Take A Part Carlow

'Take A Part Carlow' is an ambitious participatory community art led initiative working in the Tullow Road area of Carlow Town. Initiated in 2016 by the Local Authority Arts Office in collaboration with the Arts Council of Ireland under the Invitation to Collaborate Scheme and in consultation with the local community and agencies, (that includes Barnardos, CRYS, CCDP, Carlow Youth Reach and our partners in the UK Take A Part UK (Plymouth). This project was one of 6 projects funded nationally out of 19 local authority projects submitted in June 2016.
Take A Part Carlow is led by an Arts Action Group - this is a working group, made up of community representatives along with agency partners all working together. We are funded and supported by Carlow County Council, the Arts Council of Ireland and internationally supported by our sister organisation Take A Part UK. The Take A Part Carlow Arts Action Group operates a ground up approach. People choose to participate, enthusiasm is shared, and passions are ignited, social networks are built on and new aesthetics emerge

 

Why?
To include, empower and support the Tullow Road communities to build artistic capacity that in turn brings communities together, gives a sense of place, belonging and local ownership and direct decision making from the ground up.

Our aim is to make art in our local area. Our 10 objectives:

1. To work collaboratively across agencies and the community of the Tullow Road area


2. To engage new audiences for the arts


3. To form a local Arts Action Group made up primarily of members of the Tullow Road Community with local agencies to lead the project


4. To continue to work with our international partner Take A Part (CIC) UK as a critical friend


5. To let the community decide on what art they wish to have in their local area, through workshops, artists residencies and participatory activities


6. To co-curate art in the Tullow Road area with that community through the Arts Action Group


7. To create spaces and reveal local infrastructure where social exchange happens as a result of participation in, and engagement with the arts


8. To open up opportunities for the community to engage with artists


9. To build relationships and a process with the Tullow Road Community in order for participation in the arts to happen


10. To work with the very best artists

Ongoing social impact:
Take A Part Carlow aims to create a vibrant, creative and socially engaged community that opens up horizons and contributes to a better future. Our future is building on our deep belief in creating space for discovery, delight and creativity.

How can Take A Part Carlow ensure quality of engagement?

• We work collaboratively across agencies and the community of the Tullow Road area


• We engage new audiences for the arts through socially engaged art that is relevant to the community


• We create spaces where social exchange happens as a result of participation in, and engagement with arts programmes


• We work to open up opportunities for the area to engage with artists


• Build relationships with the Tullow Road Community in order for participation in the arts to happen

Long term impact of Take A Part Carlow

• Build capacity within the community - Include, empower and support communities to build artistic capacity

• Test and design a new model of local arts participation called Take A Part (Carlow)

• Assess how we capture learning on an ongoing basis

 

 

Work from a ground up approach: What makes Take A Part Carlow different from other community arts or socially engaged arts projects is that it operates a ground up approach. This is a crucial factor in the projects success. From the outset we established an "Arts Action Group" this model is made up of a project coordinator, community representatives and representatives from local community services such as Youth services and the County Council. This Arts Action Group should be weighted on the side of the community. Take A Part Carlow has worked long and hard to ensure that we encourage and promote community engagement with the project, the community decides what arts events, projects and developments that they want to see happen in their community. In this way we have developed a deeply embedded approach to community arts development and we envision Take A Part Carlow being a sustainable model for the long term.

Goal 1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere

Goal 3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

Goal 4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

Goal 10. Reduce inequality within and among countries

Goal 11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

Goal 16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

Goal 17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development

Tullow Road, Carlow

Aileen Nolan

087-2292656