21 August 2023
The Art School project Keystone will be launched at the Courthouse Gallery in Ennistymon, Co. Clare on September 8th, 2023. Official opening by Cllr Joe Cooney, Cathaoirleach of Clare County Council.
Developed with selected artists Mitch Conlon and James Moran in collaboration with fifth year students from two schools in Co. Clare, this new moving image work was commissioned by Clare Arts Office to celebrate 20 years of arts in education programming.
Taking the theme of the collective as its central point of departure, Keystone took shape as a series of workshops guided by artist Mitch Conlon and theatre maker and comedian James Moran working with the 5th year art students and teachers of Coláiste Muire, Ennis, and Scoil Mhuire, Ennistymon, during the school year 2022–23. The project was curated by Jennie Guy, founder and director of Art School, alongside invited co-curator Fiona Gannon, and investigated ideas around the collective by exploring the places where teenagers go to hang out.
Through presentations, games, recording sessions and collaborative decision-making, the production of Keystone explored the atmospheres of specific hang-out spots visited by the students from both schools. Drawing on additional support from filmmaker and artist Emily McFarland and electronic music composer Liam McCartan (Son Zept), the students worked with sound and video to communicate the dynamics of these often-peripheral places.
There will be a private screening for students and other project partners in the Courthouse Gallery on the 8th September 2023 at 6pm and the work will be subsequently exhibited in the gallery space upstairs from the 8th through the 29th of September. The gallery opening hours are 12pm through 5pm.
To celebrate the launch of the project, a limited-edition poster is being produced with award-winning design studio Distinctive Repetition to mark this screening event and will be gifted to each student collaborator involved in the project.
Keystone is supported by Clare Arts Office and the Arts Council. The project won the Arts Portal Documentation Award for 2023.
Further Enquiries
All enquiries should be addressed to:
Jennie Guy
Director of Art School