Straide NS launch Children’s Land League sculpture

THE children and teachers of Straide National School this week celebrated the launch of their Children’s Land League sculpture, installed in pride of place at the front of their school.

Artist Nicky Dowd facilitated sensory workshops to help the children symbolise the Children’s Land League in sculptural form.

The charms on the sculpture each represent social justice and environmental issues that are of utmost importance to the children, and children everywhere.

The project is part of the Creative Schools programme run by Creative Ireland and the Arts Council of Ireland.

The Children’s Land League project was developed with inspiration from the Michael Davitt Museum which has a long and strong relationship with its closest neighbouring school.

School principal Caithríona Murrihy and creative associate with Creative Schools' artist Lucy Hill developed a two-year programme of creative workshops and events related to the Children’s Land League. The children participated in a number of events including contemporary dance with dancer Catherine Donnelly, trips to the Linenhall Arts Centre and the National Museum of Ireland - Country Life, culminating in creative sensory workshops with visual artist Nicky Dowd.

The project has been documented in a book, designed by David Moran from Visual Media in Newport, and will be self-published and printed at Books@One in Louisburgh.

The children contributed poems, artwork, and stories all related to the Children’s Land League. They also contributed images of their creative and land league inspired adventures with their parents and grandparents at home (and on the bog!) during the first Covid-19 lockdown.

Inspired by Michael Davitt, the Children’s Land League describes social and environmental justice issues that the children identified and defined as important to all children.

The workshops, sculpture and book have been the culmination of many months of thinking about social and environmental justice and devising ways to describe and visualise their ideas.

Sincere thanks is extended to the Davitt Museum for its encouragement and friendship, all of the school’s teachers (particularly deputy principal Breege Staunton), staff, parents, and grandparents for their enthusiastic engagement with the project.

Thanks also to Chris Cooney at Ryan Steel in Westport for making the metal sculptural structure so beautifully. To David Moran at Visual Media for the stunning work on the book, and to Nicky Dowd for the really enjoyable workshops and for all her work on the sculpture.

Any schools interested in participating in the Creative Schools programme (a two-year fully funded programme that supports you to put creativity at the heart of your school - primary, post-primary and youth reach are all eligible) are advised to contact Creative Schools at The Arts Council of Ireland.

Nicky Dowd explains how the sculpture evolved: The children discussed what values were important to them growing up in Ireland and what issues they would expect to be respected and heard. We collectively decided on three themes which would encompass many of those social rights. What was good and bad practice… What practices respect the environment or destroy it? How we can be kind to others and recognise when we are being selfish? When are we showing racist behaviour and how we can ensure equality?

Workshops were held which explored vocabulary and experiences around the three key themes.

Using Synaesthesia and Kinetics as an inspiration I invited groups of children to relate each of the five 'senses' to their theme. We listened to music and spontaneously drew shapes and colours to find a visual language. We felt a variety of textures and discussed how they made them feel, documenting their choices.

We looked at a collection of old and new buttons and discussed why they did or didn’t like them, wondering where they may have come from, whose coat, cardigan, what age the person who wore it, lost it, may have been.

Lastly, I introduced the children to pleasant and offensive smells hidden in pots and related them to their themes. They were asked to apply their new experiences and bring an object from home that symbolised one of the themes telling us why they had chosen it and how it made them feel.

Taking inspiration from the work of Alexander Calder, a metal structure was fabricated and 12 charms were made reworking the objects the children gifted to the project. They hang on swivel cleats that can rotate in the wind and can be interchangeable as the year progresses and the structure can be used to highlight future projects in the school year.