GMIT students to hold three separate graduate exhibitions

Final year Art & Design students and Furniture & Technology degree students are to host three exciting exhibitions of their work in three GMIT campuses during June and July.

The first exhibition takes place in the GMIT Centre for Creative Arts & Media in the Cluain Mhuire campus on Saturday 1 June, opening at 2pm and running until Saturday 8 June. A separate Art Exhibition takes place in the GMIT Mayo (Castlebar) campus in St Mary’s Hall on Friday 7 June from 6.30pm and runs until Saturday 14 June, and a Graduate Furniture Exhibition opens in the GMIT Letterfrack campus on Monday 8 July and runs until Friday 23 August.

Galway campus:
The Graduate Art exhibition at GMIT’s Centre for Creative Arts & Media (Cluain Mhuire campus) has become an important fixture in Galway City's cultural calendar and this year 87 honours degree Art & Design students will unveil their work at its formal public opening on Saturday 1 June, 2pm.

The title of the exhibition, Niche, is inspired by the architectural details of the beautiful building in which the GMIT art college is located, formerly a Redemptorist Monastery. The exhibition shows a range of exciting work in the core disciplines of textiles, ceramics, paint, print and sculpture, as well as photography, video installations, documentary films and performance. It includes artists’ talks and tours of the centre which will be of particular interest to future students and anyone with a general interest in the visual arts.

The exhibition will be formally opened by Ms Vivienne Dick, a member of Aosdana and one of Ireland’s preeminent experimental and documentary filmmakers. Her works have been shown in some of the world’s leading art institutions including Moma (Museum of Modern Art, New York) The Tate Modern (London) and The Whitney Museum (New York). Vivienne Dick is originally from Donegal and has lived in Galway, London and New York. This year she will retire from GMIT where she has been lecturing film making for a number of years.

As part of the degree show, a series of talks on various art disciplines will take place in the Centre for Creative Arts, GMIT Cluain Mhuire, from Tuesday 4 to Saturday 8 June.

For further details on the GMIT Galway Graduate show (Cluain Mhuire, Galway city), please email Sarah or Pamela:
View the exhibition catalogue at:
http://www.gmit.ie/cluain-mhuire-campus.html

Mayo campus:
An exhibition of paintings by eight final-year art students in the GMIT Mayo campus will open in GMIT’s St Mary’s Hall on Friday 7 June, 6.30pm. The show, formally opened by Marie Farrell, Director at The Linenhall Arts Centre, Castlebar, shows the work of students who studied the BA degree in Art & Design on a part-time basis over six years. They come from diverse backgrounds and bring together their distinctive interpretations and creativity in this show, which is their threshold or point of entering into the wider art world.

The paintings explore a broad range of personal concerns, experiences and viewpoints including historical and cultural themes, issues relating to nature and the environment and aspects of the human condition such as the mind, memory and identity. The paintings are a mix of oils, water colours, and acrylic on board.

The exhibition runs until Friday 15 June in GMIT (Castlebar). Admission is free and all are welcome to attend. Part of the exhibition will move to the foyer space at The Linenhall Arts Centre in Castlebar from 20 June to 5 July.

To view images online visit:
www.facebook.com/2013GmitCastlebarGraduateArtExhibition

Letterfrack campus:
GMIT’s Centre for Excellence in Furniture Design & Technology at the Letterfrack campus, Connemara opens on Monday 8 July and run until Friday 23 August (opening hours 10am - 5pm).

This beautiful exhibition has a range of exciting and innovative furniture pieces and some 2-D work by students from each year of the four year honours degree programmes in three areas: Furniture Design, Furniture & Wood Technology and Furniture Design & Technology Education.

For further information about this exhibition and the campus in Connemara, visit: http://www.gmit.ie/Life-at-GMIT/letterfrack/

Hundreds of visitors, including the students’ families and friends, members of the public and art and furniture lovers are expected to attend the three exhibitions over the next few weeks.

GMIT’s Head of Centre for Creative Arts, Sarah Searson, says “These exhibition are proud moments for our soon to be graduates and a wonderful opportunity to see the newer generation of artists and designers in Galway City. We are unique in the Irish educational landscape in offering undergraduates visual specialisms within such an active and vibrant community of creative learning and practice. It’s not to be missed.”

“They are extra special occasions this year as they GMIT’s 40th anniversary. For many of the art-going public it marks the beginning of the summer season of arts in the west and the events are open to all and free.”

The graduate exhibitions give students a great opportunity to showcase their talents within the context of their educational environment. The shows are organised by the final year students themselves with support from their lecturers and staff.