For those with an interest in working creatively with early years children (0 – 6 years ), look no further than this exciting opportunity with Baboró International Arts Festival for Children.
Baboró is inviting two successful candidates to join artists Deirdre Rogers and Órla Kelly (Director of Early Childhood Creativity ) as mentees for the week of the festival (October 17 – 23 ). Deirdre and Órla are highly experienced at facilitating creative projects, and at assisting parents and teachers in developing the skills and confidence to engage in artistically rich experiences with their children. Baboró is delighted to welcome them back again after their wonderful work last year in the hugely popular Happy Heart Zone in the Cornstore.
About the Mentorship Programme:
The two chosen applicants will shadow Deirdre and Órla as they work with early years children, parents and educators in a variety of settings including Baboró’s Creative Lab at NUI Galway, a crèche and the Paediatric Unit at University Hospital Galway. The mentorship programme is envisioned as an intensive crash course in early years arts, offering contemporary theory, sharing creative ideas and personal research as well as a working insight into the arts for very young children. The programme will be designed so that ideally each mentee would develop their own practice in this area.
Please note that there is no fee or payment for this mentorship programme. Experience will be gained in a variety of ways from lectures to planning and from creating and engaging in creative performance sessions through the visual arts. The programme is designed to share knowledge so that artists and educators may promote and develop the arts for early years in Ireland.
How to Apply:
It is expected that applicants will have either an artistic or early childhood education background but this is not a prerequisite.
Applicants must be available throughout the festival from Sunday 16th to Sunday 23rd October
Application is via statement of practice (500 words max ) and reasons why the mentorship would be useful to applicant’s current practice (300 words max ). Please submit a current CV (max two pages )
Please send applications to Jennifer Ahern at [email protected] . Closing date: 12pm, Monday October 3rd
Baboró’s Creative Lab at NUI Galway is an amazing place to invent, design, explore, build and create with a huge wealth of unusual materials gleaned from Recreate’s Warehouse of Wonders. Specifically designed for Baboró to complement the festival programme, visual artists Órla Kelly and Deirdre Rogers, inspired by the themes of voyages and adventures have created a space that will delight and inspire both young and old to venture into the beautiful world of the arts and make their own adventure.
Deirdre Rogers is an artist, designer and educator. Her involvement in teaching programmes over the last 15 years has strengthened her interest in integrating creativity in all learning environments and assisting parents and teachers in developing the skills and confidence to engage in artistically rich experiences with their children. Working collaboratively with other artists, and for organisations such as the Design Crafts Council of Ireland and currently as Arts Coordinator for ReCreate Ireland, Deirdre is instrumental in facilitating quality creative projects with schools, early years and community groups nationwide. Having completed a Certificate in the Principals of Art Therapy she has a greater understanding of the healing capabilities of creative art practice, encouraging engagement of all ages and capabilities through the visual arts and creative reuse of materials.
Órla Kelly is the co-founder and director of Early Childhood Creativity, an initiative that aims to stimulate creative thinking and activity in early years children and their parents, and to support artists and educationalists to develop specific and creative ways of working with early years children (0-6 years ). Órla is a visual artist, creative educationalist and an arts manager. She has worked with children for over fifteen years creating work in Ireland and Europe. Órla is currently working in partnership with Fingal County Council and Scoil Bhride Cailini in Blanchardstown, as artist-in-residence in Room 13. Room 13 is a unique arts-in-education programme that aims to establish art studios and encourage intellectual diversity and creativity in primary schools. Her own education includes a Diploma in Psychology from Maynooth, a Degree in Fine Art from Limerick College of Art and Design and a Masters in Arts Management from Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge.
Baboro International Arts Festival is Ireland’s flagship festival dedicated exclusively to children and their families. It takes place in venues throughout Galway from October 17 – 23. For more details about the festival and about this mentorship programme, please see baboro.ie
