A dozen events including workshops, live performances, exhibitions and lectures were held at Mary Immaculate College on Tuesday 28 March as part of this year's Arts for All day. This year's event was held to coincide with MIC's schedule of events as part of Limerick Lifelong Learning Festival 2023.
The 12 events were open to the public in addition to the MIC community. These events included visual art exhibitions and workshops, a philosophy café, a lecture by leading Irish researchers on far-right anti-immigration activity on social media, a lunch-time music event, live poetry and theatre performances at the Lime Tree Theatre, a drumming workshop, and an open rehearsal with MIC Bachelor of Education students.
Additionally, children from Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School participated in an immersive, storytelling event with expert storyteller Sinéad O’Brien. MIC students and service users of V.O.I.C.E. (Vision of Community Inclusion and Equality) HSE Disability Services, Limerick, were also coparticipants in a visual art workshop with MIC PhD candidate, Enda Griffin.
Arts for All Day, which was funded by MIC's EDII Office as part of the EDII Projects Award fund, was curated by MIC’s Artist in Residence, Liam McCarthy, with the support of Dr Fiona McDonagh, Department of Drama Theatre Studies.
According to event organiser, Dr Dorothy Morrissey (Lecturer in Drama Education): "Arts for All Day 2023 was an astounding success. It was a collaborative event and community endeavour. While the Day was expertly curated and managed by Liam McCarthy and Dr Fiona McDonagh, its success depended on the generosity of the many MIC staff who organised and facilitated events. It also depended on the many members of the MIC community and general public who attended and participated in events. The work presented by the artists, both resident and visiting, was by turns, stimulating, joyful, sombre and challenging, a call to collaborative action towards the creation of a more just and equitable world."
You can see a selection of images from events throughout the day on the gallery below.
The theme of this year's Limerick Lifelong Learning Festival is Come Learn With Me in 2023 and includes over 160 free public events across the county. Click here to find out more about MIC's involvement.
