A&L Goodbody Writer in Residence Catherine Ann Cullen and Sinéad Smith, Corporate Responsibility Manager at A&L Goodbody celebrate 1 yr with St. Josephs National School in East Wall showcasing co-created work by 3rd class pupils Kayleigh Kelly, Lexie Carabini and Khizer Inan under the Docklands Arts Fund. The event is part of Dublin’s International Literature Festival ‘Stories from our city’ series. Picture Conor McCabe Photography.

On Monday May 29^th, A&L Goodbody & Business to Arts hosted a Writer in Residence event as part of the ‘Stories from our City’ series at Dublin’s International Literature Festival, sponsored by Dublin City Council. Pupils, teachers, family members and A&L Goodbody employees were in attendance to celebrate one year of partnership with the A&L Goodbody Writer in Residence Catherine Ann Cullen under the Docklands Arts Fund at St. Joseph’s Co-Ed Primary School in East Wall. Music and songs composed by the children were performed by the children with Catherine Ann and musician Imogen Gunner.

Catherine Ann Cullen has worked with children at St. Joseph’s Co-Ed Primary School in East Wall to develop their creativity and literacy skills. The Writer-in-Residence role has seen Catherine working with pupils, participating in creative writing workshops, encouraging the children to write about their area, their everyday life and their dreams.

St. Josephs National School in East Wall showcasing co-created work by 3rd class pupils Kayleigh Kelly, Lexie Carabini and Khizer Inan under the Docklands Arts Fund. Photo: Conor McCabe

The venture marks the first time that a business in Ireland has engaged a Writer-in-Residence programme with Business to Arts and Dublin City Council.

St. Joseph’s pupils have produced several unique outputs from the residence. Catherine Ann is focused on connecting the creativity of the pupils with their local East Wall community as well as the wider environment. Some of the outputs to date are the East Wall Alphabet, six songs written together with Catherine Ann, include the ‘East Wall Lullaby’ and ‘East Wall Bridges’ and the ‘Homework Poemwork’ project.

Sinéad Smith, Corporate Responsibility Manager at A&L Goodbody states:

“A&L Goodbody is committed to helping raise literacy levels among children in the Docklands area of Dublin. Over the last four years we have worked with education charity Suas in a programme that includes our people volunteering for a paired reading literacy support programme with 8-14 year olds.  To date, 180 of our employees have participated in this programme.  We are delighted to work with Catherine Ann on this innovative and unique initiative which further enhances our support of literacy in the local community where we work.”

Commenting on the first anniversary Andrew Hetherington, Chief Executive of Business to Arts said:

“Catherine Ann Cullen’s residence with St. Joseph’s National School supported by A&L Goodbody is an important and exciting community project as part of the Docklands Arts Fund. Catherine’s work with the children has resulted in the creation of a new, co-created body of work, which has fostered the children’s imagination, and a love of reading in her students. We look forward to watching the residency develop and evolve in coming years.”

Catherine Ann Cullen, Writer in Residence & Author states:

‘The residency was a very enriching experience and the children’s, enthusiasm and creativity inspired me as I hope I inspired them in return. I was delighted and grateful to have a residency to support my writing work.’ 

If you are a business, organisation or individual based in Dublin’s Docklands and would like to support later phases of the project, please get in touch.

We are very happy to announce that Business to Arts are seeking applications for the Docklands Arts Fund  Small Grants Scheme 2017 from artists and not-for-profit, charitable & voluntary arts organisations. The objective of the grant round is to contribute funds to a range of artists and arts organisations working in the Dublin Docklands Area.

Approximately 3 grants of a maximum of €5,000 each will be given to projects by September 2017. The Open Call for Projects is live until Thursday, 29th June 2017 at 5pm.

We support activities that enhance the practice, appreciation and development of quality arts experiences in the Dublin Docklands Area. These include:

• New/innovative art commissions/projects
• Projects that are delivered by OR involve professional artists
• Projects that involve partnerships with other cultural providers (show evidence)
• Projects that widen access to participation to arts activities and arts education for underrepresented groups, such as persons from low-income background, those with disabilities, older people etc.
• Projects that provide opportunities to engage in safe and productive out-of-school arts activities for young people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities
• Projects that promote arts/cultural awareness and understanding and develop new audiences
• Once-off arts events (performances/productions, festivals) that will occur in the Docklands Area
• Projects that will take place between September 2017 and June 2018.

For full details click here.

For any queries on the application process, please contact eileen@businesstoarts.ie

The Docklands Arts Fund was established in 2015 to create Ireland’s first Arts Fund supported by companies, organisations and individuals located in the Docklands Area. It is a collaboration initiated by Business to Arts and Dublin City Council. Together with corporate and organisational partners, we plan to enhance the practice, appreciation and development of quality arts experiences in the Dublin Docklands Area.

The Lord Mayor of Dublin Brendan Carr unveiled the 120 foot long ‘Draw Me Docklands’ mural by the award winning artist and illustrator Chris Judge on Dublin City Council’s Docklands Office, Custom House Quay on Tuesday, 2^nd May 2017.

Chris Judge’s brilliant tribute to Dubliners in Dublin’s Docklands includes 60 unique life-size portraits of people who took part in the #DrawMeDocklands Social Media campaign which was run by Dublin City Council and Business to Arts in autumn 2016. During the campaign people were encouraged to submit selfies using the hashtag #DrawMeDocklands. People sent images of themselves or their friends, which has now evolved into artwork containing 60 characters, spanning 120 feet.

The Lord Mayor of Dublin said “I am delighted to be here today to unveil the beautiful piece of artwork by Chris Judge. This new art installation on the Dublin Docklands Office will enhance the Custom House Quay area of the Docklands and I would like to congratulate all involved including Dublin City Council and Business to Arts who collaborated on this exciting arts project.”

Chris Judge Said “I was delighted to be one of a number of artists asked to pitch on this unique project and was then thrilled to win it. It is such a wonderful opportunity to create something special for this part of the Docklands so it was a huge honour that the teams in Business to Arts and Dublin Docklands chose me as I was aware my idea was a little ambitious. 

I wanted to make something that included the people who live and work in the area. It was fantastic using the hashtag #DrawMeDocklands across all social media channels to get people involved, sending photos of themselves or friends for me to use as reference. It was such a joy to illustrate such a diverse collection of people from around the globe that now inhabit our amazing city. Hooray for the Docklands Arts Fund, I look forward to seeing what future projects emerge from it around the area.”

Andrew Hetherington, Chief Executive of Business to Arts said “Chris’s creativity has shone through and each individual portrayed celebrates the diversity of the community in Dublin’s Docklands. The Docklands Arts Fund aims to enhance and develop quality art experiences in the Docklands and we look forward to continuing to build our relationships with various stakeholders, businesses, local communities and organisations.”

#DrawMeDocklands is a Dublin City Council funded project in collaboration with Business to Arts and the Docklands Arts Fund project. If you are a business, organisation or individual based in Dublin’s Docklands and would like to support the Docklands Arts Fund, please get in touch.