Students from St. Canice’s School Explore their Identities through Art at Mary Immaculate College

Calvin Ambrose with his piece “Keyboard Warriors” pictured at the launch of an exhibition of artwork by students from St. Canices Special School in Limerick held today at Mary Immaculate College, Limerick.

Students from St. Canices School Explore their Identities through Art at Mary Immaculate College

An exciting exhibition of artwork produced by students from St. Canices School in Limerick launched at Mary Immaculate College, Limerick. The exhibition will be open to the public for viewing during the month of November and is the first major exhibition of artwork by St. Canice’s School students outside of the classroom setting. The exhibition was created in partnership with the Transforming Education through Dialogue (TED) Project in the Curriculum Development Unit and the Department of Arts Education and Physical Education at MIC.

The exhibition, entitled ‘Identity’, features pieces of art from four students aged between 14 and 17 and includes collage materials, mixed media, spray paint and lights. Over five weeks in May, the students worked with Limerick artist, Sheila Richardson, in the Art Studio at Mary Immaculate College. Using the image of the head as a starting point, the students explored possibilities, dreams, ideas, thoughts, and personal realities–elements which were brought to life in the form of visual language, that of artwork.

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Professor Emer Ring, Dean of Education at MIC welcomed the students, their teachers and their families to the event and congratulated them on their innovation and creativity. She said, “The artworks in this exhibition are examples of the personal growth and artistic beauty that can be achieved through the medium of art, in partnership with local schools, local artists and the College. Their work is an inspiration to us all here at Mary Immaculate College and we are honored to have been able to facilitate their artistic endeavors resulting in this wonderful exhibition of work. It is our hope that these students from St Canices School will one day return to Mary Immaculate College to study.”  

The feedback from the students was extremely positive with one participant saying, “I liked the whole part of constructing a piece of artwork that I never knew I could do. It was amazing!” while another student said, “I enjoyed working in a new place and with new materials.”

Calvin Ambrose with his piece “Keyboard Warriors” is presented with his cert by Professor Emer Ring – Dean of Education at Mary Immaculate College (MIC) pictured at the launch of an exhibition of artwork by students from St. Canice’s School in Limerick held at Mary Immaculate College, Limerick. Pic. Brian Arthur

Commenting on her involvement in the project, Sheila Richardson, an award-winning artist from Limerick who is based at Contact Studios in Limerick, said “It was a joy and a pleasure to work with these students from St. Canices School. Throughout the entire process, they used their creative imaginations to gain new insight and knowledge into the core of their being.”

Damien Haugh, an art teacher from St Canice’s School, spoke of his delight with the project saying, “The students thoroughly enjoyed the experience and the insight it gave them into college life. I have never seen them so engaged and enthusiastic about an art project before, and they looked forward to attending every week.”

He continued by commending the students on their work. “All four students worked really hard to complete their realized works. They pushed themselves and as a result, have created four fantastic pieces of art. Secondary school students don’t often get to experience an art exhibition like this, let alone present work at it.”

The exhibition will be on display in the Art Studio at MIC Limerick during November and is open to the public from 9am to 5pm on Tuesday 12 November, from 3pm to 5pm on Wednesday 13 November, from 1pm to 5pm on Thursday 14 November and from 12pm to 4pm on Friday 15 November.

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