Civic Innovation Fund: Cross Border Creativity Project

Throughout 2024 CCA is delighted to support the 'Cross Border Creativity Project', led by artists Grainne McMenamin and Catherine Bourne. This project combines site-specific research and hands-on creative workshops for young people not in mainstream education and their families.

These workshops, supported by the Civic Innovation Fund, focus on celebrating our natural heritage, encompassing local biodiversity, flora, fauna, ecosystems, and geological structures. Throughout 2024, participants will engage in various creative activities, including Bog Watercolours, where they gather mineral and plant matter sustainably to create landscape paintings; Cyanotype Printmaking, where participants learn to identify and forage for indigenous wild flora for natural dyeing and printmaking; Textile Water Maps, involving microscopic image making techniques and hand embroidery to create textile-based artworks; and Irish "Golden Repair" Pottery, where Ulster clay is used for earthenware pots with a unique twist of mending imperfections using the Kintsugi technique.

The project aims to foster a sense of community, encourage self-expression, and build lasting friendships, while promoting sustainable creative practices. The workshops will culminate in a public presentation at CCA, of material outcomes and discussion of the project. 

Images: Documentation of the printmaking workshop on 7 March 2024, held at CCA.