Limerick Institute of Technology, Limerick School of Art and Design delivered one of two joint pilot training programs for female creative practitioners in autumn 2020, focusing on group learning options. Data collected from survey responses identified a clear need for expert training modules in practical capacities such as professional writing, branding, and financial acumen. Individual survey responses also highlighted the need to provide multifaceted learning experiences that support female practitioners in identifying as artists, through the cultivation of a peer network, and by addressing challenges of self-esteem and confidence. Important reflective learning opportunities such as panel discussions and risograph workshops added further value to this diverse program.
LIT (IR) training program
WOM@RTS
Training Menu 2. Artist Market & 5. Fourth Dimension
Professional Writing Standards Workshop
Weds 23rd September 2020
Participants: 20
Online Training Session
Training content:
- Content Preparation of Artist Statements, biog’s and C.V.’s
- Writing of funding applications
- Proofreading and editing
Trainer: Frances McDonald
Consultancy and Support Services – Art/ Craft/ Design
Frances McDonald provides consultancy and support services as well as project
and event management for clients primarily within the craft and design sectors.
Working with state agencies and academic institutions, galleries and practitioners,
she has worked on numerous projects both in Ireland and internationally.
These have included MATERIAL poetry and dubh – dialogues in black, for STUDIO practice in New York & Ireland; Realisations for Joseph Walsh Studio in New York;
The International Academy of Ceramics 2014 for the Design & Crafts Council of Ireland in Dublin; Liminal – Irish Design at the Threshold for Irish Design 2015 in New York, Eindhoven & Dublin and the Mise Éire conference for the Design & Crafts Council of Ireland and the National Museum of Ireland.
She also writes regularly on contemporary craft and has contributed to Ceramics Ireland and the Irish Arts Review in Ireland; Engage – The International Journal of Visual Art and Gallery Education and Ceramics Review in the UK; Neues Glas: Art & Architecture in Germany and CFile.org.
Frances McDonald has a Degree in Design Communications from Limerick School of Art & Design and an MA in Design History & Material Culture from the National College of Art and Design, Dublin.
Training Menu 1. Artist Identity & 2. Artist Market
Marketing for Creative Practitioners Workshop
Weds 14th October 2020
Participants: 20
Online Training Session
Training content:
- Branding & Identity
- Completing a PEST analysis/ Artist SWOT/ Value Proposition Exercise
- Application of SMART GOALS method
Trainer: John Kenny, CultureHead PR
John Kenny founded CultureHead in 2016. ‘We’re a communications agency based in Dublin. We primarily provide services for the creative industries In Ireland. Our mission is simple: We want to provide the very best public relations, digital communications and audience development strategies – specifically tailored to the needs of the creative sector in Ireland. Since its inception the CultureHead team has grown to include a content creator and media strategist – so that we can now offer the full spectrum of communications services to our clients.
Our team are trained in project management providing us with the skills to handle large scale projects and public tenders as well as smaller bespoke campaigns for individuals.More recently, we are providing t raining to the current marketing managers of organisations to bring them up to speed on the latest tactics for audience development & engagement.
What makes us different from more generic agencies is that our team all have backgrounds in the arts giving us a deep understanding of Ireland’s creative sector. While there are other arts publicists in Ireland, we win contracts over our competitors due to our expertise in digital communications. The emerging audiences are online and that is a space where CultureHead have been trailblazers! The goals we set ourselves for each campaign are data driven and we pride ourselves on providing our clients with results that are measurable and actionable. When it comes to our public relations work we continue to land more editorial for the arts than any of Ireland’s long established agencies and this is something we are very proud of. Our portfolio of work speaks for itself. We strive to push the boundaries and our mantra is that “if football can make the news every night so can theatre, visual art or film”.
Our approach to every project is one of collaboration, we see ourselves as being very much an integral part of your team and the life of your project. We’re passionate about culture and about making Ireland a more interesting place to live and work. If you’re involved in making something wonderful, we’re here to help you tell the world about it.
Training Menu 3. Artist Matrix
Basics of Managing Finances/ Financial Structures & Processes Workshop
Weds 14th October 2020
Participants: 20
Online Training Session
Training content:
- Sales & Invoicing
- Expenses & Costs
- Record keeping & Accounts
Trainer: Tony Bourke, BM Accountants & Auditors
Bourke Malone is an accountancy practice based in the heart of Limerick City.
