Day Five:
Friday November 5th, 2004
Final Documentation & Celebration & Celebration…..
By Shylene Schlackl & Participants

Wowzers.. So much work…

The presentations were left uncompleted yesterday as time was not on our side. So some groups took home their storyboards and such, while others are trying to pull it all together this am. We gave the groups until 11 to get their work done, before we gathered everyone for a round-the-room-person-by-person break-down of lessons learned. It was very interesting to hear what each participant had gained from the week, and how many of them truly understood the process and purpose behind MtC projects.

Group One: "Hospital as Heart of Community"

Journal Entry: Antonella Scanu
"The most remarkable experience so far is the spirit of community unity that has emerged within the group, the positive networking and idea exchanging with the other 3 groups, the value of the lectures, the terrific support of the outreach community at the hospital when completing the mosaic and the energy of the organization members that set up this course.

So far I am very happy I have joined the course and I envisage an open
workshop should be set up in Tallaght art centre to keep the group in touch and to improve our skills learnt during the course in terms of communication, mosaic making and networking opportunities."

Group Two:"Tallaght Junction between Community and Art"

Journal Entry Sharon Devlin:

"I love mosaic work and will definitely be doing more in the future. The workshop has been truly excellent, the presentation, the guidance, the companionship and most of all the concept of Mosaic the City and all it stands for. My sincerest, Heartfelt Congratulations on such a fine and noble quest. I wish you continued success and hope to be fortunate enough to be a part of Mosaic the City in the future.

Thanks you so much for such a wonderful experience."

Journal Entry John Carpenter:
"The project expanded my knowledge of mosaic process and I think it will help me create work and projects for myself as an artist through community partnerships. Collaboration as an artist is very important"

Journal Entry Martina Carroll:
"I have been using mosaic as a narrative form with community groups for the last few years. The power of art in therapy and development lies in its ability to allow people to express that which cannot be put into words. Although I facilitated community mosaics, I had never had this experience myself. Community Unity is a fine ideal. Those of us who pursue this goal believe it is possible but none of us doubt the enormous challenge we face. Humanity's hope lies in our creativity and our ability to imagine and create better worlds."

Group Three: "Making the Symbolic Links … Tallaght & Victoria"

Journal Entry Gail Varian
"Friday morning - it's so exciting to see the finished mosaic - or nearly finished, just some polishing to do! It has been a real privilege to work in this group and we've worked well together."

Journal Entry Bernadette Fagan
"It has been a great week. We learned how to execute what had been a vague notion on Monday morning and we now have our beautiful mosaic reflecting the past and present, Tallaght and Victoria ready to be shipped off."

Journal Entry Netta Byrne
"This has been a very exciting and great week and great to see our lovely mosaic progress with ideas on paper from start to its final finish."

Group Four: "Bridges and Growth"

Journal Entry: Edel Campbell
"It seemed incredible to think that in all, the project was just one week. I know that if all of my weeks were like that week I would live an extremely full life or more likely I'd have already burnt out!! Instead I am taking all that I learned away with me like seeds to be planted again. And as for the people, I think that many friendships have already taken root"

Project Partner: The Adelaide and Meath Hospital, Incorporating the National Children's
Journal Entry: Sarah Dobbs - Acting Arts Officer

"One of the participants told me that prior to participating in the hospital's mosaic project she always felt upset, apprehensive and tense whenever she entered a hospital. Seeing nurses and doctors uniforms, and witnessing patients being moved along corridors caused anxiety. This week, during the mosaic project, she no longer feels this way, and believes that her anxiety around hospitals has been overcome.

The staff, patients and visitors who participated in the mosaics have created a legacy that reflects collaboration, partnership and respect. The 16 artists who worked under the direction of Shylene Schlackl and John Azar, worked in a very collaborative way to produce four artworks that would normally have taken months to produce.

We have all benefited from this wonderful project."

We all worked together to get the final PowerPoint presentation completed and ready to be shown to everyone. So much work, in only five days. What a week.

TCAC ran into computer and printer problems yesterday so not everyone had their photos to use for their storyboards, we didn't have the project feedback forms ready until late day, and the girls from the center missed most of the morning's presentations and group talks. We learned about Johns' mantra "Need, Nice, Nuts" as some of the work the TCAC group were working on were Nice and we would have preferred to have them join the group for our final talk around. Learning learning,,,,, always learning.. That is the key to these projects, everyone has the ability to get better at what they do and learn from others.

The afternoon celebration came quickly. The guests rolled in and we got our final things underway.

Photos and Power Point Presentation to come soon :)