The Exploring & Thinking Partnership of Fingal County, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County, South Dublin County and Dublin City Councils, is delighted to announce this unique opportunity for artists that currently work in or are interested in working in Early Childhood Arts. We have invited
Professor Suzanne Zeedyk to work with artists on a two-day residential mentorship programme that will support artists’ capacity building in this specialised area of arts practice. This opportunity is funded by the four Dublin County Councils and the Arts Council.
What does this residency offer?
The opportunity is for 12 artists to attend a fully funded two-day residential in Balbriggan, County Dublin, on the 9 and 10 of October 2024. It will include group work, workshops, and mentoring facilitated by Professor Zeedyk. The content will be tailored by Professor Zeedyk in response to the selected artists proposals and experience.
Dates & Times (full schedule to follow)
Wednesday 9 October 2024: 10am – 7pm, includes lunch, dinner and accommodation for Wednesday 9 October.
Thursday 10 October 2024: 10am – 4pm, includes breakfast and lunch.
Priorities for this opportunity
The Exploring & Thinking Partnership has identified the need to support artists that work in or wish to work in early childhood settings that align with our priorities. Each local authority is working with services that support early childhood locally. Our focus is to create greater access to the arts in communities and neighbourhoods across the Dublin region that may traditionally not have these opportunities. Collectively we are interested in the capacity building of artists that work in, or are interested in working in, contexts that are an intersection of arts and health, community, and/or integration.
How do I apply?
Proposals must include the following:
- An outline of your professional arts practice (max 400 words).
An expression of interest that details the following (max 900 words):
- How Professor Zeedyk's area of expertise could be of value to your practice now?
- What issue/theme/question can Professor Zeedyk assist you with to help develop your arts practice?
- What might the benefit/impact be from the insights gained from this opportunity to your practice?
- Confirmation of availability on 9 and 10 October 2024.
- Two examples of relevant projects in support of your proposal.
If you have any access requirements, please let us know.
Closing date for proposals: 2pm, 12 August 2024
How will we select the successful artists?
Representatives from the four Dublin Local Authorities and Professor Zeedyk will sit on the selection panel.
We will use these criteria and marks:
- Demonstrated experience or interest of working in early childhood art. (This will be marked by assessing the overview of your practice, expression of interest and examples of previous work). (40/100)
- Quality of proposal. (This will be marked by assessing your expression of interest). (50/100).
- Availability on 9 & 10 October to avail of the residential opportunity. (10/100)
Timeline:
Invitation call out: Week of 21 June
Closing date for queries: 2pm, 30 July
Closing date for proposals: 2pm, 12 August
Assessment period: Week of 19 August
Late applications will not be assessed.
Please note that the pass mark required for this opportunity is 70%. If none or not enough of the proposals submitted reach the minimum marks required, we may decide to look at a different way to use this funding.
Queries?
You can contact the following local authority arts office staff with any queries that you may have:
Fingal County Council: Julie Clarke, Youth & Education Officer
Email: julie.clarke@fingal.ie
Telephone: 01 890 5000
Dublin City Council: Liz Coman, Assistant Arts Officer
Email: liz.coman@dublincity.ie
Telephone: 01 222 5455
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council: Máire Davey, Assistant Arts Officer - Participation and Learning
Email: mdavey@dlrcoco.ie
Telephone: 01 236 2756
South County Dublin: Meabh Butler, Assistant Arts Officer - Early Years
Email: mbutler@sdublincoco.ie
Telephone: 01 414 9000
More information
Professor Suzanne Zeedyk is a research scientist fascinated by babies’ innate capacity to communicate. Since 1993, she has been based at the University of Dundee, Scotland, within the School of Psychology, where she now holds an honorary post. In 2011, she stepped away from full time academic work to set up her own independent training enterprise to disseminate what she calls the Science of Connection. Human beings are born connected, and as a species we have a physiological need for emotional connection in order to lead happy, healthy lives. In 2014, she expanded her reach by founding the organisation Connected Baby, which enabled her team to create events and resources that support her message. Suzanne brings to her work her awareness of the latest discoveries on infant communicative capacities and brain development, as well as her own research expertise on parent-infant relationships and the socio-political contexts within which scientific information emerges.
Suzanne now works closely with organisations throughout the world, holding on to the same goal with which she set out: We need to increase awareness of the decisions we take about caring for children, because they are integrally connected to our vision for the kind of society we wish to build.
Exploring & Thinking Partnership
Exploring & Thinking is a collaborative framework for early childhood arts in the Dublin region. Initiated in 2016 by the four Dublin Local Authority Arts Offices to collectively consider Early Childhood Arts. Since this time, we have collectively supported commissions, bursaries, research, and sector sharing days all with a view to supporting artists, the wider early years sector and developing this area of arts practice with a direct impact on the Dublin region.