The Atelier Project

The Transition Year class of Moyne Community School recently took part in a new and innovative art project. The Atelier Project, taking its name from the French word for ‘artist’s studio’, is a form of instruction in which a professional artist works closely with a small number of students to progressively train them. Kevin Flood who is a renowned local artist spent a week with the class in the tranquil setting of the renowned Latin School. Now a community centre, the Latin School has a long and distinguised history of education in the North Longford region and having a group of students learning the skills of painting from a master artist was a renewal of the educational traditions it has been so closely associated with.

What made this cousre different was that it was a total immersion course with the students most of whom had never studied art before Transition Year spending their full school week doing nothing else except learning the skills of painting in a relaxed atmosphere away from the normal hustle and bustle of a school day. Kevin taught them how to sketch, how to create depth in a painting, how to add light and shadow and how to mix colours.  They got an opportunity to paint their own landscapes and the results were quite remarkable. The students themselves were equally surprised by the amount of enjoyment they had during the week and by the quality of the work they produced. For some students, it has lit a lamp of interest while for others it has rekindled an interest they had when younger and for some others it has proved that with a little bit of instruction and assistance they can do something that they thought was beyond them. For one student, it was ‘great fun, a nice change and a big surprise’, and for another student it was ‘a reason to choose Art’ for his Leaving Certificate.

The project was part funded by the Midland Educational Arts Officer, Shane Brennan, the Longford Arts Officer, Fergus Kennedy and by the Transition Year Fund in Moyne Community School. As a concept it was partiucularly suited to the ethos and vision of the Transition Year programme where the personal, social and educational development of the pupils is central and where the timetable allows the flexibility for such projects. It was also evident that Kevin Flood himself enjoyed working with the group and imparting some of his knowledge and experience to a younger generation.