9 May 2022

Announcing a wonderful opportunity for Artists (all art forms) to broaden their practice, receive training and project fees, develop creative partnerships with teachers, and transform the lives of children in every County in Ireland

The Teacher-Artist Partnership Continuous Professional Development programme (TAP) is a Creative Ireland, Department of Education led and approved Summer Course offering fully paid training and in-school residency opportunities for artists to work within primary school settings and develop partnerships with creative teachers.

The call out is:

  • Open to artists, working in any art form, who are committed to sharing their practice with children and teachers in a modern primary school environment
  • Specialist, week-long training (4th – 8th July 2022) based in Clare Education Centre to prepare the artist for the unique requirements of working harmoniously in partnership with a teacher within the modern Irish classroom
  • A training allowance of €150 per day over the initial 5-day training/induction week (€750 in total), plus travel with daily lunch provided.
  • Brokerage and development of partnerships with creative teachers, in schools committed to contemporary arts learning, practice and creativity.
  • Guarantee of a paid, follow up in-school-residency within a local primary school (€1,000 Fee total inclusive of Travel) to carry out a 20-hour project (14 contact hours plus 6 hours planning, preparation and evaluation) in partnership with your teacher partner throughout the 2022/2023 academic year
  • Information, learning and networking opportunities for further freelance work within the education system.

Artists must

  • have a track record of a minimum of three years’ professional practice in any art form
  • demonstrate an interest in / commitment to: the principles of Arts-in-Education and Creativity and to enhancing the lives of children through arts practice
  • be willing to learn about modern classroom culture and to work in equal partnership with teachers
  • Combine a sense of fun, joy and collaboration with professional dedication and high artistic vision
  • Be willing to undertake child protection training as part of the induction week, and undergo standard Garda vetting before taking up project placements.

Successful artists will be contacted by Clare Education Centre to participate in the training and to deliver a subsequent partnership residency project, but must apply to be part of the scheme in the first instance via the “Call Out for Artists”

“Call Out for Artists”

Expressions of interest should be sent to Ray McInerney, Director of the Clare Education Support Centre director@clareed.ie, by 12 noon on the 27th May 2022.  Expressions of interest should be in the form of a letter of max 600 words, accompanied by a CV or short Bio with links to images or samples of relevant work.  The letter should set out:

  1. Where you trained
  2. A very brief description of your practice
  3. Why you might wish to work in partnership with a teacher and with children in a school setting
  4. What you think qualifies you to take up this opportunity.

Places on this national Creative Ireland CPD initiative, taking place in the Clare Education Support Centre training programmes, are limited to four artists per year – 4 Artists per Summer Course.  Final decision on offers of places will be taken by the Director of Clare Education Centre in collaboration with the Clare Arts Office.

All completed Expressions of Interest/Applications must be returned to Clare Education Support Centre Director, Ray McInerney, at the following email address: director@clareed.ie  by 12 noon on the 27th of May.