Mosaic Tallaght - Phase I
South Dublin, County Ireland

Workshop Day 1
Monday, Introductions, Ideas and Brainstorms….

Written By Shylene Schlackl

Wow, the day went great.

I couldn't be happier with the turnout of people from this area, a good cross section of artists and a handful of community workers. Most of the people here are either schooled or self-trained in art, plus many have had years of creating art in a group way.

Groups Start Meeting and Planning

I was worried about my power point presentation, but it went very well. I received kind feedback on the whole morning of introductions and starting of this Mosaic the City project.

We divided the group up in two ways. First we created four mosaic teams, and then we created four project teams. All groups working together to create a project, which is organized from the mosaic, through the documentation, community outreach and celebration. The groups found it hard to choose who would play which part in the group, with all participants wanting the creative role. It was the first challenge for the participants to step out of their comfort zones and take on some new roles. Teaching about the workloads within a MtC project was our main objective for this day of the week.

Documentation may be an issue, as the participants were not prepared to work on anything other than a mosaic. We already are starting to see how we need to alter this weeklong series of workshops. thinking, thinking, thinking…

Brainstorming and Documention

We are excited to get started on the mosaic, but we are not through our team brainstorms and designs yet, so the mosaic will not get started in late day tomorrow at best… All participants have their minds swirling with all the details and ideas behind MtC. I am sure tomorrow they will come back with new ideas for their mosaics.

The four themes are:

"Hospital as the Heart of Community"

Journal By: Antonella Scanu:

"I'm from Italy and I am a studio space provider for artists in the Northside Docklands of Dublin. I have always wanted to learn mosaic so I took up this opportunity to put my hands on the grout…to find out that there was more to learn than mosaic, i.e community development project! I was amazed when I first got to read the program and I thought this was an opportunity not to be missed!

Day One, was getting to know the group and networking with them, pick up on which role we wanted to take responsibility of mainly and discuss the possibilities on how to convey the message of the theme of our mosaic…"TALLAGHT HOSPITAL". All the 4 members of the group agreed on to the final idea of representing the hospital at the centre of the community in Tallaght through a heart as a symbol drawn with the precious support of the photocopies brought down by our documentation person. The community has been represented by the LUAS, the Green of the lawns of Tallaght (the old times) and the new urban skyline of the housing estates and the Pyramid at the shopping centre."

"Tallaght Community Art Center as the Junction between Community and Art",

Mosaic the City Tallaght, Nov 2004
Mosaic 2, theme: Tallaght Community Arts Centre
Reflections by Martina Carroll

"As a psychologist working with three artists on a community arts mosaic, I found myself in a unique experience. As we pooled our ideas for the image a story began to emerge. Beginning with the Tallaght Community Arts Centre's mission statement: 'at the junction of art and community' we eventually agreed on a visually appealing image of the Arts Centre's logo at the epicentre of an explosion of art and creativity, breaking down the rigid structures in the surrounding communities, and drawing in towards itself, members of those diverse communities who were represented by multiple brightly coloured tiles in various shapes and sizes."

"Making the Symbolic Links with Past & Present and with Tallaght & Victoria"

Mosaic 3, theme: "Making the Symbolic Links ... with Tallaght & Victoria"

This group worked with the ideas of the large trees around Tallaght and the connection with the west coast of Canada and our native totem poles. They hoped to combine ideas that represent both areas. This mosaic will be eventually returning to Canada, where it will be mounted along with the first Mosaic the City project in Market Square - Victoria.

"Bridges and Growth"

Written by Group Four:
"The theme here is Bridges and Growth. Initially we chose the theme Bridges as it encapsulates the collective interests of our group and at the same time represents the aims of the Mosaic the City Project.

Our preliminary sketches all strongly featured images of bridges and the map of Dublin city, with the river Liffey as the core element and the two canals stretching out on either side like protective arms. Looking at all of the elements, the city and river took on an organic plant-like motif Growing out of the sea (Dublin Bay)"

The ideas are flowing and the walls are covered in drawings and sketches. Everyone is working well together and the mosaics are sure to be great.

Room Buzzing with Ideas

John and I have a great feeling about Deborah Moon and her ability to take Mosaic the City through Ireland. From an international standpoint, she is a great source of inter-cultural understanding and cultural diversity. The team at the Tallaght Community Art Center is wonderful. They work together and are a super-power to have on the project. We are very excited about what this week may lead to.

Celebration plans are underway, and we are all getting excited about our final products. Hopefully we get time to invite lots of people from around the community, but time is tight.. oh so tight.. only two days until the open community day and then two more days and we celebrate..

Oh the pressure….

Day two here we come :)