Dermot Seymor painting, 'The Step That isn't There During an Imminent Cohesible Collapse', Mayo County Council collection, showing at the Art AT U exhibition at ATU Mayo, Castlebar. (Original copy not set against background in body of article).

ATU Mayo and council host contemporary art exhibition for youth

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ATLANTIC Technological University (ATU) Mayo will host an art exhibition in partnership with Mayo County Council Arts Service called Art At U, which opens on Wednesday, November 16, 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.

The exhibition will form part of Mayo County Council’s Excel Youth Arts Programme.

It will be launched by John McHugh, manager, Custom House Studios and Achill sculptor, on November 16 at 5 p.m. 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 December 7, attended by secondary schools and youth in the region. The exhibition aims to provide pupils with an introduction to contemporary artwork.

Said Dr. John Mulloy, chair of the BA in Contemporary Art Practices programme: “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 schools 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.”

Dermot Seymor painting, 'The Step That isn't There During an Imminent Cohesible Collapse'.

The exhibition is open for the public to visit and will run until December 13. 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 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 students and lecturers at ATU Mayo on this project. It is a wonderful opportunity for students, staff and visitors of ATU Mayo 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 At U exhibition will also be held on December 7 for the 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 (087) 2721035.

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.

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