The Virtually There national exhibition and event tour of work made by artists, children and teachers will be officially launched in Tralee by Cllr Jim Finucane, Mayor of Tralee, on Friday 24^th October 2014 at The Education Centre, Dromtacker.

The exhibition is based on the Virtually There project by Kids’ Own which has been running in Northern Irish schools since 2007 and which represents a unique model of arts-in-education. Demonstrating the use of virtual technology to connect studio and classroom, this exhibition showcases work made by children and teachers in collaboration with artists Ann Donnelly, Julie Forrester, Ann Henderson, Sharon Kelly and Andrew Livingstone.

Kids’ Own in partnership with the The Education Centre, Tralee, will also launch a new phase of online residencies with schools in Tralee. Two local primary schools, Ardfert Central NS and Raheen NS, will have the opportunity to participate in a six-week pilot project based on the Virtually There model.

Children, who attend these two pioneering schools, will work with artist Sharon Kelly on Friday 24^th to create a response to the exhibition and to connect virtually with their respective project artists.

The exhibition will launch in The Education Centre, Tralee, at 12pm. The launch will be followed by a special facilitated session at 1pm for artists and teachers, inviting discussion and interrogation of the work on show and an exploration of the collabo­rative processes between artists, teachers and children that led to its creation. Exhibiting artist Sharon Kelly will be present to discuss and answer questions about her work. RSVP to Ms. Orla Colligan at The Education Centre, Tralee: Ph. 066-7195000 / E-mail: [email protected]

The exhibition will open to the public from 25 October to 21 November 2014.

VIEWING TIMES 

Week 1 – Saturday 25th October to Friday 31st October
Open to Public – Saturday to Friday –  2:00pm to 5:00pm

Week 2 – Monday 3rd November to Friday 7th November
Open to Public – Monday to Friday – 10:30am to 2:00pm

Week 3 – Monday 10th November to Friday 14th November
Open to Public – Monday to Friday -10:30am to 2:00pm
Viewing for Teachers – Monday 10th November – 5:00pm to 8:00pm

Week 4 – Monday 17th November to Friday 21st November
Open to Public – Monday to Friday -10:30am to 2:00pm
Viewing for Teachers – Monday 17th November – 4:00pm to 6:30pm

Virtually There will tour to six national venues until April 2015. For more information about venues and tour dates visit here.

The VIRTUALLY THERE exhibition and event tour (2014–15) is funded by the Arts Council’s Touring and Dissemination of Work Award – in partnership with the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.

Images above from the Virtually There exhibition & event tour at Highlanes Drogheda and Mary Immaculate College Limerick.