Friday 15 June, 10.30am to 4.30pm

This Peer Critique session is relevant to artists working in in a range of media. Following a presentation on his own curatorial work Séamus will lead a Peer Critique with 6 interested artists.

Artists participating are asked to make short presentations on their practices a on future projects they would like to develop. After each presentation,Séamus will facilitate a constructive and supportive discussion amongst the group. This peer discussion might focus on issues such as the direction of each participants work; materials employed and the intention of the works. It is intended the session will create dialogue and openness between artistic peers and foster networking and continued peer support amongst participants.

Register HERE

Artists often struggle to photograph their own work or spend scarce money paying someone else to do it for them. But with some basic guidelines and practice, artists are, for the majority of purposes well able to photograph their own paintings, drawings, etc with the digital compact or SLR camera that they already own. This session is about getting the very best quality results from the equipment you have.

For most of the situations in which you present images of your work whether: submitting proposals, portfolios of work for submission to galleries, websites, catalogues, press releases for magazines and newspapers, this workshop will assist you in a methodical step-by-step process to obtain the best possible results with your digital compact camera or digital SLR.

Perhaps you may still need to employ a professional photographer for producing coffee table books and limited edition prints. But having undertaken this workshop you will have a better understanding of the process and potential pitfalls, and be able to communicate knowledgeably with a photographer. The course will cover, exposure, ISO, white balance, apertures, depth of field, jpg and raw quality, resolution of images, tripod use and much more.

Register HERE

Tuesday 15 May 10:30am to 4pm

Following on from the success of this partnership project with Bealtaine, Visual Artists ireland and the RHA School in 2017, this one-day event will comprise a morning of presentations and practical advice on financing, social media and digital practices. In the afternoon, an intergenerational panel will discuss the challenges and opportunities of each stage of their careers and the supports available.

Morning Speakers: artist Patricia McKenna on networking internationally; Emma Dwyer on use of Social Media; accountant Gaby Smith on Tax and Financial Planning; Ben Mulligan, Arts Council discussing Funding opportunities and criteria; designer/visual communications expert Darragh O’Toole, discussing management of your web presence.

Afternoon Panel Discussion: Bassam Al-Sabah; Kevin Atherton and artist tbc chaired by Sarah O’Neill / Deputy Arts Officer, Fingal County Council.

Bealtaine in partnership with Visual Artists Ireland and the RHA School.

Free event, register HERE

This session will provide a workshopped approach to developing your artist’s statement, involving writing exercises and peer feedback. Joanne will discuss dos and don’ts when preparing artists’ statements and CVs. She will assist you to develop appropriate, clear and concise language to describe your work in a way that makes it engaging, personal and accessible to most readers.

Joanne Laws is Features Editor of the Visual Artists’ News Sheet and oversees the commissioning and development of new writing for an Irish arts readership. As an arts writer, Joanne is a regular contributor to a range of Irish and international publications including Art Monthly and Frieze. She is a member of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA) and has previously developed extended essays, research reports and policy documents for numerous galleries and arts organisations. Joanne also manages the VAI Artists’ Publication Archive and various other publishing projects.

VAI in partnership with Roscommon Arts Centre.

Fri May 11 2018, 11:00am to 2pm at Roscommon Arts Centre.

Register HERE

This intensive one-day workshop is aimed at artists and photographers who wish to develop skills and confidence in presentation and public speaking. Whether it be through artist talks, portfolio reviews, teaching, facilitating workshops or simply communicating with the public or in interviews, ‘Presenting Yourself Successfully’ will equip you with the knowledge in how to approach such situations with confidence.

Presenting Yourself Successfully

Saturday 21st April, Belfast Exposed Photography Gallery
9.30am – 5pm

Price
£25 VAI Members
£35 Non-members

Why attend the course?

• Do you get nervous before and during presentations?
• Are you curious as to why some of your presentations just don’t hit the mark?
• Would you be interested in being able to hold an audience’s attention?
• How would it be if you had the skill that would allow you to engage with your audience?
• Interested in presenting so well that people ask you back?
• What results would you get if you could truly deliver your message to the whole audience?
• The course is designed for people who want to present themselves successfully. The 1 day course is very practical, where you will grow as a presenter and be able to confidently deliver presentations that hit the mark and engage with the audience.