We offer a personal approach in providing accountancy, payroll, taxation and training solutions
to various clients from new start-ups and sole trades to medium sized companies.
Bourke Malone & Co has been handling personalized financial consulting and tax accounting services within the Limerick area since 2000.
Training Menu 1. Artist Identity
Confidence Building for Professional & Personal Use Workshop
Weds 21st October 2020
Participants: 20
Online Training Session
Training content:
- Identifying confidence
- Heuristics
- Limiting Beliefs
- Imposter Syndrome
- Reframing Techniques
- Calibrating Feedback
- Growth
- Reflective Practice
Supplemented with Individual Coaching Sessions with each participant
Delivered between 4th to 14th November 2020
Trainer: Dawn Leane of Leane Leaders
Former Director of People and Resources with Chartered Accountants Ireland,
Dawn Leane established Leane Leaders in 2017 to help organisations and individuals navigate key leadership challenges. She can draw from a panel of associates who share her fascination with organisational culture and passion for inclusive leadership. Her track record working with international clients together with her qualifications and passion for lifelong learning make her an expert in her field.
Dawn is a graduate of the National College of Industrial Relations (now National College of Ireland) and holds a Masters of Business from University College Cork, in addition to post-graduate qualifications in Strategic Human Resource Management, Leadership and Organisational Behaviour. She is a qualified executive coach and a mentor to professionals and business owners alike.
Dawn is active as immediate past President of Network Ireland’s Wicklow Branch
and as a member of the mentor panel. Network Ireland is a membership organisation, supporting the professional and personal development of women.
Dawn is current Chairperson of the Board of Sunbeam House Services, an organisation which supports adults with intellectual disabilities to live full lives in the community and has recently been listed as one of ‘125 people to Follow on Linkedin on Diversity & Inclusion’.
Training Menu 3. Artist Matrix
Tax Exemption for Creative Practitioners/ Other supports or Areas Workshop
Weds 21st October 2020
Participants: 20
Online Training Session
Training content:
- Self-Employment, Taxes, Other Benefits
- Artists Exemption
- Business/ Strategy Plans
Trainer: Tony Bourke, BM Accountants & Auditors
Bourke Malone is an accountancy practice based in the heart of Limerick City.
We offer a personal approach in providing accountancy, payroll, taxation and training solutions
to various clients from new start-ups and sole trades to medium sized companies.
Bourke Malone & Co has been handling personalized financial consulting and tax accounting services within the Limerick area since 2000.
Training Menu 2. Artist Market & 3. Artist Matrix
Active Workshop: Registering as Self Employed
Weds 21st October 2020
Participants: 20
Online Training Session
Training content:
- Step by step guidance in completing online documentation to register as self employed
Trainer: Tony Bourke, BM Accountants & Auditors
Bourke Malone is an accountancy practice based in the heart of Limerick City.
We offer a personal approach in providing accountancy, payroll, taxation and training solutions
to various clients from new start-ups and sole trades to medium sized companies.
Bourke Malone & Co has been handling personalized financial consulting and tax accounting services within the Limerick area since 2000.
Training Menu 1. Artist Identity & 2. Artist Market
Presentation Skills Workshop – First Group
Weds 28th October 2020
Participants: 10
Online Training Session
Presentation Skills Workshop – Second Group
Weds 4th November 2020
Participants: 10
Online Training Session
Training contents: Presentation Preparation
- Your three aims/ longer list of aims that you may have identified over the last month.
- Background/ Your story.
- Your inspirations/ influences/ interests.
- Your practice & process – how you create..
- Specific examples of your work.
- Achievements & Career Highlights.
Supplemented with Individual Presentation Preparation Sessions with each participant
Delivered across 10th November 2020 & 17th November 2020
Trainer: Paddy Lavelle of Total Impact
Paddy Lavelle is a leadership and communications coach who helps individuals
develop and showcase their leadership capability, increase their visibility
and ultimately shape their future career. Having worked for three leading Irish organisations in strategically different HR management roles and economic environments, Paddy learned the challenges of being both a manager and a leader through her own experience and through her coaching of other mid-level and senior managers.
“It’s not always easy … to maintain the balance between management and leadership,
especially when working in a demanding role, dealing with multiple projects, priorities and … people.”
