EXCEL 15 is Mayo County Council’s annual celebration of young people’s creativity takes place this month. As always there will be a whole host of events, workshops, exhibitions and showcases awaiting this year’s young audiences and events are happening right across the west county. The EXCEL 15 programme is designed for teenagers and young adults aged between 13 and 21 to get involved in.
Some of the projects include…
‘YOUR CHOICE’ CURATION PROJECT
As part of EXCEL 15 students from Ballyhaunis Community School will work with artist Will O’Kane in selecting, discussing and curating an exhibition of artworks from the Mayo County Collection. The students will also have the opportunity to respond to the artwork with guidance and advice from Will and the students’ own work will also be included in the final exhibition in The Friary, Ballyhaunis.
ART ‘SNACK’ SERIES
Mayo County Council will this year work in partnership with Mayo Arts venues to provide a delectable menu of taster art events for secondary school students. The ‘snack’ events will cover a broad spectrum of artforms and will give young people an opportunity to meet artists and arts professionals living and working in Mayo.
Participating venues include Ballinglen Arts Foundation in Ballycastle, Linenhall Arts Centre and Artsquad in Castlebar, Custom House Studios in Westport and Ballina Arts Centre. All venues will host two sessions of events, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, and each session will have three ‘snack’ events for young people to participate in. These workshops are now fully booked.
Masterclasses
The Masterclass programme provides youth arts groups with the opportunity to engage and work with exceptional artists. This year the programme includes three masterclass sessions. Annie Ryan from the Corn Exchange Theatre Company will be facilitating a team-building workshop with member of Mayo Youth Theatre. Anthony McNamee will deliver a percussion masterclass to teenagers in Crimlin Community Arts Collective. Finally, Mayo Youth Orchestra will have a masterclass with renowned conductor James Cavanagh in preparation for their upcoming concert in April.
Full details of the programme and brochure are available from Mayo Arts Office. You can contact them by calling on 094-9024444 Ext 7471 or 7558 or by emailing them on [email protected] .
