Calling multidisciplinary artists with experience working with children!
Work with Baboró International Arts Festival for Children to build a sustained, creative relationship with a local school community
We invite you to apply for ‘Creating Space,’ a two-year collaboration with Baboró International Arts Festival for Children, and a local Galway primary school.
If selected, you will:
- Work consistently with two classes of children from the start of 1st class (Autumn 2023) until they finish 2nd class (Summer 2025) in Galway.
- Develop a 2-year plan for classroom engagements and activities, in collaboration with Baboró and the participating teachers. The plan should introduce the children to a wide variety of art forms, such as drama, digital art, music, circus, movement, puppetry or visual art.
Deadline: Monday 10 April at midnight
About Creating Space
Creating Space is a collaboration between an artist and a school in Galway city, enabling two groups of children to participate in creative activities in their classroom and community throughout first and second class. A primary aim of the project is to help the students develop their social and emotional skills through consistent engagement with the arts.
The research and development phase will begin in May 2023 in consultation with Baboró and a local Galway primary school, in advance of meeting the children in Autumn 2023.
The in-school engagements will begin in September 2023, with the selected artist getting to know the children by preparing them for a visit to the Baboró Festival in October. The artist will attend the festival with the classes and facilitate creative responses and activities to build on the children’s festival experience.
From January 2024 until the end of the school year, alongside students and teachers, you will design and deliver regular multidisciplinary workshops which respond to the children’s interests and art forms they want to explore. The project will continue when the children begin 2nd class in autumn 2024. After the first year of the project there will be a review with Baboró and the participating teachers to reflect and develop the project.
Throughout Creating Space the children’s development will be evaluated to gather longitudinal research on the impact of sustained creative intervention in primary schools post COVID-19. Results will be shared within the artistic and educational sectors to spread knowledge around the benefits of infusing durational creativity within the classroom.
See past Baboró Arts in Education projects for more information about durational work with schools
About the School
The participating school is located in Doughiska, a suburb in East Galway. One of the participating teachers has identified drama, dance, singing and movement as artforms the children are drawn to, and social/emotional learning as a priority for the school.
Is this Opportunity for You?
Creating Space is an opportunity for artists who are both passionate about the positive impact the creative arts can make on young lives and committed to nurturing a meaningful relationship with a school community. We seek a self-starter to design and deliver this project with support from the Baboró team. You will bring your own style and practice to the role, whilst fulfilling Creating Space’s project objectives. You are a bright, friendly, resourceful and well organised individual with the strong communication skills necessary to foster a long-term collaboration with Baboró, the participating school, and research partners. Prior experience working in schools or childcare settings is essential.
Baboró strives to make sure that all children in Ireland see themselves and their stories reflected in the arts. We endeavour to deliver projects and present performances which reflect the diversity of the Ireland we live in today. We strongly encourage artists from currently underrepresented backgrounds to apply for Creating Space.
This is a contract for service based on a day rate of €250, which includes travel. We estimate the project will require approximately 100-120 days from Summer 2023 until Summer 2025. Some of this time will be for research, prep, and development, and some will be dedicated to community visits and in-classroom engagements. The artist will co-design this project with the Baboró team.
We welcome applications from individuals who meet the following eligibility criteria:
Essential Skills and Experience
- Demonstrate a commitment to the creative arts for children.
- Have prior experience working on durational projects in schools, classrooms or childcare settings.
- Have experience of managing, designing and delivering quality arts projects to schools and families, including children and young people who may experience barriers to the arts.
- Are based in Galway and able to travel to Doughiska and Baboró office.
- Are able to commit to two years from Summer 2023 until Summer 2025.
- Have minimum three years experience as a professional artist in any artform(s), cross-disciplinary or interdisciplinary.
- Your expertise and experience may be focused on one particular discipline, but you are open to incorporating different art forms into the project.
Desirable Skills and Experience
- Have experience developing educational resources for primary school children.
