2024-2025

2024-2025

In 2013, the Living Arts Project was established as an artist-in-residency scheme in primary schools, supporting the existing partnership between the Arts Department of Wexford County Council and Wexford Arts Centre.  The aim of this project is to provide children with an understanding and appreciation of contemporary visual art. The Living Arts Project exhibition represents a selection of work produced by the participating primary schools and offers pupils a chance to see their work presented in a professional gallery.

The following artists and schools were selected for the 2024- 25 programme: Deirdre Meehan-Buttimer and Ilaria Berardi with St Garvan’s National School, Kate Murphy and Shannon Jade Wilson with New Ross Educate Together, Brid Colloton and Laura Flood with Gorey Central School, Deirdre Travers and Sonya Weston with Barntown National School, and Sonya Weston and Kate Tyrell with Wexford CBS.

Artists Deirdre Travers and Sonya Weston with pupils of Barntown N.S.
Pupils of Barntown N.S.
A pupil of Barntown N.S.
A pupil of Barntown N.S.
Assistant Artist Sonya Weston with pupils of Barntown N.S.
Lead Artist Deirdre Travers with a pupil of Barntown N.S.
Assistant Artist Kate Tyrrell with pupils of CBS Wexford.
Lead Artist Sonya Weston with pupils of CBS Wexford.
Pupils of CBS Wexford.
Assistant Artist Kate Tyrrell with pupils of CBS Wexford.
Lead Artist Sonya Weston with pupils of CBS Wexford.
Assistant Artist Kate Tyrrell with pupils of CBS Wexford.
Assistant Artist Laura Flood with pupils of Gorey Central School.
Pupils of Gorey Central School.
Assistant Artist Laura Flood with pupils of Gorey Central School.
Pupils of Gorey Central School.
Pupils of Gorey Central School.
Lead Artists Brid Colloton with pupils of Gorey Central School.
Lead Artist Kate Murphy with a pupil of Educate Together, New Ross.
Pupils of Educate Together, New Ross.
Assistant Artist Shannon Jade Wilson with a pupil of Educate Together, New Ross.
Pupils of Educate Together, New Ross.
Assistant Artist Shannon Jade Wilson with pupils of Educate Together, New Ross.
Pupils of Educate Together, New Ross.
Pupils of St. Garvans N.S.
Lead Artist Deirdre Meehan-Buttimer with a pupil of St. Garvans N.S.
A pupil of St. Garvans N.S.
Lead Artist Deirdre Meehan-Buttimer with pupils of St. Garvans N.S.
Pupils of St. Garvans N.S.
Pupils of St. Garvans N.S.

The residencies focused on the children’s local environments and explored many themes including history, home, the environment and sustainability. The activities focused on promoting artistic and interpersonal skills enabling pupils to recognize the potential of art to be used as a tool for communication and learning. 

A mentorship programme ran alongside each residency which helped to ensure the effectiveness of the project while also providing a positive critique for the resident artist. In addition, it served to refine methods of engaging with the children throughout each residency. The mentors involved were David Begley, Orla Barry, Ruth Carroll, Els Dietvorst, Doreen Fitzmaurice, Michael Fortune, Martina Furlong, Emma Roche, Karla Sánchez Zepeda, Sarah Scallon, and Gerda Teljeur.

The Arts Department of Wexford County Council and Wexford Arts Centre would like to take this opportunity to thank all schools, artists and mentors involved in the project, and the local community for their support and interest in the project to date.


The Living Arts Project exhibition will run in the lower and upper galleries of Wexford Arts Centre from Saturday 30th March to Wednesday 1st May 2024. Gallery hours are Tuesday to Friday from 10am-5pm, and Saturday from 10am-4pm.

If your school is interested in participating in the Living Arts Project 2024-25 please contact Curator Catherine Bowe on +353 (0)53 9123764 or email catherine@wexfordartscentre.ie or visit www.livingartsproject.ie.

The Living Art Project is funded by the Arts Department of Wexford County Council, The Arts Council and participating schools.  The project is prorgammed by Wexford Arts Centre.

Wexford CBS
Thomas Street, Wexford Town

Lead Artist

Based in Wexford, Sonya Weston graduated in 2019 from Wexford Campus School of Art & Design, SETU. Sonya’s specialist areas of research are in social inclusion, socially engaged art practices, and other creative projects that empower communities.

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Assistant Artist

Kate Tyrell is a self-taught artist and works from her studio by the sea in Ballinoulart, Co. Wexford. Her practice is very much influenced by where she lives. She creates unique pieces of art using materials found along the coastlines, reflecting the colour palette and textures of the Irish landscape.

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Gorey Central School
Gorey corporation lands, Gorey

Lead Artist

Bríd Colloton returned to college in 2012 to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming an artist and chose printmaking as her focus. She continues exploring new and traditional processes in printmaking studios around Ireland and in her home-based studio.

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Assistant Artist

Laura Flood graduated with a BA Hons in Art from the Wexford Campus School of Art & Design in 2019 and an MA in Art & Research Collaboration at IADT in 2024.

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New Ross Educate Together
Barrett’s Park, New Ross

Lead Artist

Kate Murphy graduated from the National College of Art & Design in 2000 with an honours degree in Fine Art. She has had with a number of solo exhibitions in galleries in Dublin and Wexford and has shown nationally and internationally.

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Assistant Artist

Shannon Jade Wilson is an artist, poet, and educator in science and the arts. Working across painting, printmaking, murals, and media, she is trained in visual arts from the National College of Art & Design, with a master’s degree in Visual, Material and Museum Anthropology from Oxford University.

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St. Garvan’s National School
Carrowreagh, Co. Wexford

Lead Artist
Assistant Artist

Deirdre Meehan-Buttimer graduated from Wexford Campus School of Art & Design, SETU, in 2016 and successfully transitioned to build a strong participatory arts practice.

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Ilaria Berardi is an Italian artist based in Wexford, where she graduated from the Wexford Campus School of Art & Design, SETU, in 2023. Since then, she has engaged in a variety of workshops based on sustainability and natural materials.

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Scoil Mhuire Barntown
Barntown, Co. Wexford

Lead Artist
Assistant Artist

Based in Wexford, Deirdre Travers is a graduate of Wexford Campus School of Art & Design, SETU. She is a multidisciplinary artist whose work involves elements of performance, sculpture, video and sound, and photography.

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Based in Wexford, Sonya Weston graduated in 2019 from IT Carlow Wexford Campus School of Art and Design. Sonya’s specialist areas of research are in social inclusion, socially engaged art practices, and other creative projects that empower communities.

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See the full brochure here