Observing Plains

An exciting exhibition at The Dock which celebrates the creativity and independent ideas of young people – highlighting their voice and vision, curated by Laura Mahon

‘Observing Plains’ an exhibition of three youth art projects, reflecting a series of dynamic interactions between artists and young people, with a consideration of the narratives created within this body of work made by young people ranging in age from 6 to 25 years. The work shown in these three projects examines, explores, dissects, and reimagines different artforms within the environmental landscapes that they represent.

A colour wheel of images and shapes invites us into gallery two – in this series of works created by the young photographers from the ‘Picture Me’ project - a digital photographic project with artist Anna Leask that acknowledges the artistic talents of children and young people with an intellectual disability, specifically The Leitrim/West Cavan Branch of Down Syndrome.

An assemblage of subversive costumes and headpieces will also be on display in gallery two, in work created by secondary school students from counties Leitrim, Roscommon, and Longford. These pieces were created in a series of workshops led by artist, Celina Muldoon, and is part of our ‘Collective Producers in Schools’ project. The four secondary schools that participated in this project are Carrick-on-Shannon Community School, Ballymahon Vocational School, Boyle Community College, and Drumshanbo Vocational School.

Displayed alongside these artworks will be work created by young people from our ‘Saturday Studios’ and ‘Creative Producers’ project, where participants explored different mediums of artmaking through online workshops on digital drawing, musical soundscapes, storytelling, and painting - in a series of workshops led by artists, Stephanie Pawula, Wayne O’Connor and David Smith.

‘Picture Me’ and ‘Collective Producers in Schools’ are supported by Creative Ireland and Leitrim County Council.

Photos by David Smith