‘Creativity’ is a word that is strongly associated with people who create art, but artists are not the only people who are creative. As TY students, you may be considering what job you’d like to pursue in the future but are still undecided; the good news is that curiosity, imagination, and inventive thinking are qualities that will help you in any area of your life. In this workshop, you will work alongside artists Aoife Barrett and Kate O’Shea to explore creative ways of thinking and approaching topics, no matter what your interests are.

Using everyday drawing and household materials, the workshop will explore storytelling and self-expression through printmaking. As part of the creative thinking process, during the workshop you will design and create your own publication.

Aoife Barrett is a visual artist and printmaker with a broad social practice that focuses on the power of community, creativity and arts and health. Founder of Print Van Go, travelling print studio, she brings the gentle joy of creativity to places of work, care, learning and play. She collaborates and works with hospitals, charities, councils, community-minded groups, arts organisations and other artists to deliver large-scale public print events and projects including Saolta Arts, Age & Opportunity, Cope Galway, ‘Art, Architecture and Activism’, Local Link Tipperary and St. Mungo’s Homeless Charity. Her work is driven by inclusivity, the sharing and enjoyment of collaborative-creation and the communities bonded by this process. She holds a BA (Hons) Degree in Fine Art Printmaking from Limerick School of Art and Design (2010) and MA in Multi-Disciplinary Printmaking from the University of the West of England (2015). She also holds a BA (Hons) Degree in Archaeology from the University College Cork (2006). She has exhibited in a number of solo and group shows throughout Ireland and internationally, including exhibitions in Lithuania, Croatia, UK, Germany, Slovenia, Greece and Hong Kong. Recent awards include Arts Council Visual Arts Bursary (2020), Create Artist in Community Award (2020), Creative Ireland Tipperary Project Award (2020), the inaugural Portiuncula University Hospital Visual Artist in Residence (2019) and Age & Opportunity Artist in Residence in a Care Setting (2019).

Kate O’Shea is an artist with a social practice which includes printmaking, the production of social spaces, collective cooking and publishing. From setting up a social space in the south west of Ireland in 2009 to co-producing SPARE ROOM Art Architecture Activism (www.spareroomproject.ie) with Eve Olney in Cork in 2019, Kate’s collaborative practice is based on building spaces of solidarity and dialogue in order to explore alternatives to the social relations of capitalism. Kate is currently The Just City Counter Narrative Neighbourhood Residency Awardee with Common Ground, Dublin 8. Kate’s project HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH? includes collaborators from all around the world exploring ideas and practices around spatial injustices in multiple cities. Kate and her collaborations are using the mediums of Radio, Film and Print to bring people together from all over the world. This includes an upcoming collaborative exhibition entitled ‘Half Way To Falling’. Along with Victoria Brunetta, Kate is co-founder of Durty Books (2018 – present) which is an independent publishing house that has produced two books to date. Kate is developing The People’s Kitchen which is being funded by Arts Council Ireland Artist in Community Scheme, managed by Create. She is consulting artist on We Only Want The Earth 2020 working with A4 Sounds, Create & MASI. Kate is a member of The Living Commons, Ireland.