Project Type:
Inclusivity, Community, Identity, Youth, LGBTQI+
Participants:
LGBTQ+ Youth in Roscommon
Artists:
Andy Parsons, Mary Branley
Partners:
Roscommon Foróige and Roscommon Arts Centre
Funders:
Foróige and Roscommon Arts Centre
New Creative Project Supporting LGBTQ+ Youth in Roscommon
Kids’ Own, in partnership with Roscommon Foróige and Roscommon Arts Centre, is running a creative project that places LGBTQI+ young people at the centre of shaping services and expressing their experiences through art and writing.
Running in two phases from October 2025 to the end of 2026, the project provides a platform for young people to explore issues that matter most to them and to share their perspectives with those who support them.
About the Project
The project will bring LGBTQ+ young people together in a welcoming, inclusive space to:
- Participate in storytelling and reflective conversations
- Engage in creative arts activities and writing
- Shape a youth-led resource that authentically represents their experiences
Workshops will be guided by a professional Kids’ Own artist and writer, supported by youth workers from Foróige and staff from Roscommon Arts Centre. Through these sessions, participants will explore identity, wellbeing, belonging, and visibility, while helping shape future LGBTQ+ youth services in the Roscommon area.
Project Objectives
The project aims to:
- Place the voices and experiences of LGBTQ+ youth at the centre of service development
- Support the LGBTQ+ community in Roscommon to have their experiences given visibility and credibility
- Lead a youth-directed artistic process exploring issues and ideas important to participants
- Produce an authentically youth-led, visually dynamic resource for young people and service providers
- Disseminate the resource to raise awareness and understanding of the experiences and needs of LGBTQ+ youth
Phase One: Exploration & Creativity
Completed
Phase One brought participants together across two workshops in each of three Foróige youth centres in Boyle, Castlerea and Roscommon Town.
The workshops focused on sparking creativity, connection and exploration. Participants experimented with visual art, writing and collaborative creative processes, creating space to explore what matters to them as LGBTQ+ young people growing up in Roscommon.
Artist Andy Parsons introduced a range of creative approaches, including charcoal drawing on large-scale paper, stop-motion animation and mono printing.
Alongside the art-making, writer Mary Branley facilitated open conversations about life as a teenager in Roscommon today. Discussions explored a wide range of themes, including the challenges of rural life, academic pressures at school, identity and belonging, and the local Pride parade and what it means to the LGBTQ+ community and its allies.
Participants also shared ideas about how their artwork and stories could be presented and shared with others.
Reflecting on the workshops, Mary Branley said: “Without exception, all the young people expressed how much they value their Foróige groups – the weekly gatherings, opportunities for trips, and the constant support and encouragement of staff and group leaders. We met so many talented creatives with very positive outlooks on their lives and communities.”
Phase Two: Youth-Led Digital Exhibition
The creative work developed through Phase One has now come together as Chaotic: An Eye on Adolescence, a digital exhibition created by the young people involved in the project.
Through visual art, storytelling, animation and conversation, the young people have explored their experiences of adolescence and what it means to grow up in Roscommon today.
The resulting work reflects their perspectives on identity, community, rural life, school pressures, belonging and the importance of spaces where young people can express themselves.
The digital exhibition provides a platform for their work and ideas to be shared with peers, service providers and the wider community. Launch of Chaotic: An Eye on Adolescence
The project will be launched at Roscommon Arts Centre on Thursday 20 August 2026 at 2pm.
The launch will celebrate the creativity and ideas of the young people involved and mark the opening of the digital exhibition.
Also available at the launch will be a Broadsheet Publication that showcases some of the website content in hardcopy format, as well as a selection of limited edition collectable postcards.