- Have experience of managing and monitoring project budgets.
- Have prior experience evaluating, reporting, and documenting creative projects.
How to Apply
Please email the following materials to Bryony Hussey at outreach[@]baboro.ie with the subject line “Creating Space Artist Application” by Monday 10 April at midnight:
- A cover letter (2 A4 pages), audio recording or short video (max 5 minutes) describing:
- Your artistic practice (max 300 words/ approx. 1 minute)
- Your experience in an educational setting, including recent projects in schools or with young people (max 500 words/ approx. 2 minutes)
- Why you are applying for Creating Space; describe your approach to building a relationship with the class over two years (max 500 words/ approx. 2 minutes)
- A CV (2 pages max) outlining your relevant artist and professional experience.
- A short portfolio of 3-6 good quality examples of your existing artistic work. This can include:
- writing,
- images,
- URL links to video recordings, sound, and/or media files. We accept YouTube, Vimeo, and SoundCloud links. Please ensure to grant us access or passwords as needed.
Submit examples that best represent your current practice and your capacity to deliver the proposed project.
The closing date for applications is Monday 10 April at midnight.
The selection panel will comprise representatives from Baboró, representatives from the school, and an external artist. Shortlisting will apply. The final candidates will be asked to take part in an in-person interview the week of 8 May.
We will respond to all applicants by Wednesday 27 April, end of day.
If you have any questions or concerns, please get in touch by emailing Bry at outreach[@]baboro.ie or calling our office at (091) 562 667. We are happy to help!
Statement of Care
We recognise that life comes with challenges and needs are different for everyone. We can offer additional support for submitting your application and are happy to discuss any additional supports you might require. Please contact Bry at outreach[@]baboro.ie for more support.
Key Dates
Tuesday 21 March, 3-4pm: Info session for artists via Zoom. Please email outreach@baboro.ie if you would like a link to the recorded session.
Monday 10 April, midnight: Closing date for applications
Wednesday 27 April, end of day: We will respond to all applicants by Wednesday 27 April
Week of 8 May: The final candidates will be asked to take part in an in-person interview
Week of 22 May: The selected artist will be asked to visit the school and meet with the class teachers
Info Session
A recording of the Creating Space info session is available to watch here.
Supported and Funded by
Creating Space is funded by The Lifes2good Foundation and The Arts Council of Ireland.
FAQs
The participating school is located in Doughiska, a suburb in East Galway.
The children and their teacher have identified drama, dance, singing and movement as art forms they are drawn to. The children are also interested in acting, painting, and making characters out of clay. This opportunity is open to artists with a multidisciplinary practice who are interested in developing a two year relationship with a school.
Creating Space is a collaboration between an artist and the school, enabling two groups of children over two years to participate in creative activities in their classroom and community throughout first and second class.
A primary aim of the project is to help the children develop their social and emotional skills through consistent engagement with the arts. Social, emotional learning and environment sustainability are all priorities for the school.
The selected artist will visit the school and meet with the teachers the week commencing 22nd May.
The total number of participating children is 45. The successful artist will engage with 2 classes over 2 years, working with children from the start of 1st class in September 2023 until the end of 2nd class in June 2025.
In terms of timeframe, we've put 100 - 120 days across the whole project. If you break that down, it's almost weekly. However your time will be split differently in each stage of the project e.g. in the summer you will be prepare and design the project with us and the teachers, the autumn term you meet the class, prepare and bring them to Baboró 2023 and spring 2024 you will have more regular classroom sessions.
This might not always be a weekly role but it's certainly a regular commitment over two years to be in Doughiska and Galway city.
Successful applicants must fulfill all eligibility criteria and apply by the deadline: Monday 10th April, midnight.
Shortlisting will apply. The selection panel will comprise representatives from Baboró, representatives from the school, and an artist.
In-person interviews will take place the week commencing 8th May.