Paddy Lavelle: Professional Qualifications & Credentials
- Masters Degree in Education, Training and Development
- Diplomas in Executive and Career Coaching
- Diploma in Business Studies, Training and Development
- Qualified and licensed to use a range of psychometric instruments including Myers Briggs Type Indicator© (Step I and Step II), OPQ, 16PF, Strengthscope®, Belbin Team Roles, Influence Styles Indicator, Thomas International and the Hogan Inventory.
- Qualified NLP Business Practitioner
- Member of the British Psychological Society
- Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development
- Member of the Professional Speaking Organisation
- Member of the Association of Coaching
- Distinguished Member of Toastmasters International (DTM)
Training Menu 6. Summations & Conclusions
Presentations – Delivery to Assessing Panel
Mon 24th November 2020
Participants: 18
Online Presentations by Training Program Participants
Assessment Panel:
- Tracy Fahey, LIT WOMarts Project Lead Tracy Fahey
- LIT PhD candidate Gianna Tomasso
- LIT WOMarts Training Program Coordinator Jess Tobin
Training Menu 4. Internationalisation & 6. Summations & Conclusions
Risograph Workshops
28th November 2020/ 5th December 2020/ 12th December 2020/ 15th May 2021
Participants: 20 in total – 5 participants per workshop over 4 workshops
In-person Group Training delivered from LSAD/ LIT
Training contents:
- Training in an innovative printmaking technology that simultaneously supports in-person
peer networking among participants. The risograph workshops are also opportunities
to reflect and process what has been learned throughout the program.
Trainer: Fiona Quill, LIT WOMarts Artistic Director & LSAD printmaking lecturer
Fiona Quill is a printmaker and educator based in Limerick. Her practice encompasses monoprint, silkscreen, experimental litho and occasionally intaglio. She is a member and Chair of the Board of Directors at Limerick Printmakers group.
She uses the process of printmaking to project issues of environmental, social and political concerns. She believes printmaking is a powerful tool for communication and holds the ability to make a strong impact on society. Communication and change is a central and common theme to everything Fiona does. As a lecturer and Program Leader of Print Contemporary Practice at the Limerick School of Art and Design, she works to create an ethos and understanding of the great power that printmaking holds in the present day and throughout history.
Fiona endeavors to push the boundaries of printmaking, open up an understanding of the process and discuss common global matters, whilst also keeping a finger on the heartbeat of international printmaking trends. She identifies that Limerick, a fairly isolated city on the west coast of Ireland has a great community of printmakers that is constantly growing and evolving.
Fiona has exhibited nationally and internationally independently, as well as with her cohort in the Limerick Printmakers. She has work in private collections, and has been collected by State bodies and commissioned. As a creative director in Creative Europe projects, she has championed printmaking as a serious and necessary mode of expression.
Training Menu 1. Artist Identity, 2. Artist Market, & 6. Summations & Conclusions
Wom@rts Panel 1: Women working in the Arts
Wom@rts Panel 2: Female Creative Practitioners
Weds 25th November 2020
Participants: 20
Online Panel Discussions followed by Reflective Discussion with Training Program Group
Training content:
Panel 1: Women working in the Arts
Panel 2: Female Creative Practitioners
Panellists: Panel 1: Women working in the Arts
Anne Mullee is a curator, researcher and art writer based in Dublin, Ireland.
She holds an MA in Cultural Policy and Arts Management from UCD, a HND in Fashion Journalism from the University of the Arts (London), and a Certificate in Art & Design from Technological University Dublin (TUD). Recent independent projects include Folk Radio (2020), a public art project commissioned by Clare County Council for its Gaining Ground Public Art Programme 2017-20,
led by artist Tom Flanagan with the volunteers of the X-PO in Kilnaboy and fellow artist Deirdre O’Mahony. All Bread is Made of Wood (2017- ), commissioned by Fingal Arts Office Public Art Manager Caroline Cowley, is an ongoing enquiry with artists Fiona Hallinan and Sabina MacMahon, working in collaboration with Swords Castle and UCD Archaeology. From 2016-19 she was curator of The Courthouse Gallery & Studios, Ennistymon, Co. Clare,where she generated over €80k in funding. This allowed her to reinvigorate the Gallery’s programme, including instituting a new Learning and Engagement Programme and an International Artist Residency.
