Irish Arts Review

Next Generation CraftAuthor(s): Ann MulrooneySource: Irish Arts Review (2002-), Vol. 25, Irish Craft 2008: The Annual Craft Edition of the"Irish Arts Review" (2008), pp. 14-15Published by: Irish Arts ReviewStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20493445 .

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New talent is the lifeblood of any

industry. This is particularly the

case in times of economic

slowdown, when a critical factor of

recovery is the level of enterprise,

innovation and creativity present in

society. Small wonder then, that the Crafts

Council of Ireland (CCol) focuses many of

its resources on nurturing emerging

makers, recognising that today's young

makers are not only the stars of tomorrow,

but also the seeds of future prosperity.

This autumn, CCol launched a new

annual exhibition of emerging makers

entitled 'Breaking Out', which aims to

showcase the array of talent currently

emerging in Irish craft. Over thirty makers

have been selected to exhibit in the National

Craft Gallery, its flagship exhibition space in

14

Kilkenny's Castle Yard. The exhibition

selection includes individuals who have

come through third level education, through

CCol's training courses in Ceramics and

Jewellery, through apprenticeship or

through a desire for a second career. It not

only offers an invaluable opportunity to the

makers involved, but in gathering all this

up-and-coming talent under one roof, it

allows collectors to experience the diversity

of new craft, and to collect work by the

stars of tomorrow. In conjunction with the

IrishArts Review, CCol will also be

presenting one maker with an

Emerging Maker Award, which they

intend to become an annual

benchmark of quality.

Significantly, many of those

selected for the exhibition

have already garnered critical acclaim -

and awards in spades - despite their

emerging status. Karen Morgan is an

excellent case in point. Although she

graduated from the Ceramics Design and

Skills course in Thomastown only two

years ago, Morgan is already carving an

international reputation for the delicate

fluidity and originality of her porcelain

vessels and tableware. Her contemporary

re-working of the traditional mortar and

pestle earned her the Habitat Student

Designer of the Year Award in 2006 and in

the same year she won the student design

award at the RDS Interior Design Show and

the National Craft Gallery Purchase Award.

In 200?, she was selected by an

international panel for inclusion in Portfolio

and she won the RDS National Craft Award

in ceramics. Continuing her upward

trajectory, earlier this year she was

selected for Ceramic Art London, an

international exhibition of contemporary

ceramics in the Royal College of Art.

Similarly, Derek Wilson had already

caught the eye of the Crafts Council before

his selection for 'Breaking Out'. On his

graduation from the University of Ulster MA

in Applied Arts/Ceramics in 200?, Wilson

was a recipient of CCol's all-island

Third-Level Award, which each

year supports two graduates

or postgraduates in making

that difficult transition from

third-level to established

This content downloaded from 62.122.79.21 on Thu, 12 Jun 2014 13:39:44 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

practice. Wilson's ceramic sculpture

references both architecture and

minimalism, his beautifully articulated

contemporary forms belying the

painstaking hand-built process of

making. Wilson says: 'My work is about

capturing the fluidity and quality of a

line, an angle, a plane. I'm concerned

with the space the form creates -

interior and exterior - and the light and

shadows the form casts and reveals'. His

sculptural forms were recently exhibited

at the Guldagergaard Ceramic Research

Centre in Denmark where he completed

a residency and he is an Artist in

Residence in the University of Ulster as

part of the Craft NI Making /t

programme. The newly formed lighting

design enterprise, Unleaded, run by

Anthony Cleary and Ina Koenig have also

benefited from CCol support in the past,

in the form of its New Product

Development Scheme, which offers

makers 50% of the cost of developing

new market-led products. Unleaded

secured funding under this scheme in

200?, which allowed the company to

develop 'Ply', an innovative lighting

system which has since gone on to win

an IDI Award for product design. 'I don't

think it would have been developed at all

without the support of the Crafts Council

of Ireland' says Cleary. Unleaded's most

recent product the 'Wing Thing', a

pendant light that fuses the patterning

of antique lace with

innovative

lighting

technology is

certainly at the cutting edge of J%

contemporary lighting design

and has been widely applauded since its

launch on the market in 200?.

In May this year, CCol announced a

new partnership with the RDS National

Craft Competition, which annually

exhibits some of the best of Irish applied

art and craft and has a range of awards

for students and emerging makers. The

value of such awards to a maker

embarking on their professional career is

invaluable, not only for the publicity they

generate but also because it operates as

a standard for those wishing to invest in

the work of younger makers. 'It's a great

sales tool', agrees jeweller Carl Parker, 'it

gives people confidence in what they're

buying'. Parker won two RDS National

Craft Awards in 2004 for his work in

precious and alternative materials. That

year, he also received an award from the

Company of Goldsmiths. Parker trained

as a sculptor, going on to study fine and

applied arts at the University of Ulster

before completing the CCol Jewellery and

Goldsmithing Design course in 2003. His

fine art background is evident in his

perfectly-constructed three-dimensional

pieces. Parker has a thriving business

in the Castlecomer Estate Yard in

Co Kilkenny, and has won three

awards from Perles De Tahiti, an

international competition that recognises

excellence in contemporary jewellery.

CCol offers a range of supports to

emerging makers. All makers can

register with CCol to avail of mentoring,

masterclasses, seminars and training

courses. CCol is also forging new

partnerships with agencies such as

Enterprise Ireland, the City 8c County

Enterprise Boards, and Leader groups,

resulting in tailored programmes such

as the Getting Your Product to Market

Training Programme. Combined with its

two skills-based training courses, CCol is

ensuring that the talent and creativity of

today's emerging makers gets the

support and guidance it needs in order

to develop. And just to ensure this supply

of talent continues to emerge in the

future, CCol is also introducing craft

education and awareness programmes

into primary and secondary schools

through initiatives such as Craft in the

Classroom, FACT (Fine Art and Craft

Together], as well as their Third-Level

Awards. This contributes to what

Education and Awareness Manager

Louise Allen describes as 'a vibrant

future generation of makers'. If the

current crop is anything to go by, then

the future is indeed bright. U

Ann Muirooney is an artist, curator and Visual Arts contributor for total:spec (UK).

1 Ceramics by Petra Schradi

2 Ceramics by Derek Wilson

3 Jewellery by Carl Parker

4 Ceramics by Karen Morgan

5 Ply by Unleaded

I

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