The Arty Yard

The Arty Yard is an amazing space of fun and creativity to make and explore art works in the beautiful surroundings of Castletown House and Parklands.

It is a creative adventure by the wonderful OPW people at Castletown House and Early Childhood Creativity however its driving force is the wonderful team of artists.

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It opened its doors and gates in 2015 with an experimental programme to test the waters and see if there was an interest by families for creative arts for children in this area and it was a great success. Now in 2016 we bring you what we believe is a quality programme of creative arts.

See our events page for more details.

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We know you are interested about the artists that will inspire you and your creative young ones so here is a little run down of the team this season.

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Órla Kelly is a visual artist, creative educationalist and an arts manager. She is the director of Early Childhood Creativity. Órla’s work with children aims to explore a naturally intelligent and free imagination, where real creation is almost always an intelligent action, done with concentration and joy to understand the world and our relationship with it.

http://earlychildhoodcreativity.com/

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Jo May graduated from the London College of Fashion with a degree in footwear and accessory design. Her primary focus when working in a creative context with children and young people is recycling, experimenting and problem solving though the visual arts.

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Deirdre Rogers is a glass artist, designer and educator. Her involvement in 
teaching programmes over the last 14 years has strengthened her interest in integrating creativity in all educational environments. Believing ‘Creativity is to play’ and understanding the need to nurture the creative mind from a very early age, her Early Years workshops focus on adult and child articipation, encouraging interaction through activities that are fun and meaningful to all that take part.

http://www.deirdrerogers.com/

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Olivier Bonnardot is a playwright, actor and director. He is the director of Sultan Bacchus, a creative theatre company which aims to provide an innovative way to embrace a foreign language through the dramatic. Olivier works with all ages and all levels of ability from primary to University to explore how we can learn with the body. Olivier has performed his own work around France, in Ireland and Egypt.

http://sultanbacchusschools.wix.com/sultanbacchusschools

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Ann Cradden graduated with BA in Fine Art from DLIADT in Dun Laoghaire
in 2005. She loves sculpture and drawing, and her work focuses on highlighting the physical places and spaces we inhabit. She is also passionate about arts education, and has facilitated many art workshops and discovery sessions for both adults and children in a variety of settings.

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Marta Golubowska graduated with a Fine Arts Masters from Gdansk, Poland in 2006, majoring in sculpture. In 2016 she received the prestigious Emerging Artist grant from Kildare County Council. Marta is interested in working with fabric, exploring use of textures and colours in her sculptures and is particularly focused on researching how people identify themselves with their clothes and what influences their choices in this regard. Marta is an experienced facilitator running regular fashion camps in Kildare.

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Liadain De Buitlear is a knitwear designer. She won the prestigious Persil Fashion Award in 2001 and the prize money helped in fulfilling her dream of setting up her own knitwear company in 2003. Through her current work she explores a range of textile based craft processes with community groups and children of all ages, allowing them a better understanding of textile crafts, encouraging and nurturing processes and producing work which each participant can be proud of. 

http://www.knitwear.ie/

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