Mullee is the recipient of awards from the Arts Council, European Connections in Digital Arts (EUCIDA), Clare County Council and Dublin City Council, and has participated in residencies at The Good Hatchery (Co Offaly) and Kooshk Residency (Tehran, Iran). She has discussed her work at institutions including IMMA, glór, and the Botanic Gardens, and has been a visiting lecturer at IADT and Burren College of Art. Her writing has appeared in Paper Visual Art, the Visual Artists News Sheet and a variety of academic publications.
Tara Murphy, Gallery Director/ Owner, Solomon Gallery
Tara attended University College Dublin, where she received an honours degree in History of Art & French and a postgraduate Diploma in Arts Administration. Upon graduating in 1994, she began working at Suzanne Macdougald’s Solomon Gallery and was promoted to Gallery Director in 1997. In 2013 Macdougald decided to retire after 40 successful years in the business and Tara immediately took over the gallery on an independent basis. Now celebrating twenty four years at the Solomon, Murphy has helped develop the space into one of the most successful galleries in the country, representing over 40 contemporary painters and sculptors including Rowan Gillespie, John Behan RHA, Imogen Stuart, Patrick O’Reilly,
James Hanley RHA & Comhghall Casey and the internationally renowned glass artist Dale Chihuly.
The Solomon also deals in early 20th century art. Internationally the Solomon has participated in numerous artfairs in London and the USA and in 2004 the gallery brought a major exhibition of contemporary Irish Art to Cape Town in South Africa.
With a particular emphasis on sculpture at the Solomon, Tara has been involved in major commissions and installations of many public sculptures in Dublin city, such as Rowan Gillespie’s Famine group on City Quay and Vivienne Roche’s Iris at the National College of Ireland in the Docklands.
She has curated and produced four major outdoor sculpture events, including the hugely successful Secret Garden public exhibition at Dublin’s Iveagh Gardens (2008) which featured over 120 sculptures by 60 Irish and international artists including Barry Flanagan, Bernar Venet and Henry Moore.
Tracy Sweeney is a visual artist based in Co Mayo, Ireland. Her dynamic paintings have won major awards and her numerous international exhibitions have been met with acclaim. Sweeney’s style is one of abstraction, highly textured pieces reminiscent of aged surfaces and rusted metals, both urban and industrial. Sweeney undertakes commissions from her studio in Mayo and has found that working rurally allows her the space to take on large pieces and facilitate studio visits from artists and collectors.
Her paintings are held in major collections, galleries, and museums across the globe. She is represented by galleries in Stockholm and Dublin. Sweeney has an established online presence and sells much of her work in north America through Saatchi Art.
“Today my work generally leaves the studio now and goes to its final destination
rather than necessarily having to have an exhibition between both.”
Sweeney believes artists should make the most of what grants are available and not to be deterred by rejection, as ultimately ‘It’s irrelevant what some gallery somewhere thinks of you. At the end of the day it’s more relevant when a client is going to take some of your work’.
Her work has featured in several newspapers, arts, and lifestyle publications.
Una Woods is a freelance illustrator based in Dublin, Ireland who creates magical illustrations for Children. Her work has featured in educational books, print and web campaigns for commercial clients such as Folens, Gill Macmillan, BBC and Disney. Her first picture book Have You Seen The Dublin Vampire? was published by The O’Brien Press in 2020.
Panellists: Panel 2: Female Creative Practitioners
Aideen Barry, Visual Artist & Wom@rts Ambassador
Aideen Barry (ARHA) is a visual artist, who’s means of expression are interchangeable, incorporating: film, performance, drawing, sculpture, installation & experimental lens based media. Barry is based in Ireland and is currently directing a full feature film Klostės (pleats) for Kaunas 2022 the European Capital of Culture (LT). In 2021 she will debut a series of touring collaborative projects next year at the World Academy of Music, LCGA, Source Art Centre, to the Centre Culturel Irlandais & Canada Council Paris (FR) and ArtBA Art Basel (AR).
Oklahoma Contemporary, Artissima Turin and East Wing Doha (Qatar).
She will also be Artist in Residence at the Yaddo programme in New York.
