Pupils add colour and creativity to school walls

By Michelle Crean

The walls of one town school have been transformed after teachers handed over paint brushes and paints to their pupils.

The children in Gaelscoil Faithleann, working alongside artists David Fortune and Marie Cronin, reclaimed the walls and space of their school, to paint, colour, build and garden the walls, courtyard, window sills and even manhole covers of their school.

And the effect is amazing and the overall result has transformed the school space.

As part of the Irish Arts Council Creative Schools programme, pupils from every class worked with either artist over a number of months, exploring various art skills, planning how best to showcase these skills on the walls, gardens and even manhole covers of the school before jumping in and adding their own artistic flair to the school space.

Teacher Máire Uí Shuilleabháin acted as creative school coordinator with Olivia Howe, Creative Associate for the Irish Arts Council, and together with the pupils of the school they created a plan that would allow pupils make decisions on they could explore the arts within Gaelscoil Faithleann.

“Our school community, including our pupils and teachers really enjoyed our experience with the Creative School project,” Deputy Principal, Lisa Ní Iarlaithe, told the Killarney Advertiser.

“We want to thank, in a very special way, Olivia Hope, who gave us such an amazing opportunity to work with some amazing artists on the children’s creative works of art. We in the school are very proud of the artwork that the children painted on the walls and the younger classes did an outdoor art project in one of our courtyards. Ní neart go cur le chéile. And a special thank you also to Máire Uí Shuilleabháin who was the coordinator for the project.”