Shared Island Project
To the Power of 3
Tallaght Community Arts is delighted to have been awarded funding from Creative Ireland for our collaborative project - To the Power of 3
Six diverse projects on the Island of Ireland have been awarded funding for Shared Island Creative Youth Partnerships.
‘To the Power of 3’ which is led by Tallaght Community Arts is a creative exchange between young people in Derry, Dublin and Wexford. The project will utilise performance to explore the importance of cultural connection, diversity, pride of place and what it means to be a young person on the island of Ireland today.
60 young participants will come together in each locality to host creative meetings and workshops for participants in each city and collective group residentials across the island of Ireland.
The goal of each exchange is for the young people to collaborate in making a selection of short performance pieces.
The project success, for us, is defined by the young people being empowered and equipped to carry on their own artistic practice, collaboratively or individually, into the future. We will equip the young participants with sustainable skills tailored to their needs, so that after the project they can continue in their art form, working together after this particular project period has ended. As a consortium of organisations whose work involves having both a hyper-local and a broad national focus, a goal of this project is to pass on this awareness to the next generation of arts leaders and citizens.
We are delighted to be partnering with SoFFt productions who will provide production support and will also mentor participants in production. The project will culminate with a shared site-specific event in September 2025!
Our partners:
Creative Places Mac Uíllíam - 20 young participants from Mac Uíllíam Estate, Tallaght and surrounding area are participating in the project. Their work is facilitated by Freshly Ground Theatre artists Bronwen Barrett and Michelle Henry, supported by coordinator Jennifer Webster
creativeplacesmacuilliam.ie
Creative Places Enniscorthy - 20 young participants from Enniscorthy, Wexford are participating in the project. Their work is facilitated by Fintan Kelly and Anita Petry, supported by coordinator Deryn O'Callaghan.
creativeplacesenniscorthy.ie
FUSE and Waterside Neighbourhood Partnership - 20 young participants from Derry, Londonderry are participating in the project. Their work is facilitated by the Makey Uppers artists Sorcha Shanahan and Gemma Walker Farren supported by FUSE Arts.
waterside-neighbourhood-partnership
To the Power of 3 Artist Team:
Artistic Director - Jenny Macdonald
Ass. Director - Vlad Gurdis
Creative Producer - Jennifer Webster
Ass. Producer/YAP Coordinator - Jack Jones
TCA Director - Sharon Devlin
Design and Production - SoFFt Productions
Sound Design - Martha Knight
Photography - Conor Keegan
Videography - Leo Kearney
Graphics & Social Media - Dan Devlin
PR - Jeanette Keane
Social Media
Follow our journey on social media:
@tallaghtcommunityarts
Residentials
Residential One - Dublin
The first "To the Power of 3" residential took place in Dublin during the weekend of February 14th - 17th, 2025. The participants were based in Generator Hotel, Smithfield, Dublin 7, and traveled by Luas each day to Tallaght, where they alternated between Rua Red - South Dublin Arts Centre and St. Aidan's Community School, beside Mac Uíllíam estate.
As the first of the residentials, the workshops were initially geared towards ice-breaker activities and getting to know each other as a diverse group. The focus then shifted towards providing a basic understanding of a wide variety of artistic concepts and skills, such as:
- Writing
- Directing
- Scene Work
- Myth
- Physical theatre
- Movement
- Give / Gain
- Songwriting
- Play
As the residential drew towards a close, there were sharing sessions & time devoted to devising, in broad terms, where the project might lead to. There were also reflections on personal learning and reflections on the next creative steps required for the project.
Residential Two - Enniscorthy
The second "To the Power of 3" residential took place in Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford during the weekend of April 11th - 14th, 2025. The participants were based in The Riverside Park Hotel, Enniscorthy, and they alternated between there and Presentation Arts Centre for their workshops and activities.
Having done a lot of solid foundation work during the first residential, the participants were able to hit the ground running and go straight into more detailed areas. The first full working day (Sunday) was all about workshops, where they spent the day exploring the key questions at the centre of the "To the Power of 3" project, and then collecting the best creations to take forward into the next day's sessions, to be developed more deeply.
Monday was spent doing a deep-dive on those ideas and creations, and the participants spent the first half of the day in small groups, working in greater detail on the fruits of the workshop sessions. The artist team wanted this phase of the project to lean heavily on self-lead work (with facilitator support), given that the participants now had a much better understanding of the project and more confidence and belief in themselves to work autonomously. After lunch, they shared their work with the wider group in an open discussion, with a view to considering how the creations could be pieced together. It was also time to begin thinking about the format of the final "To the Power of 3" performance, which will come after the series of residentials has taken place.
Once again, as the residential drew to an end, there was time devoted to reflections on the participants' personal learning and on the next creative steps required for the project. The third residential will take place in Derry/Londonderry in the coming months, details yet to be finalised.
To the Power of 3 is funded by Creative Ireland Shared Island Initiative and kindly supported by Tallaght Community Arts, the Arts Council of Ireland, SDCC Arts Office, Creative Places Mac Uíllíam and Creative Places Enniscorthy.