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Monday, July 19, 2010

Submission To Arts Strategy From Sue Hassett

Submission to South Dublin Council Arts Strategy 2010 - Sue Hassett:

I am concerned with the local arts strategy as a resident in the
county with a family here, as a long-time community activist and
professional social researcher and as a practising artist.

First, I would like to submit that the County is a relatively new
entity without established arts structures and facilities such as the
Abbey Theatre, 3rd level institutes with arts education, etc. We are
resource-poor in terms of the arts as well as in terms of other
infrastructure in this county. We are still struggling to catch up on
the infrastructural deficit created from day one when the sprawling
housing estates in this county were built without good planning.
I suggest that we can see ourselves as victims, or as having been
subjected to this or we can act as agents, we can take it as an
opportunity to shape the arts in the county.
While development is paused at the moment, arts infrastructure must be
a priority alongside health, education, transport and other
infrastructure in future planning. Arts development and
infrastructure, is I believe, part of the health and the soul of a
place and is as important as economic activity.

These are some suggested strategies for the arts in the county, in no
particular order :

Currently arts resources in the county are mainly located in Tallaght
- the county arts office, Rua Red, the library, Alternative
Entertainments, Tallaght Community Arts, the Civic Theatre, the
Tallafest. There are some resources in Clondalkin, Lucan, Newcastle,
Rathcoole, but not on the same scale. Public transport to Tallaght is
not good from many parts of the county so there are issues of access
and ownership for many people who do not live in Tallaght. In the
long-term, I believe, we should address this as part of the County
Development Plan, Corporate Plan, and the arts and heritage
strategies. In planned development such as Liffey Valley Town Centre
and Clonburris, I submit that we should include arts infrastructure as
a condition of the development. We should be ambitious and visionary
about this and not limit ourselves to small-scale local arts
resources, although these are important too. Instead, if and when new
development takes place we should research what is needed and feasible
and be ready with a proposal for a national centre for the arts, as
needed in the performing arts for example, to be located in Clonburris
or Liffey Valley. In addition, the Omer's Lock House in Clondalkin,
which is where the first sod of the Grand Canal was turned, should
become a cultural centre incorporating arts, culture and heritage.

I believe the County needs a Cultural Plan, set out in accordance with
international models of best practice. Some examples of models of
cultural planning used by local government and by individual
organisations, along the lines I would like to see happening in South
Dublin County can be seen on the following links :
http://www.artsyakka.com/resources/planning_and_policy/cultural_planning
http://www.dlg.nsw.gov.au/files/information/CPG-final.pdf

This methodology is important because it has been tried and evaluated
and is transferable. It provides for participation and development.
What is, I think, particularly important to note is that there is
currently no strategy in the county for corporate participation in the
arts, although some of the biggest global corporations in the world
are located here. This is a missed opportunities. It is my
understanding that guidelines are not in place for local authority
officials to liaise with businesses and so the arts office cannot
approach this. Either these guidelines need to be put in place and an
approach put in place under the auspices of the arts office, or
another structure needs to be created to develop this as a strand of
the arts strategy. I believe that such a strategy could be developed
without draining existing resources or demanding huge new resources
and would add to arts resources in the county in the long-term.

I believe we need to look at professional development for artists in
the county urgently. My own experience as a writer is that I need to
seek both professional supports and outlets for my work outside of the
county. I would make an observation that it seems to me that the
studios and galleries provide a level of infrastructure for visual
artists not available to writers, and there is also better music
infrastructure, e.g. the music education programmes to be run by the
arts office, youth services and Alternative Entertainments/Des Carty
Traditional Music School - and we need to have a focus and strengthen
the literature strand in the new arts strategy.
In this regard, my preference is for community based inter-genre arts
education - assessment, mentoring, networking and professional
opportunities for artists across all art forms could be housed under
the same umbrella structure. Innovative models should be researched
and put in place and 3rd level institutes in the region, such as NUI
Maynooth and IT Tallaght should be asked to act as partners, with the
local authority, arts agencies, artists and local businesses, in a
community based professional arts education project. I believe this
would attract artists from around the world to the county.

