2024 has been one of celebration for BCA, marking 30 years since President Mary Robinson officially opened the College and the restored Newtown Castle in July 1994. Little did we believe then that over 3,000 international students and artists would have participated in our academic programmes; that we would have hosted 10 annual Spring Conferences, 25 annual Burren Law Schools; Burren Leadership Retreats; creative symposia on Climate change, Education and the Irish language; multiple exhibitions, concerts, film screenings and community events; that we would collaborate with leading international art schools, with the University of Galway in awarding Masters and Doctoral degrees and that our love of the natural world from which the College came would spearhead programmes in Art and Ecology.
But then, experience has shown us that anything is possible when imagination and creativity are liberated by time, space and Inspiration in the Burren.
To help chart our course for the coming decades, we were privileged to have renowned neuroscientist Dr. Dan Siegel lead a day of reflection and envisioning together with family of the late Burren poet and philosopher John O'Donohue, musician Martin Hayes, and BCA colleagues and friends. Fortified with music, poetry and nurtured by the best Burren produce, we collectively imagined what BCA’s highest potential could be as an island of sanity and creativity in this turbulent world. The day culminated in revealing exciting plans for the future development of additional artist studios and a dedicated centre for ReSource.
Celebrations continued with the welcome return of our Midsummer Solstice Party. Blazing bonfires, a full moon, lanterns, flower crowns and costumes provided the magical backdrop for an evening of music, revelry, balletic aerialists, Celtic rituals, food and drink as locals, students, Ukrainian refugees and the College community celebrated and danced under the Burren night sky.
We thank all who have believed in the College and contributed to this milestone. To our faculty and staff past and present, alumni, friends, supporters and to the University of Galway - mile buiochas . We look forward to the next decade as we continually strive to fulfil Michael’s dream of being “the best Little art school in the world”!
Images:
Top: Opening of the College with Michael Greene, President McAleese, and Mary Hawkes-Greene; Middle left: Newtown Castle before restoration; Middle Right: BCA campus, present day; Bottom: Plans for future studios and building
Dr. Dan Siegel Event
Top image: Dr. Dan Siegel; First row left: BCA courtyard with attendees; First row, right: Martin Hayes; Second row, left: Dean, Conor McGrady and Lecturer in Art & Ecology, Dr. Eileen Hutton; Second row, right: Time to celebrate!; Bottom image: Audience led by Chris Chapman, Lead Facilitator at ReSource.
MIdsummer's Eve Bonfire Festival
We were delighted to host the MidSummer's Eve Festival again for the first time since 2019. Top image: Face-painting, photo by Maia Hay. Middle left: Eribidae Circus; Middle right: Flamenway; Bottom left: Ukrainian revellers; Bottom right: Festival scene
David Whyte Poet-in-Residence Award 2024
Ennistymon-based poet, Grace Wells (pictured on the left, with David Whyte and Mary Hawkes Greene), is the 3rd recipient of the David Whyte Poet-in-Residence award. The award provides an Irish poet with a month long residency at BCA, along with a €5000 bursary and advisory session with Whyte. We look forward to having Grace with us for the month of September.
Photo by Bodi Hallett - Sattva Photo
PhD Graduates 2024 Robbie E. Lawrence and Qi Chen
Congratulations to this year's PhD graduates, Robbie E. Lawrence and Qi Chen as our 4th and 5th graduating doctoral students, to date.
Robbie's research explores relevant philosophical psychology and historical literature in order to understand the modern death denial in Western society, specifically focusing on the phenomena of psychic numbing and its relationship to avoidant behaviour and related social systemic causation regarding death, dying, and the dead body.
Qi is interested in portrait painting and documentary film. His research focuses on the combination of portrait, text and documentary film to question or collapse subjective distance between people from different cultures in order to enhance mutual understanding. He draws on Chinese silk with ink and combines these drawings with documentary videos to reflect conflicts and misunderstandings between different ideologies and identities.
Top image: Robbie E. Lawrence and Qi Chen
Bottom images: Thesis work by Qi Chen (left) and Robbie E. Lawrence (right).
In addition to our two PhDs, we'd also like to acknowledge our brilliant MA, MFA and Post Baccalaureate students who graduated this April.
May 3-Week Residency
In May 2024, we offered a 3-week residency which included activities and events for our residents to experience peak Springtime in the Burren. We had 20 residents in attendance, and are welcoming several back for the May residency offering in 2025. For more information on how to apply, please visit our website: https://www.burrencollege.ie/programmes/artist-residencies/artist-residency-programmes/
Top Image: Open Studios; Bottom left: Resident artist, Ann Mulcrone; Bottom right; Resident artist, Natalia Petkov
Old Faces/New Faces
We sadly bid farewell to two loyal colleagues- Robert Wainwright, who managed the campus for 30 years, and Gordon D’Arcy, who led the Irish Studies programme for two decades. Both espoused the values of BCA and touched the lives of all the students they encountered. We welcome Tom Burke who, together with alumnus, Adam Dutton, now manage facilities, and Kate Lavender, of Burren Beo Trust, who will lead the Irish Studies programme, further embedding students in the local landscape.
Top image: Robert Wainwright; Bottom left: Adam Dutton; Bottom right: Tom Burke
Top image: Gordon D'Arcy; Bottom image: Kate Lavender
Process, Presence, Place - MA in Art & Ecology Graduate Exhibition
"Process, Presence, Place" is the final exhibition for our three graduating MA in Art & Ecology students: Matilda Krulder, Maia Hay, and Tejasvi Shah (left to right). The exhibition runs until September 6 in the BCA Gallery and is open to the public from 9:30am-5:00pm, Monday-Friday. More information about the artists can be found HEREon our website.
