ATU Mayo and Mayo County Council jointly host “Art At U” contemporary art exhibition for youth from the Mayo County Council Art Collection.

Friday, November 04, 2022 Press Office
Press Release
Dermot Seymour

Exhibition opens Wed 16 November (5pm) and runs until 13 December

Atlantic Technological University (ATU) Mayo will host an art exhibition in partnership with Mayo County Council Arts Service called “Art @ ATU” which opens on Wednesday, 16 November (5pm), on the ATU Mayo campus.

The exhibition of artworks from the Mayo County Council Art Collection has been curated by third year students of the ATU Mayo BA in Contemporary Art Practices programme as part of their degree studies in collaboration with Aoife O’Toole, Acting Public Art Coordinator, Mayo County Council Arts Service and ATU Mayo BA in Contemporary Art Practices lecturers Dr John Mulloy, Hazel Walker and Denis Farrell.

This exhibition will form part of Mayo County Council’s Excel Youth Arts Programme. The exhibition will be launched by John McHugh, Manager Custom House Studios and Achill sculptor, on 16 November at 5pm at ATU Mayo campus (South Entrance) and it will run for four weeks.  It will be on display during the university’s Open Day on 7 December attended by secondary schools and youth in the region.  The exhibition aims to provide pupils with an introduction to contemporary artwork.

Dr John Mulloy, chair of the BA in Contemporary Art Practices programme, says: “This partnership between the BA in Contemporary Art Practices course at ATU Mayo and the Mayo County Council Arts Service gives us a great opportunity to build capacity for emerging artists in the county, as well as giving a chance for local schools to engage with contemporary art. We are very excited that our learners can curate an important exhibition like this and develop a school’s programme as part of their Professional Art Practice module, connecting their learning to the community. We look forward to building on this project in the future and further strengthening our relationship with the Mayo County Council Arts Service”.

The exhibition is open for the public to visit and will run until 13 December 2022. The exhibition presents a prestigious selection of art works by Irish artists from the Mayo County Council art collection. Mayo County Council has been collecting art for many years and has now acquired a substantial collection of almost 200 works. The collection includes paintings, prints, photography, sculpture, and mixed-media works, by artists from or living in Mayo, or those who have exhibited in the county. Works from the collection are displayed on a permanent basis in publicly accessible venues and in county council buildings around the county.

Artworks by Mary Lavelle-Burke, Basil Backshaw, Dermot Seymour and Camille Souter among others will be presented. The artworks by the late esteemed Achill artist Mary Lavelle-Burke have a significant linkage to the university as the Achill Heinrich Böll Association established a bursary award for graduates of the programme, in honour of this artist, who graduated as a mature student from the BA in Art and Design programme at the Mayo campus of the university in 2007. 

Aoife O’Toole, Acting Public Art Coordinator, explains: “Mayo County Council Arts Service is delighted to partner with the Contemporary Art Practices students and lecturers at ATU Mayo on this project. This exhibition has been curated as part of the Mayo County Council’s Excel Youth Arts Programme. It is a wonderful opportunity for students, staff, and visitors of the ATU Mayo campus to enjoy artworks from the Mayo County Council Art Collection.  The students have embraced the opportunity to curate an exhibition for their campus and have developed activities specifically for a youth audience. For the Mayo County Council Arts Service this collaboration is one of number of initiatives that gives the public access to the County Art Collection as well as complementing our professional development programme for Mayo artists.”

Some key events related to the Art @ ATU exhibition will also be held on 7 December for ATU Mayo campus Open Day which will be of particular interest to secondary school art students. 
There will be guided tours of the exhibition ongoing on the day and two free workshops for secondary schools attending open day. For further information about booking workshops for schools attending on the day please contact ATU BA in Contemporary Art Practices student Miriam Byrne on 0872721035.

For further information about the exhibition, feel free to contact Aoife O’Toole, Acting Public Art Coordinator, Mayo County Council. Email: aotoole@mayococo.ie Tel. 0949064376

For further information about the BA in Contemporary Art Practices course, see:

https://www.gmit.ie/bachelor-of-arts-in-contemporary-art-practices  or email Janine.mcginn@atu.ie

 

ENDS

Issue by Regina Daly, Atlantic TU Communications
Tel:
+353 (0)91 742826 Mob: +353 (0)879618355
regina.daly@atu.ie  www.atu.ie/news