Collaborative, community and participatory arts practice also needs a
focus, I believe, within the arts strategy. For me, there are
fascinating connections between social research and contemporary arts
practice across all art-forms. The In-Context programme has
commissioned award winning work in this category. It seems to me that
'new thinking' will emerge within this artform and that we live in a
time that needs new thinking. Could the county host a participatory
arts festival? I believe this would be in keeping with SDCC's focus on
innovation.

Can we look at the feasibility of using empty buildings, including
those held in NAMA, for art, over the next while? For example, could
Rua Red extend its gallery space to the empty space in the adjacent
Library Plaza - I understand the galleries in Rua Red are in huge
demand.

While I am very happily based in Rua Red, and currently am focused on
producing pages rather than on promoting or publicising my work, I
wonder about outreach and connectedness to the rest of the arts world.
I need connectedness and am interested in looking at ways in which
this can happen. For example, can we encourage the Dublin Festivals -
dance festival, theatre and film festival, writer's festival,
traditional music festival, open house and other city based arts
events to include Tallaght - Civic Theatre, Rua Red, found/unused
space, etc, in their programmes, - as well as developing programmed
events in the county which will bring colleagues, collaborators and
audiences to us.

I wonder if other artists who have studios around the county would
welcome a county-wide studio network whereby artists could register
their studios for visits, open studios and exchanges with other
artists locally or even internationally.

Could we have showcase and festival events celebrating the work of
artists in the county and outside the county together. Many artists
have networks to artists and art movements internationally. This would
be not just e.g. the limited and scarce possibilities of the gallery
or formality of a commissioned work for the theatre, but, for example,
a series of pecha kucha nights where four or five artists are invited
to present and talk about their work more informally.

I am entering the arts in my 50s and am envious of some of the
programmes available for young people - can these be extended to be
more age-inclusive?

At a conceptual level, my experience is that, often, arts is seen as a
driver of other things, a way of attracting business to an area,
increasing footfall, giving the place a touch of culture to impress
visiting dignitaries or business people - all of that.
In my view, that is never going to work.
For a start, it is not a correct relationship to the arts or to
artists. Artists will accept commissions to participate in
commercially motivated events, but arts dynamism will never grow from
this - and the events organised from this perspective will be
commercial in character, costly and limited in their ability to
generate income.
The arts sector needs to educate the local government and business
sector as to how art works - and how it does not work and we need to
be clear, vocal and assertive about this.

IFACCA, the international federation of arts and culture councils and
agencies, has carried out a literature review of research on the arts
in regeneration. It is available online. This report identifies three
strands of arts activity that play a part in regeneration of cities,
disadvantaged communities, etc. These are - flagship buildings,
cultural quarters and arts dynamism.
I would submit that in the current economic climate, the latter, arts
dynamism, is the most appropriate and most beneficial strand to focus
on, unless specific development opportunities for flagship buildings
or cultural quarters open up. Clearly, there can be no successful
flagship building or cultural quarter without arts dynamism.
What creates arts dynamism?
This, I believe, is an important question we need to think about in
developing the next local arts strategy for the county.
Speaking as an artist, I would say that for me, the fundamental
requirement for creating arts dynamism is that artists and arts
activities need to be nurtured and people need to have the opportunity
to develop artistic qualities at every level in society.
As an artist, I do not like or need to participate in arts events and
programmes which are too heavily bureaucratised, competitive, and over
programmed and administrated. 'Light touch' supports by arts agencies
work better for me. I also need technical assistance and learning
from the best teachers. I need peer support from other artists, I
need space and I need to be connected to professional opportunities
and to the wash through of thinking and practices from artists around
the locality, the country and the world. I would like that to be
available locally!

Thanks for taking time to read this, I look forward to hearing from
others involved in the arts and to an exchange of ideas during the
consultation.

Music Education Position Paper

Context
It is without a doubt that music enriches all of our lives. South Dublin County Council is committed to continuing support for a sustainable framework of art-form development and music education opportunities.

Two key priorities for the Arts Office have been to encourage
• an environment that allows musicians to explore their creativity and produce innovative and ambitious works of excellence.
and to promote
• an open and socially inclusive access to and participation in a process of cultural and musical expression that is of the highest standard.

Capital Investment
To this end, the Council has established a number of culture and leisure facilities which have purpose-built music education and performance resources. The Civic Theatre and RuaRed Arts Centre are two venues which have dedicated music performance and rehearsal spaces. In 2008, a subsidised music-recording facility was introduced at RuaRed – Contact Studio. This facility has mobile recording capacity and has the potential to bring its equipment and expertise to appropriate venues throughout the county.

