Art Club Remotely

On Wednesdays and Thursdays each week, children meet in the workspace at West Cork Art Centre filling the place with noise, excitement and creativity. It is Art Club time. Professional practicing visual artists Tomasz Madajczak (Thursday Art Club) and Mark Beatty, and Marie Cullen and her husband Pól Colmáin, (Wednesday Art Club) of Working Artists Studios facilitating this unique approach towards arts for children aged between 6 and 12 years. The weekly Art Club workshops invite the children to experiment with ideas, discover self expression and learn new skills. 

Art Clubs has been delivered at West Cork Arts Centre for more than 15 years, with generations of children experiencing the unique interaction of an out of school experience in working with professional practicing artists, who generously share their own practices, giving children an insight into their working processes and vice versa, the artists are inspired by their encounters with the children’s imaginations.

“I really like art, because you get to make lots of friends in art class and you can just be creative and it really doesn't matter what you do, as long as you be artistic.” This response from one of the children participating in Art Club underlines the importance of social interaction during class  and shows how the children cherish the experimental and highly creative activities offered to them during this time of the week. For them, it is a fear free setting to an adventurous exploration of visual art.

Of course, artists and children need some time to acquaint themselves with one another and build a trusting relationship in order to obtain this great atmosphere. In an interview for the Uillinn Podcast series created by Gavin Buckley, Marie Cullen describes the challenges they were facing when they first started Art Club, for example overcoming language barriers. With the participants being of a multinational background, they soon realized that demonstration rather than explanation is the best way to elicit creative responses.  Through collaborative artwork, the children learn to find joy in sharing their experiences thus strengthening their bond to one another, but also the artist facilitators. These open and inviting methods offer children who are new to the group, an easy way to get involved and soon find themselves amongst friends.

When the Covid-19 pandemic led to the temporary closure of Uillinn, it also put a sudden halt on Art Club sessions. But the artists engaged their own imaginations to come up with some creative ideas to connect and communicate with the participating children, despite spatial distance, which was only possible because of their already strong social bond to each of the children.

Tomasz Madajczak, keeping a positive attitude, sees the enhanced opportunities this unforeseen situation brings along: “In the given situation everything seems to be unpredictable. The slow down of the busy time creates very valuable space for creative minds to reflect on life and the processes which they are involved in. Art Club is a unique opportunity for children to experience aspects of artistic processes which are introduced by practicing artists. These processes are influenced by the current situation, artists are asked to review their ways of working and engage in safer digital media based interaction with the public. The new situation creates a great potential to discover new ways of working, while reflecting on the previous experience. The combination of them both can stimulate new ways of working and creating.” 

In “Sound of an Unknown Place”, Tomasz invited the children from Thursday Art Club to make an artwork at home inspired by the sights and sounds around them. In a video he made especially for them the children were invited to watch, consider and respond in their own way, emailing back to Tomasz their work for Tomasz to bring it together as a collaborative piece. In this way, the feeling of community and sharing is still kept alive, even if the group cannot come together in real life. 

Keen to come away from the increasing use of digital technologies for young primary school aged children, staying at home, Marie and Pól invented their own way to reach out to their Wednesday Art Club through a postal project, called “Play on Words, Play Onwards”. The artists prepared a special envelope for each child containing a unique poem written especially each child by the artists; a selection of art materials; and a letter from Pól and Marie inviting the children to make a visual response to the poem. The children have since begun to return their artwork in the stamped, addressed, envelope provided to Pól and Marie, who will then compile a limited edition book to send back to each of the children. Some of the imaginative responses by the children have already been posted via West Cork Art Centre’s social media as part of All Ireland Poetry Day. Although the big reveal will be the hand made collaborative book, here is preview of the wonderful interaction between artists and child:

Puffin

Artwork created by Adelaine in Response to her Poem

I am a little seabird, Puffin is my name,

It is our brightly-coloured beak

to which we owe our fame.

We spend all Winter far at sea,

eating fishy things

and when it’s time to lay our eggs,

we come ashore in Spring.

We dig a burrow for our nest

- or steal one from a rabbit!

And rear our chickies safe inside:

a very sensible habit.

We’re short and stocky, our chests are white,

our backs are soft, black down,

our faces, many people think

make us look like clowns.

My beak is huge and very bright:

orange, blue and yellow,

but despite my “smile”, my black-rimmed eyes

make me look a sad, wee fellow.

But, though my beak looks funny,

it has a handy trick

which I use whenever I’ve

to bring food to my chicks:

whenever I go fishing

for sand-eels for my young,

I can keep on fishing

while I’m holding ten under my tongue!

Once again, a beautiful inspiration of how the arts can bring people together even under the most difficult times and circumstances. Art can open our eyes to creative solutions and meaningful interactions, not only for the youngest among us. A little bit of colour, sound and poetry can make all the difference in a seemingly endless daily routine.