Register HERE

Date: 25 October 2017, 12.30 to 4.30pm
Location: Royal Hibernian Academy School, Ely Place, Dublin 2
Visual Artists Ireland in partnership with the RHA School

An afternoon of peer-to-peer artists’ presentations with facilitated feedback and contributions from artist-critic James Merrigan (BILLIONART) and artist Phillip Allen (Turps Banana). Each artist will have the opportunity to give a short 10min presentation on their work followed by 10-15mins of facilitated peer feedback. A selection of 8 artists will be made by the RHA School and contributing artists James Merrigan and Phillip Allen. To express interest please follow the link below to the VAI registration page. Deadline for expression of interest: 5pm Monday 9 October, 2017

Please note that there will be a charge for of €40 for VAI Members and €80 for Non Members once your place has been confirmed.
For more information please visit: visualartists.ie/professional-developmentp/#!event/2017/10/25/peer-to-peer-critique-for-painters-with-james-merrigan-and-phillip-allen

Date: Wed Nov 15 2017, 10:30am to 4.30pm
Venue: Visual Artists Ireland
Address: Windmill View House, Oliver Bond St, Dublin 8

As an artist, you will be required to write about your work for a variety of reasons including press releases, proposals and applications. Focusing on the artist statement, this session will equip participants with a text to work from, develop and adapt in the future.

[Read more…]

Wednesday 4 October, 2017
Fenderesky Gallery, North Street

Programme

18.00 – 19.00 – Panel Discussion: Painting Now!
Susan Connolly, Carol Graham, Riann Coulter, Hannah Casey

19.00 – 20.00 – Talk: Painting’s Primacy
James Merrigan
As a lapsed painter, curator that curates painting, and critic that uses painting as a way to fatten language and deepen conversation, James Merrigan will reflect on painting’s primacy within his curated, textual and film projects.

For more information and to register click HERE.

Friday 6 October

An introductory session on finance for visual artists, this session aims to support artists who are new to self employment or who are considering registering as self-employed with Revenue. This session will look at: the benefits of being registered as self-employed; how to register as a self employed tax payer; how different income is treated in your tax return; how to record income and expenditure; what are allowable expenses; the Artists Tax Exemption; Income Tax; USC; PRSI and other issues in response to participant questions.

For more information and to register click HERE.

Location: VAI Office, Windmill View House, Oliver Bond Street, Dublin 8

12 October, 12pm – 5pm
Waterways Ireland, Enniskillen

FREE

This networking event brings together artists and organisations from across the Lakelands region that straddles the border. We welcome artists and arts professionals from Fermanagh and Omagh, Sligo, Leitrim, Cavan, and Monaghan to come along, share your work and build your network of peers and contacts.

Show and Tell
The purpose of Show and Tell is to allow artists to present work or concepts to each other in an informal atmosphere. The events are also designed to allow curators and artistic directors to keep up to date on what is current in artists’ studios without the need to do a large number of studio visits, as well as providing the wider general audience with an inside view of artistic practice.

Following Registration
When you have registered, you will then receive a confirmation. After this you will need to send us a copy of your presentation. 10 slides labeled and correctly sized. It is important that you rehearse your timings well as you will have only minutes to talk. Therefore we suggest that you practice practice practice. If you you have any questions then email siobhan@visualartists.ie who will be happy to help.

There are only 10 places available for the Show and Tell. However, we will operate a waiting list. If we don’t receive presentations from artists before Tuesday 3 November 2017, we will offer their place to the next person on the waiting list.

To register visit: visualartists.org.uk/professionaldevelopment

27 September
VAI Offices, Belfast

VAI Members – FREE
Non-Members – £10

Sharon Adams shows how to use the basics of marketing to increase awareness of your work. This interactive session focuses on planning for a specific exhibition or event. You will learn how to make good use of free and low cost options to get maximum results. The material applies to individuals or groups.

The session will cover:

Defining your goals
Drawing up a marketing plan
Converting your artist statement into a press release
Social media marketing
Low cost print options

Book here: visualartists-ni.org/

20 September, 1pm – 5pm
Flowerfield Arts Centre, Portstewart

VAI Members & Residents of Causeway Coast & Glens – Free
Non-Members – £10

Curator and critic, Marianne O’Kane Boal will lead this afternoon workshop, which will look at ways artists can think strategically about their careers, building professional relationships and working with curators and galleries.

Marianne will be joined by artist Alison Lowry, who will talk about her practice, sharing information on how she has overcome professional challenges, and how she has maximised opportunities in order to develop her career.

