch of the Artist-in-Residence programmes at MIC were Back Row L-R: Desi Wilkinson, Irish Traditional Musician Artist-in-Residence, Dr Dorothy Morrissey, Lecturer in Drama Education, Tanya Power, Lecturer in Visual Arts, Dr Déirdre Ní Chróinín, Head of Arts Education, Physical Education, MIC; Dr Gareth Cox, Head of Music, MIC. Front Row L-R: Dr Angela Canny, Acting Dean of Education, MIC; Louise Donlon, Director of Lime Tree Theatre; Deirdre Dwyer, Theatre Artist-in-Residence and Maeve Clancy, Visual Artist-in-Residence in Contemporary Drawing, MIC. All three residencies are located within the context of the Mary Immaculate College’s focus on Initial Teacher Education (primary teaching) and are made possible by the Arts Council, in partnership with Mary Immaculate College (MIC) and the Lime Tree Theatre.
