This series of poems was created as part of The West’s Awake Community Weekend 2023.
It features poems from Emma O’Grady, Don Kerman, Kevin O’Dwyer, Brian Og McNamara, Marian Williams, Midie Corcoran, Padraig Stevens, Christy Corcoran, Sally McHugh and Seamus Ruttledge.
My Story is Their Story, written and performed by Kathleen Keenan
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Original composition written and recorded by Kathleen Keenan, commissioned as part of the For Our Grand(m)Others project developed by artist Mark Storor in collaboration with residents of Gilmartin Road, Tuam.
For Our Grand(m)Others is funded by Creative Places Tuam, an Arts Council initiative managed by Create, the national development agency for Collaborative Arts
A Song for Gilmartin Road, read by For Our Grandmothers collaborators
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A Song for Gimartin Road; story developed by Mark Storor with collaborators from the For Our Grand(m)Others project based in Gilmartin Road, Tuam.
For Our Grand(m)Others is funded by Creative Places Tuam, an Arts Council initiative managed by Create, the national development agency for Collaborative Arts
Fully Fledged by Jennifer Cunningham and Tim Acheson
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A commissioned video work to accompany a sculpture as part of the For Our Grand(m)Others project developed by artist Mark Storor in collaboration with residents of Gilmartin Road, Tuam.
For Our Grand(m)Others is funded by Creative Places Tuam, an Arts Council initiative managed by Create, the national development agency for Collaborative Arts
Representation and Reimagining Traveller Culture: Networking Event 2022
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This panel, part of our Networking Event in November 2022, was chaired by artist Seamus Nolan and featured Kathleen Keenan (musician), Mary McDonagh (theatre artist) and Nora Corcoran (Galway Traveller movement, Misleor festival), on Representation and (Re)imagining Traveller culture at local, regional and national levels. Via various artforms the panel discuss the importance of the community taking the lead in developing, directing and producing the experiences and histories of the Traveller community.
We are delighted to share this panel from our Networking Event in November 2022, featuring Critical Friends, a network of professional practitioners with socially engaged, participatory and collaborative practices who have graduated at a Masters level, who are currently engaged in a hybrid library and archive- based residency with Create.
Ory’Sta: Jojo Hynes, Midie Corcoran and Kate O’Shea
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Welcome to our latest Ory’Sta event, an informal conversation between Tuam-based artists Jojo Hynes and Midie Corcoran, with artist and mentor Kate O’Shea, held in Reapy’s Bar. This event formed part of the Creative Places and Create Networking Event, hosted by Creative Places Tuam in November 2022.
Pablo Helguera: The Social Practice Nightmare Before Christmas
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We were thrilled to welcome Pablo Helguera, a New York-based Mexican artist working with installation, sculpture, photography, drawing, socially engaged art and performance, as our keynote speaker for our Networking Event in November 2022. As both an artist and educator Pablo has made a very significant contribution to the field of socially engaged practice. Through his projects and critical writing, he has expanded our thinking of what it means to be a socially engaged artist, and the potential of the practice to effect change. Often employing humour, Pablo has illuminated many of the key preoccupations of contemporary socially engaged arts practice, communicating the complexity of what’s at stake while also highlighting critical pathways through for a generation of artists. Following his keynote lecture, Pablo was joined in conversation by artist Deirdre O’Mahony, member of Create’s Board.
We were delighted to feature the premiere of The Colour of My Breath, a filmic exploration of the particular challenges of integration from the perspective of collaborative/ community artists from minority ethnic or migrant backgrounds at our Networking Event in November 2022. The premiere was followed by a panel discussion with artist Tomasz Madajczak, Alessandra Azevedo, Amir Abu Alrob and Mark Sebata, with lead artist Jijo Sebastian, chaired by Carlos Garrido Castellano.
Colour of My Breath is supported by the Communities Integration Fund from the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. This project is also supported by Create, the national development agency for collaborative arts and the Arts Council’s Artist in the Community Scheme.
Jojo Hynes and Midie Corcoran, Tuam-based artists, were awarded a Creative Places Tuam Bursary in July 2020. The purpose of the bursary was to support and nurture socially engaged artists’ practice, specifically
aimed at artists with a track record of working collaboratively with communities of place or interest. Jojo and Midie have used the time afforded by the bursary to reflect on their experiences as collaborative artists, and to research inspiring collectives and explore best working practices within their community. They were guided in this work by mentor Kate O’Shea.
This issue of Create News features some of their observations and conclusions, in conversation with Kate O’Shea.
“Patching Tuam” was a textile art project for young people in Tuam. Local textile artist Kathy Ross showed the attendees how to use techniques such as drawing and painting, collage, applique and hand and machine embroidery to create Punk Patches displaying their social, political and personal viewpoints and their sense of place.
Tuam Assembly is a series of conversations between Tuam’s residents and stakeholders to explore their needs and expectations, part of Isabel Lima’s Artist Residency. These conversations will focus on the way a town is defined: by the connections and relationships that evolve at any given moment in place. These conversations recognise the importance of residents, their knowledge, lived experiences, aspirations, and skills, to planning place. We explore individual histories, aims, visions and objectives and by the end of each conversation we will have agreed on specific ways we can enact collective decisions.
Ory’Sta 5: Maureen Kennelly, Patrick Fox and Ailbhe Murphy
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No longer confined to a Zoom screen, we were thrilled to welcome artists and community members to discuss creative place making, in our very first live in-person Ory’Sta, featuring Maureen Kennelly (Director, Arts Council), Patrick Fox (Director, Heart of Glass) and Ailbhe Murphy (Director, Create).
Tuam is a unique place with many deeply embedded artistic and cultural habits and practices. This made for a rich conversation between all of our guests, including addressing how different communities can engage creatively to build the version of place they want to be a part of? How can artists be key partners in this work? How will Create and Tuam continue to work together to realise their shared visions? We discussed legacy, and the importance of ensuring that the great work already started can continue, when Create’s role in the project finishes at the end of 2023.
How do we tell you about all the cups of tea– our shorthand for meetings, planning, scheming, that kept Creative Places Tuam going when Covid 19 meant we had to change our plans?.
How do we tell you about the slowing of pace, holding of place, staying together even though we were in different counties (Dublin, Carlow, Cork and Galway) for months?
How do we talk about zoom, the emails, the phone calls, the hand-written letters, voice notes, WhatsApp messages…?
You will find here an infographic showing just some of the “vital statistics” of the past two years of work on Creative Places Tuam.
Ory’Sta 4: Oein DeBharduin, David McDonagh, Maggs McDonagh and Joanna McGlynn
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Welcome to the fourth in our series of Ory’Sta Talking on Tuam conversations, which was originally pesented as part of the 2021 UK- based Creative People and Places programme conference.
This conversation, filmed in Tuam town hall, features inaugural Thinking on Tuam resident artist Oein DeBharduin, film-maker David McDonagh, community development worker Maggs McDonagh and visual artist Joanna McGlynn.
As we near the midway point of the Creative Places Tuam programme, we have invited reflections from local artists and residents. Here is a piece written by Old Tuam Society, on the history of Tuam.