Venue Flowerfield Arts Centre
Address 185 Coleraine Rd, Portstewart BT55 7HU
Northern Ireland BT55 7HU, GB

Book here: visualartists-ni.org

This day-long workshop is about the processes of preparing and storing digital image files (most often photographs). The session will present best practice in relation to Photoshop, Apple’s Photos and Media Pro software packages. These three packages are used for demonstration purposes only. If you use another software package the principles learnt on one package will cross over to another. This workshop will cover the when, why and how of preparing digital image files looking at two distinct areas: file formatting and file storage/cataloguing. Time will also be given to the calibration of computer screens.

Participants wishing to attend should have some basic familiarity with creating, saving and finding files on their pc or Apple computer, and preparing images for attachment to emails, etc. Participants may, if they wish, bring a laptop to this event.

Tim Durham is a photographic artist. He holds an MFA (Photography) from the University of Ulster. He is interested in architectural interiors, boundaries and borders, the etymology of words and portraiture. For the past 10 years he has been teaching artists how to photograph their own work. timdurham.ie

Venue Damer House, Roscrea
Address Castle Street, Roscrea
Roscrea County Tipperary E53 CP02, IE
Starts Sat Sep 9 2017, 9:30am GMT

Book here: visualartists.ie/professional-developmentp/

VAI in partnership with Tipperary County Council and Damer House Gallery

This day-long workshop is about the processes of preparing and storing digital image files (most often photographs). The session will present best practice in relation to Photoshop, Apple’s Photos and Media Pro software packages. These three packages are used for demonstration purposes only. If you use another software package the principles learnt on one package will cross over to another. This workshop will cover the when, why and how of preparing digital image files looking at two distinct areas: file formatting and file storage/cataloguing. Time will also be given to the calibration of computer screens.

Participants wishing to attend should have some basic familiarity with creating, saving and finding files on their pc or Apple computer, and preparing images for attachment to emails, etc. Participants may, if they wish, bring a laptop to this event.

For more information see: visualartists.ie/working-with-digital-images-with-tim-durham

Location: Damer House
Castle Street, Roscrea
Roscrea County Tipperary

6 September, 10.30am to 2pm

The first of two sessions focusing on Public Art Commissioning this event coincides with INFRASTRUCTURE the Fingal County Council Open Call for artists to make artworks and art projects through the County’s Per Cent for Art funded commission programme 2017 – 2021. Through Infrastructure, Fingal County Council will actively bring contemporary art directly into everyday life, and into the urban, coastal and rural communities in Fingal.

This mini seminar aims to highlight different approaches to public art commissioning with reflections from commissioners and artists working in visual and other artforms.

Speakers include: Caroline Cowley, Public Arts Officer, Fingal County Council; artist Garrett Phelan and others to be confirmed.

For more information see: visualartists.ie/public-art-i-cross-artform-commissions-from-ambition-to-realisation

Location: Malahide Castle Visitors Centre, Malahide, Co. Dublin

Friday 1 September, 10am to 5pm

Artists often struggle to photograph their own work or spend scarce money paying someone else to do it for them. But with some basic guidelines and practice, artists are, for the majority of purposes well able to photograph their own paintings, drawings, etc with the digital compact or SLR camera that they already own. This session is about getting the very best quality results from the equipment you have.

For most of the situations in which you present images of your work whether: submitting proposals, portfolios of work for submission to galleries, websites, catalogues, press releases for magazines and newspapers, this workshop will assist you in a methodical step-by-step process to obtain the best possible results with your digital compact camera or digital SLR.

Perhaps you may still need to employ a professional photographer for producing coffee table books and limited edition prints. But having undertaken this workshop you will have a better understanding of the process and potential pitfalls, and be able to communicate knowledgeably with a photographer. The course will cover, exposure, ISO, white balance, apertures, depth of field, jpg and raw quality, resolution of images, tripod use and much more.

Location: Visual Artists Ireland, Windmill View House, 4 Oliver Bond St, Dublin 8.

Click here for more information and to book online: visualartists.ie/documenting-your-work

Wednesday 23 August, 1pm to 5pm

This workshop is aimed at beginners.

This workshop will look at ways artists can use free internet tools to support their overall professional development, and to promote specific exhibitions. We will explore platforms that enable you to showcase your work on-line, such as WordPress and Tumblr.

We will also look at how social media can help expand your audience; and other ways to connect, such as developing and maintaining mailing lists and contacting journalists. The day will also include tips on how to use internet-based tools to support your applications and proposals.

Fee:
VAI Members / Residents of Causeway Coast & Glens: Free
Other: £10

Location:
Roe Valley Arts and Cultural Centre
24 Main St,
Limavady

Click here for more information and to book online.