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What happens when moments of our history threaten that respectable social standing.
Ireland welcomes a reputation as a land of heritage, rich cultural context, and wholesome tradition; but what happens when moments of our history threaten that respectable social standing?
The cruelty experienced in the hands of Religious residential institutions, are dark stains on the national conscience. its perpetrators clamber desperately to conceal and edit the narrative surrounding this not so distant era. They decide who’s story is told, they decide who is to be believed.
We as artists and Designers have the power to visually communicate and platform the voices of those who need to be heard. It is our responsibility to hold a mirror to society, despite its flaws. This is why we champion the story of Miriam Moriarty Owens, a survivor of an industrial school. We aim to illuminate her story, and acknowledge the steps society must take as to never let history repeat itself.
We would like to recognise the contribution Jake Weldon, Professional Master of Education, UCD has made to the work through her poetic response.
Sarah Egan is an Artist, Educator & Advertising Art Director, specialising in the themes of Neurodivergence, Institutionalisation and Gentrification. She completed her Bachelor degree in Visual Communications from Limerick School of Art & Design in 2018, then went on to work in various creative roles in the ad industry. She progressed to be the youngest ever female Art Director in the 50 year history of Ireland’s largest Ad agency. Sarah is now completing her Master in Art Education, in the hopes she can fuel Irelands’ next generation of creatives, while advocating for the importance of neurodivergent representation within education.
Julia Jacob is a product designer turned educator and facilitator through her work with community organisations teaching young and old to make and create. Over the past 15 years at Fab Labs, makerspaces, men’s sheds and her own product design company Julia has been facilitating others to use design, technology, art, and craft to help themselves and their communities.
Julia’s artwork comes from exploring why things are the way they are in our communities. She uses small, ‘found objects’ repeated methodically on a large scale. Her most recent artwork consists of over 7,000 seeds to represent the number of people being detained in Ireland’s ‘Direct Provision’ asylum seeker residential centres at the time of making. The material she returns to regularly is pharmaceutical material used by loved ones. A piece currently in progress constitutes an attic full of commonplace and unusual pharmaceutical material collected from friends, family, and neighbours during the 2020/21 lockdowns. A portrait of a community.
Maura Lennox is a graphic designer and educator based in Dublin and is currently completing a Professional Masters of Education in NCAD. Before undertaking the Professional Masters of Education she graduated from NCAD with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Visual Communication.
On graduation, Maura specialised in logo design, brand identity design, packaging design, web design and managing digital content to build relationships for organisations and individuals. Her wealth of digital experience has seen her travel locally and globally. Maura is equally comfortable behind a pencil, paintbrush, keyboard, or tablesaw.
Maura passion for the arts informs her teaching and her understanding of what it means to be an artist/teacher in today’s world.
Rebekah Wall is a practicing artist who has worked in the pedagogical industry for 25 years. Having graduated from G.M.I.T with an Ordinary Bachelor Degree in Fine Art she went on to do a Honors Bachelor Degree in Sculpture and contemporary practice and a Masters in Social Practive and Creative Environment from L.S.A.D. Working in a variety of mediums from her studio in Kerry, her work has been showcased nationally and internationally. Her work gravitates between community development projects linking in with varying governmental bodies such as the H.S.E, Tusla to creating wearable pieces of art within the fashion industry. Rebekah is currently completing a Post masters in Education with the hope of pursuing a PhD in Fine art examining the development of differentiated learning methodologies for educators.