Commissioning new work and Music Bursaries
In addition to capital projects, music is well represented throughout the In Context 1-3 commissions. (1999-2007) Similarly, a number of musicians, composers and music facilitators have also benefitted from the local authority Artists Bursary Award.

Music and Local Arts
From 2006-2008, a local partnership initiative with RAPID operated in North Clondalkin which amongst other things, sought to develop local access to music performances and tuition. This was achieved by forging relationships at a micro-level within the local North Clondalkin area (population 14,000).

Learning from this initiative led to the development of the county-wide youth music project ‘Suburban Sounds’ the outcomes of which can be seen on Utube channel www.youtube.com/user/SuburbanSoundsDublin. This project was a partnership initiative between SDCC Art Office & NOISE, AltEnts & the South Dublin Rock School and RuaRed. It continues under the supervision of the new Music Education Service.

Music Education
In 2008, further investment in county-wide access to music education was made and the Music Education Service was established. Co-ordinated by composer and musician Michael Fleming, the service seeks to forge a co-ordinated route through formal and informal learning for the aspiring musician.

The service recognises that music-making helps young people in particular, to develop their potential, shape their identities and contribute to society and thus seeks to create pathways between in-school curricular music education and extra-curricular opportunities accessing the highest quality in music-making including music tuition – vocal and instrumental, music technology, song-writing, performance and recording opportunities. The Music Education Service, in partnership with Contact Studio, is currently involved in an application process to provide FETAC accredited courses in music, music technology and related fields.

The ultimate aim of the service is to create a sustainable and enriching music education environment that provides equality of opportunity for all people of South Dublin.

Music Partnerships and Outreach
The Arts Office has teamed up with a number of community-based arts and culture organisations which offer access to quality music experiences. A number of long-standing relationships exist with AltEnts/ the Dublin Rock School and the Tallaght Community Arts/ the Sounds Ensemble both of which offer dedicated and/or multi-disciplinary access to music participation within the community.

Amateur or non-vocational music groups also receive development support through the Arts Act Grants, Project Awards and other avenues. While similar supports are offered to other youth and local organisations which may have a more ad hoc or seasonal requirement for access to resources supporting musical endeavour.


Music Policy Proposition

In relation to music in the county, South Dublin Arts Office

• ensures an inclusive approach to all music-making opportunities
• ensure an ease of access to the programmes and services for all participants
• engages with a diverse range of musical styles
• nurtures existing musical creativity
• encourages standards of the highest quality in all music activities, especially in commissioning new work and in music education
• encourages professional training for practitioners and tutors
• promotes performance opportunities for amateurs, students and professionals
• recognises the benefit of professional development opportunities for music practitioners
• values the importance of monitoring and evaluating all Council services relating to music, in order to ensure the highest standards in service provision
•prioritises sustainability in all music service provision.

Michael Fleming, Music Education Coordinator
Fiona Delaney, Public Consultation Co-ordinator

Friday, July 9, 2010

Focus Groups Update July 2010

Artists of all disciplines…
• The first focus group is targeted at Artists of all disciplines to be held in RUA RED South Dublin Arts Centre in Tallaght on Friday 16th July from 10am to 2pm. Places can be booked directly through the arts centre Tel: 01-4515860 or by email: info@ruared.ie

Youth Arts Focus Groups…
Devised with Youth Arts Co-ordinator, Victoria Durrer. Open Call events include:
• Youth Arts and Music @ RuaRed, 1-2.30pm on Wednesday 28th July.
• Youth Performing Arts @ RuaRed, 3-4.30pm on Wednesday 28th July.
• Youth Arts and Film @ RuaRed, 5-7pm on Thursday 29th July.
Places can be booked directly through the arts centre Tel: 01-4515860 or by email: info@ruared.ie or with the Youth Arts Officer vdurrer@sdublincoco.ie


Dance Policy Platform…
Devised with Dancer in Residence, Louise Costello.
RuaRed 5-7pm on Thursday 9th September.
Places can be booked directly through the arts centre Tel: 01-4515860 or by email: info@ruared.ie


Arts and Health…
• A further focus group on Arts and Health will be held at Tallaght Hospital on Wednesday 25th August, from 10am-1pm. This session targets arts and health practitioners and facilitators who already work or are interested in working in the county. Places can be booked directly with Hilary Moss, Arts Officer at Tallaght Hospital Tel: 4142076 or by email on hilary.moss@amnch.ie


Additional Events…
Additional focus group events are currently being planned. As themes arise during the public consultation, extra focus group events will be scheduled. Details will be posted on this site as they are confirmed.


