Welcome to the first e-bulletin from Dublin City Council Arts Office. For April, we concentrate on Arts Office initiated and supported programmes. We give you a sneak preview of Dublin Writers Festival events, highlight our current Gallery programme, announce Incubation Space and 2010 Bursaries opportunity, and give a flavour of some of the many neighbourhood programmes we are proud to support.

For those of you who don’t know, Dublin City Council Arts Office provides a citywide  arts development service. We are based in The LAB on Foley Street. Our building also houses a contemporary Art Gallery (primarily showcasing emerging artists), Rehearsal Studios for the performing arts and training room facilities for professional development. Artist Studios, exhibition and workshop spaces are also provided in The Red Stables, in St. Anne’s Park.

We will be refining our newsletter over the next few months, so please feel free to contact us with suggestions about  the types of information you would find useful to receive.  Details of all our services can still be found on www.dublincity.ie/RecreationandCulture/ 

Whether you are an artist or an Arts enthusiast, there’s something here for all age groups, so we hope to see you all at some of our many programmes, exhibitions  and events over the coming year.

Sinead Connolly

City Arts Officer (Acting) 

Presented by the Dublin Writers Festival in association with the Trinity Long Room Hub

Prior to this year’s Festival, Dublin Writers Festival will be co-presenting an event with His Dark Materials author Philip Pullman. An outspoken atheist and humanist Philip is noted for his criticism of growing state authority and government encroachment into everyday life. Philip will be reading and discussing his latest work The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ with Fintan O'Toole.

Join Ian McEwan and Stewart Brand for some coolheaded thinking on the hot topic of our age.

How can or should the individual artist, scientist or environmentalist engage with our growing concerns about the earth’s future? And how can this engagement focus our minds and help effect change?

In a special event, put together exclusively for Dublin Writers Festival, Booker-winning novelist Ian McEwan (Atonement, Saturday) and counterculture icon/pioneering environmentalist Stewart Brand come together to discuss the issues.

The Red Stables Artists’ have launched a new website www.redstablesartists.com

The purpose of the website is to enhance communication and creative exchange between the Red Stables artists, past and present, and also provide a public platform for artists to profile current projects and work in progress.

The website offers up to the minute information about artists, their current projects and work in progress.  

Bealtaine is the Irish national arts festival celebrating creativity in older age. It takes place each May countrywide and involves thousands of participants in events in every art form. Taking its name from the ancient Celtic festival celebrating springtime, Bealtaine celebrates renewal, creativity and growth in ageing. Bealtaine is coordinated by Age & Opportunity - the national organisation working to promote greater participation by older people in society and has been running since 1996.

Dublin City Council through various sections has been involved in many different ways over the years and the programme is going from strength to strength each year.

CoisCéim Dance Theatre and Dublin City Council are excited to announce DANCE ARIAS as part of Bealtaine 2010.

The Dance Arias is a vibrant celebration with specially created dances to some of the most famous opera arias of all time. Open to people aged 50+ The Dance Arias  will involve 7 communities from 5 areas of Dublin: Central, North Central, North West, South Central and South East.

Whether you are interested in attending a class to stay fit, or would like to perform, or simply have a desire to try something different, we hope you will join us in this unique celebration.

Call for Participants

Dublin City Council & axis Ballymun are now inviting people to participate in a songwriting workshop facilitated by Colm Quearney.

Colm Quearney is a musician and songwriter. He also has a lot of experience of facilitating music projects throughout Dublin. Colm will facilitate a songwriting project in axis offering participants the chance to explore music, singing and most importantly, their own songwriting ideas. You never know what you might come up with!

Maradona two-for four

Cullinan Richards

curated by Padraic E.Moore

The title of the Cullinan and Richards first exhibition in Ireland refers to the two month ban meted out to Diego Maradona after his verbal attack on journalists in 2009. The punishment follows Maradona's remarks after Argentina reached the World Cup with a 1-0 win over Uruguay in their final qualifying match on 14th October. Following forceful expletives used by Maradona while being interviewed by the world's media, FIFA punished him according to Article 57, which relates to "offensive gestures or language".

Shine/Seinn is an initiative where Dublin City Council aims to promote traditional music and to foster upcoming talent in a non-competitive, alcohol-free city centre venue. Selected young performers will be Showcased, followed by an informal Open Session. We hope to webcast showcases, and offer further performance opportunities at civic events.

The next Shine / Seinn event is on Tuesday 27th April 2010 7-9pm, in City Wall Space, Civic Offices, Wood Quay, Dublin 8.

Free Event - All Welcome.

Light Signals is a new play for third and fourth class primary school students from award winning playwright Paul Meade, in collaboration with TEAM.

Dublin City Council supported six schools to receive TEAM's production.

The 5th year of LiFT Ballymun Youth Arts Festival took place on the 24th - 31st March 2010. LiFT 2010 has been programmes, designed, coordinated and developed in collaboration with a Youth Panel without whom this would not be possible. It features an initiative where young people were mentored to co-facilitate LiFT workshops and continues the visual arts mentoring project launched last year. Other projects included more Little LiFT events geared towards 10-12 year olds and the launch of a Writer-in-Residence programme for young people, with the support of The Arts Council, which will continue after the festival.

LiFt is core founded by Dublin City Council and The Arts Council with additional support from other partner organisations.

YOUNG URBAN ARTS invited young people (13-21yrs) to attend a series of exciting master classes being delivered as part of this years programme, Rogue Effect production. Rogue Effect is a group of 15 young people from across the city that have come together through Young Urban Arts to co-produce a multi- media performance that will take place in The Complex, Smithfield in July 2010.

Young Urban Arts is an initiative of Dublin City Council, City Arts and City of Dublin Youth Service Board.

This year the Festival is also working in partnership with Dublin City Council Arts Office.  During the Festival workshops will be run which have been designed specifically for young people aged 15 - 18 yrs old. Screenagers (a practical, fun, challenging course with an emphasis on developing story and character) and Special Effects Make-up with the MakeupFabLicious Academy. Also in partnership with the Dublin City Council Arts Office the Festival will present Young Urban Arts which will support 50 young people to participate in the Festival Masterclass Programme which will take place in the Burlington Hotel and are open to youth projects in the city’s neighbourhoods

It complements the Arts Office's existing film development programmes and offers young people further opportunities to make their own films, train with experts from the industry, or simply enjoy and appreciate wonderful films.

Festival runs from 5^th - 12^th May 2010 in various venues in Dublin.

The first friday film club is pleased to announce its ongoing season of exciting film screenings for 2010.

The first friday film club is supported by the Arts Office Dublin City Council as part of the south East Area Arts Work Plan.

The Pictures Film Club for over 55’s was established in January 2008 is proving to be very successful with currently over 160 members. An initiative of Dublin City Arts Office in association with the axis Arts Centre, Ballymun and access>cinema. There is one screening per month in axis Arts Centre Ballymun and all genres of films are shown.

As part of the Dublin City Public Art Programme, The Arts Office and Theatre Forum are collaborating to present a development day focusing on theatre and public art.  This day will combine presentations of previous theatre work in public art, focus on practicalities and a briefing on the Dublin City Public Art Programme to be announced later in the year. The even takes place in The Lab Foley Street  on 27^th April from 11.00 – 3.00. 

Dublin City Council wishes to invite applications for the award of free incubation/work-space. The award is intended to enable innovative arts companies/collectives to research and develop new work, over a period of up to six months, through the provision of dedicated work-space in The LAB. A small development stipend may also be awarded , dependent on project proposal.