Baboró International Arts Festival for Children is delighted to announce details of its GROW programme, which aims to support Irish-based artists who are currently active in making work for children and young audiences, or who have an interest in doing so. Now in its 21st year, Baboró already has a long history of mentoring and supporting artists and educators who are committed to placing the creative development of children and young people at the heart of their work.
The GROW programme will continue to build on Baboró’s existing supports, and this October will also introduce two new strands; Pathways to Production and Festival Mentoring. Applications are now open for these new initiatives. The GROW programme hopes to solidify and support the development of artists and the TYA (Theatre for Young Audiences) sector in Galway and throughout the country.
Aislinn Ó hEocha, Baboró’s Executive Artistic Director commenting on the GROW programme:
“Through the GROW programme, our primary objective is to support artists involved in creating work for young audiences. There will be opportunities for artists to connect in with a highly skilled support network and for them to attend quality Irish and international work for young audiences through the annual Baboró International Arts Festival for Children; Baboró’s Galway2020 project, other Baboró events and our year-round work. Applications are welcome from artists all over Ireland at any stage of their career. We’re very excited about meeting artists who are as passionate about creating work for young audiences as we at Baboró are.”
The GROW programme includes a number of strands which interested candidates can apply for. Two of GROW's recently introduced strands are Pathways to Production and Festival Mentoring.
Pathways to Production is a new initiative led by Baboró, which will commence in October 2017 and is funded by the Arts Council’s Theatre Artist Development Scheme. This scheme will see Baboró partner with Druid and the Mick Lally Theatre, Branar Téatar de Phaistí and Galway Theatre Festival to support artists and young companies to develop their ideas with a view to presenting a full performance piece. The scheme will involve workshops, sharings of works-in-progress as well as support in developing funding strategies.
Baboró and its aforementioned partner organisations will make their collective organisational experience and resources available to participants. The hope is that this capacity-building initiative will contribute to the development of sustainable careers and creative opportunities for artists in Ireland.
The Pathways to Production programme will run from October 2017 to October 2018. This is a pilot programme and will be reviewed on an annual basis. Closing date for receipt of applications is the 25th of September 2017. Successful applicants will be notified by 29 September. For more details and to apply click here.
Another new initiative from Baboró is the Festival Mentoring programme aimed at artists and creatives at any stage of their career, including those with an established career, who have never before made work for children. As part of the programme, participants will receive mentoring from two highly experienced individuals from the sector; Phil Kingston, Community and Education Manager at the Abbey Theatre and Maria Fleming, Chair of Theatre for Young Audiences Ireland (TYAI) and Freelance Producer.
The four successful candidates will have an opportunity to attend shows during this year’s Baboró International Arts Festival for Children, which runs from 16 – 22 October in Galway, and will also attend industry and networking events. The objective is that artists will be inspired to make work for babies, children and young people in Ireland, having been exposed to world-class Irish and International work during the festival.
The Festival Mentoring programme will run for three days during this year’s Baboró International Arts Festival for Children from 16– 22 October. Exact dates to be confirmed. Closing date for receipt of applications is the 25th of September 2017. Successful applicants will be notified by 29 September. For more details and to apply please click here.
Baboró is delighted to have The Irish Theatre Institute (ITI) partnering on Pathways to Production and Festival Mentoring in an advisory capacity.
Additional Support
In addition to the above two strands, Baboró’s on-going supports will continue to be available. These include a small ‘Go See Fund’, which supports artists and creatives to travel within Ireland to see performances for children and a hot desk in Baboró’s administration offices.
The GROW programme is open to artists at any stage of their career who are based in Galway, the west of Ireland or anywhere else in the country contact us.
Baboró would like to acknowledge the support of The Arts Council for funding the GROW programme through The Arts Council's Theatre Artist Development scheme.