Finding relevant documents…
Relevant Arts Office publications are available (at no cost) on the arts website http://arts.southdublin.ie including the previous five year Arts Strategy 2006-2010.

Participation in any or all of the public consultation events is free-of-charge.


Don’t forget you are also invited to attend the Public Consultation Seminar in September…
A day-long Consultation Seminar will take place in RUA RED on Wednesday 22nd September featuring presentations on key issues highlighted during the consultation process. There will be opportunities to showcase work generated over the period of the previous arts strategy and there will be ample opportunity to share your thoughts, concerns and priorities for the future. To book a place please contact RUA RED arts centre at Tel: 01-4515860 or by email: info@ruared.ie

Invitation to make a submission

South Dublin Arts Consultation


An on-line public consultation supplemented by discussion, debate and encounter looking ahead to a new strategy for a new era ‘Arts South Dublin 2011-2016’.

South Dublin County Council Arts Office has launched a public consultation process which seeks to inform the development of a new five year arts strategy for the county. The public consultation makes use of available new technologies streamlining the process making it as accessible and easy to use as possible.

Register your interest…
You can register your interest in the consultation process here by become a ‘follower’ of our blog, you can post comments, follow discussions and find out about forthcoming focus groups and seminar events.

Email an open submission…
You can send us an open submission outlining your priorities for the arts in the South Dublin area.

Email your submission to: southdublinartsoffice@gmail.com

Younger participants…..
Alternatively, if you are a registered member of our youth arts website NOISE, you can make your submission at www.noisesouthdublin.com/projects


Make a postal submission…
You can post us your open submission to Arts Public Consultation, c/o Arts Office, South Dublin County Council, County Hall, The Square, Tallaght, Dublin 24.


Attend a focus group event…
Led by members of the multi-disciplinary Arts Team these events have been designed to examine key issues at the heart of the current and future Arts Strategies. For further information have a look at the ‘Focus Group Update’ section of this blog.


Attend the Public Consultation Seminar in September…
A day-long Consultation Seminar will take place in RUA RED on Wednesday 22nd September featuring presentations on key issues highlighted during the consultation process. There will be opportunities to showcase work generated over the period of the previous arts strategy and there will be ample opportunity to share your thoughts, concerns and priorities for the future. To book a place please contact RUA RED arts centre at Tel: 01-4515860 or by email: info@ruared.ie

Finding relevant documents…
Relevant Arts Office publications are available (at no cost) on the arts website http://arts.southdublin.ie including the previous five year Arts Strategy 2006-2010.

Participation in any or all aspects of the public consultation is free-of-charge.

Friday, July 2, 2010

Beginning a Consultation Process

South Dublin County Council Arts Office has just initiated the consultation process for the next five year arts development strategy for the county. We're planning to carry out a number of focus group consultations that will feed ideas and themes into a seminar in September 2010.

The first of the focus groups will be with artists in RUA RED South Dublin Arts Centre in Tallaght on Friday 16th July from 10am to 2pm. Places can be booked directly through the arts centre Tel: 01-4515860.

It will be a broad based event focusing on future priorities and needs for artists interested in working in the area, independently of, in association with, or supported by South Dublin County Council. If you miss any of the focus groups you can still join in the discussions on this space.

The previous five year strategy (2006-2010) can be found on the arts website at http://arts.southdublin.ie but specifically in relation to supporting artists - this is what we said we would try to achieve five years ago:

• Provide opportunities for career development for artists of all artistic disciplines.
• Provide opportunities for artists to inform and develop their practice.
• Develop artist workspaces throughout the county.
• Support artist led programme development.
• Sustain local arts development by supporting local artists.
• Stimulate interaction across artistic disciplines, cultural background and professions.

Are these priorities still relevant today?

Orla Scannell, Arts Officer