In Sense of Place

In Sense of Place is curated by twelve second level students from St Oliver’s Community College and Our Lady’s College Greenhills, Drogheda from the British Council Collection and the Drogheda Municipal Art Collection. 

This exhibition is a pioneering partnership between the fifth year art students of St Oliver’s Community College and Our Lady’s College-Greenhills, with Highlanes Gallery in Drogheda, Ireland and the British Council. Every aspect of the exhibition has been undertaken by the students, including the selection of artworks, the research, the active talking and thinking about the connections between artwork in collections, the installation, the marketing, social media, and communications. 

To give the students a broader understanding of contemporary exhibition practice, they were taken on a field trip to visit museums and galleries in Dublin including the Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane and Kerlin Gallery. The students met with Diana Eccles and Fay Blanchard from the British Council's Visual Art team; curator, artist and lecturer Dr Brian Fay; and Anthony Haughey, artist and co curator of Beyond the Pale: The Art of Revolution.

"It was a great opportunity for me to experience art outside of a classroom to see how an art gallery works." Kotryna Knystautaite, student at St Oliver’s Community College

"It is always interesting to work alongside other curators. This has been especially so with the young curators from Drogheda who have put together a lively and surprising selection of works across all media to share with their audience at Highlanes." Aoife Ruane, Director, Highlanes Gallery

"These curators have not been intimidated by name, size or medium in their selection of works but have chosen pieces that are significant to them. In doing so they have created an exhibition that will intrigue, puzzle and delight in equal measure." Diana Eccles, Head of Collection and Fay Blanchard, Visual Arts Curator at the British Council

"I got involved in this project so that our students could discover how exhibitions are created... I wanted the students to gain new experiences outside of the classroom and connect with the larger art community." Kieran Gallagher, art teacher at St Oliver’s Community College

For the opening weekend on 26-27 November, artists Mariele Neudecker and Graham Crowley discuss their exhibited work and broader practice and the student curators lead free drop in tours. 

Follow the students' project on Instagram and watch this trailer for the exhibition, which was made by the students:

The exhibition is part of Perspectives, a programme of visual arts and literature that promotes and celebrates cultural relations between the UK and Ireland.