Personal Summary:
All the activities I have been involved in in the creative making world in Ireland over the past 30 years have given me a lot of experience and information to share with clients in the mentor programme. I am an independent freelance creative project manager and owner/director of Access to Arts (est 2003) and Clyne Gallery (currently nomadic). Projects have included:
- curating exhibitions and arranging corporate commissions.
- 7yrs as art consultant to Central Bank of Ireland ..keeper of the collection, curating in-house exhibitions and a major show in the European Central Bank. Art buyer.
- Marketing and sales manager of a ceramic sculpture business for 6 yrs
- Gallery coordinator for DesignYard (Temple Bar)
- Curator of ‘Contemporary Craft Portfolio’ exhibitions in RHA Dublin for 3 consecutive years. Commissioned by DCCoI
- Created and delivered a 13 week module for IADT photography students on professional skills development for 2 years
- Co-founded and managed (5yrs) the CUBE -creative hub in Dublin 8 with 25 creative practitioners studios...local business funded community art project & exhibition. Closed Jan 2017
As a mentor I initially listen and absorb in order to evaluate steps needed to motivate and encourage clients to discover their way forward ..to realise their full potential creatively and commercially and to rekindle their passion for their product and profession.
Mentoring Experience:
As gallery coordinator in DesignYard and subsequently director of Clyne Gallery mentoring of makers was an everyday occurrence.Topics ranged from pricing work, packaging, promotional material, exhibitions, commissions, business terms and conditions to market awareness research. In Letterkenny in 2016 I was invited to attend a FUSE clinic to mentor 13 clients with diverse products. This involved covering a very broad range of issues over the two days including, pricing, new products, marketing, recognising best practice, assessing product viability in terms of production cost/sales figures. The Design & Crafts Council invited me be part of a group of mentors to attend a day long clinic in Kilkenny in 200? to mentor several clients in short sessions throughout the day. These were speed sessions for urgent issues.
Qualifications:
- MSc. (Hons) Tourism Management...DIT Dublin 2009-2011
- Post Grad, Certificate in Art Management... University of Ulster (merit) 2006
- Fetac level 6 Train the Trainer (merit)..Dorset College, Dublin 2008
- BSc. (Hons) Marine Biology…. Heriot Watt University Edinburgh
If you would like to make contact with this mentor, email: enterprise@dccoi.ie