The Museum of Childhood Ireland Músaem Óige na hÉireann and the South Inner City Community Development Association continue to host free children’s art workshops, since 2018, at the Robert Emmett Community Development Project on Usher St, Usher’s Quay, Dublin throughout 2023-2024. Physical exhibitions in the RECDP and online exhibitions at museumofchildhood.ie follow the workshops.

What makes ME happy!

For workshop details for late 2023 to early 2024 see below:

The children and teenagers decided on the overall theme of ‘What Makes Me Happy’ for their art workshops and exhibitions, and also decided to craft, using recycled materials, a ‘Museum of What Makes Me Happy’ too! We continue exploring the theme throughout 2024.

The free workshops are facilitated by professional artists, crafters, and the museumofchildhood.ie team.

The museum provide materials, and prizes/acknowledgements for the workshops. We are grateful to Megan Brien from our team for creating beautiful, bespoke award certificates for prize giving days. With thanks to Faber Castell for the art materials.

SICCDA thank you for being such incredible hosts, and for play facilitators too at the celebrations.

Congratulations to all the wonderful young artists, including:

Nazar Charlie Alina Arina Myroslava Sofiia Liia Emiliia Ruby Ciara Anastasiia Polina Timofii Artem Tom Yevanhelina Kateryna Laima Daria Anastasiia Esten Ester Sibusiso Noluandte Alex Patrick Emil Eskender Anhelina Saoirse Vlad Elmaz Olha Yelyzaveta Susanna Anastasia Kateryna Sofia Danylo Danyil Alexander Kira

Majella McAllister would like to especially thank:

Oleksandra Yakusheva, Artist

Mariia Bodnar, Drawing teacher, and Artist

Fion Gunn, Artist

Nathan Wheeler, Model Maker

Dakota Oliveria, Workshop facilitator

Sofia Zambetti, Workshop facilitator

Lorraine McEvoy, Historian

Megan Brien, Design

Olena Yeremerko

Maxim Yeremerko

Yulia Karpovych

“The joint project of art workshops for children, held at RECDP in collaboration with the Museum of Childhood of Ireland, and SICCDA holds great importance. These projects have several positive aspects that make it highly valuable.

Firstly, the art workshops provide a creative and interactive platform for children to explore their artistic abilities and express themselves through various art forms. Engaging in artistic activities at a young age helps foster imagination, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills, crucial for their overall development.

Secondly, the collaborations between the Museum of Childhood of Ireland, and SICCDA brings together different cultural perspectives and artistic techniques. This exchange of ideas and practices enriches the learning experience for the children, allowing them to gain exposure to diverse artistic traditions and styles.

Moreover, the joint project creates a sense of cultural appreciation and understanding among the participants. The children have the opportunity to learn about the cultural heritage of Ireland, Ukraine, and many other countries, helping develop a greater sense of respect and curiosity for different cultures.

It fosters friendships and community belonging.

Overall, the joint project of art workshops for children at RECDP, with the Museum of Childhood of Ireland, SICCDA, and Ukrainian and Irish artists, not only nurtures creativity and artistic development but also fosters cultural exchange, mutual respect, friendships, community belonging, and a broader worldview among the child and youth participants, and adults. It highlights the importance of such collaborative initiatives in enriching children’s lives and promoting global connections through the universal language of art.”

Olena Ponomarenko

January 2024

Continuing the theme of ‘What makes ME happy!’ – Visiting a funfair. Working with Ukrainian artist Sacha and the museum team, the children and teenagers made, painted and decorated carousel horses and a beautiful carousel. They were inspired by an original horse from the museum’s collection, archive footage from RTE and their own experiences of visiting carnivals.

From the MoCI collection

https://www.rte.ie/archives/2017/1004/909707-roll-up-for-the-carnival/

https://nationalinventoryich.chg.gov.ie/irish-traditional-travelling-circus-and-funfair/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry%27s_Amusements

https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/munster/arid-41108308.html

The carousel at Piper’s funfair, Cork

Part two of this workshop will see the children write stories based around their experiences of riding on a carousel horse or about the carousel horses they created…

November and December 2023

Working with UK based Irish artist Fion Gunn as part of the International A-Maze Artists Collective’s ‘Boundless Transitions’ exhibition at APT Gallery and Studios, London, the children and adolescents explored the idea of journeys, based on their chosen theme of ‘What makes ME happy’-Journeys/Travel. Ideas on how we have all come together in Dublin, and where we go to meet family/friends or on holiday, how we communicate, where we go in our imaginations, journeys in books, the route our food takes to reach us….all types of journeys, historic to contemporary…

From the museum’s collection:

A Child of Books

By Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston

A little girl sails her raft across a sea of words, arrives at the house of a small boy, and calls him away with her on an adventure. They go travelling through forests of fairy tales, across mountains of make-believe, on a journey that unlocks the boy’s imagination. Now a lifetime of magic and adventure lie ahead . . . but who will be next?

September and October 2023

The workshops began with a roundtable exploration of subjects raised by the children and teenagers. They also wished to explore the museum of childhood Ireland concept and had questions and suggestions for the museum team. They trialled sketching and painting techniques with the art facilitators, and practiced using a wide variety of materials. They drew, painted and crafted based on the theme they chose. ‘What makes ME happy!’ and decided to build their museum of ‘What makes ME happy,’ to house their ideas!’