She has shown solo and presented works at: Mothers Tankstation, IMMA, Matucana 100 (Chile) RHA (Brittlefield), CAC (ESP), Butler Gallery (IRL), Louise T. Blouin (UK),The Loop Biennale (ESP), Skaftfell (ISL), The Wexner Centre (US), Moderne Mussett (SE), Banff Centre (CA), Headlands Centre for the Arts (US), Aesthetica Film Festival (UK), Liste Art Fair & BAC Geneva (CH), Elephant West
at Frieze Art Fair (UK) Oaxaca Film Fest (MX), Katzen Center, NYU & The Film-Makers Co-op (US). Her works are in collections of The Irish Museum of Modern Art, Crawford Municipal Gallery, The Glucksman Gallery & UCC Collection, The Butler Gallery Collection, Art OMI Collection New York, The American FilmMakers Co-op Collections, Centre Contemporarie de Art Malaga and The Banff Centre (Canada). She is represented by Catharine Clark Gallery (US) and Galeria IH (Spain). Barry is a member of Aosdána and was recently elected to the Royal Hibernian Academy.
Louise O’ Neill, Author
Louise O’Neill’s first novel Only Ever Yours was published in 2014. Following its publication, she won numerous awards including the Sunday Independent Newcomer of the Year at the 2014 Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards. The success of her debut originally published as a novel for young adults, led to issue a new edition in 2015 aimed at a general audience.
The Guardian called O’Neill “the best YA fiction writer alive today”. Her second book, Asking For It, was a number-one bestseller in Ireland and again won several awards, including the honour prize for fiction at the CBI awards 2016. Asking For It was one of the top ten best-selling books in Ireland in 2016. O’Neill works as a freelance journalist for a number of Irish national newspapers and magazines, covering feminist issues, fashion and pop culture. As of 2016, she has written as a weekly columnist for the Irish Examiner. She was a contributor to I Call Myself
A Feminist, a collection of essays from women under 30 explaining why they see themselves as feminists. She won the Literature Award at the Irish Tatler Women of the Year Awards 2015, and Best Author at the Stellar Shine Awards 2015.
She hosted the RTÉ2 television documentary, Asking For It?: Reality Bites, based on her second book, which aired in 2016. In the documentary O’Neill explores the issue of consent and tackling sexual assault and rape culture in Ireland. Asking For It has been adapted for stage by Landmark Productions, and premiered at the Cork Midsummer Festival 2018. It then went on to a sold-out run at Dublin’s Abbey Theatre.
O’Neill’s third novel, Almost Love, was published in March 2018, and was followed
by The Surface Breaks, a reimagining of The Little Mermaid, which was published in May 2018. Her most recent book After the Silence was published in September 2020 and has received a nomination from the An Post Irish Book Awards in the Irish Independent Crime Fiction Book of the Year category.
Ruth McGowan, Festival Director & Producer
Ruth joined Dublin Fringe Festival in May 2015 as Programme Manager, co-curating the 2016 and 2017 editions of the festival and supporting hundreds of artists and ideas through FRINGE LAB workshops, artist development initiatives and one-on-one consultations. As a dramaturg, producer and director, Ruth has been developing new work in Dublin and New York since 2009.
Having worked in the Literary Department at Atlantic Theatre Company and the Public Theatre (NY), Ruth joined the Abbey Theatre Literary team in 2011 supporting the development of new work for the Abbey and Peacock stages and facilitating engagement opportunities for emerging voices.
She was awarded the Lennox Robinson Bursary in 2013 to research innovative production models for the presentation of new work at Steppenwolf Theatre Company (Chicago).
Ruth has produced new plays for the Bulmer’s Comedy Festival, Manhattan Theatre Source and Electric Picnic and her work as director includes Love Songs for Losers (Absolut Fringe, Dublin) and The New York Monologues (Theatre for the New City, NY). Ruth holds a B.Ed with English from St Patrick’s College, Drumcondra and an M.Phil in Theatre and Performance from Trinity College Dublin.
Training Menu 1. Artist Identity & 2. Artist Market
Photographing your Artwork and Editing Imagery (2D & 3D)
Uploaded for Viewing April 2021
Participants: 20
Pre-recorded Online Training Session
Training contents:
- Photographing your Artwork and Editing Imagery (2D & 3D)
Trainer: Ken Coleman, Lecturer LIT/ LSAD
Ken Coleman‘s digital artwork has been published all over the world and he has created commissions for musical acts including The Cranberries, and The Blizzards. Ken also lectures with LSAD
on the Game Art & Design, Animation and Visual FX honours degree program.
