Centre for Creative Arts and Media, Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology

National Network
Ireland
Address

Cluain Mhuire Campus
Monivea Road
Galway
Ireland

Telephone
0035391753 161
Telephone (other)
0035391745404
E-Mail
patrick.tobin@gmit.ie
E-Mail (2)
sarah.searson@gmit.ie
Mobile Phone
00353868699973
Organisation Type
Public Institution
Year of Establishment
1974
Fields of Activity
  1. Arts
  2. Democracy and community development
  3. Environment/Sustainable development
  4. Heritage
  5. International/Cultural relations
  6. Media
  7. Research
  8. Youth and education
General Information
The Centre for Creative Arts and Media (CCAM) is part of the Galway Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT) which has 5 campuses in the West of Ireland. Funding comes from the Irish Higher Education Authority as well as research funding through postgraduate and individual research funding. CCAM is a specialist campus located in the heart of Galway City offering undergraduate studies in film & documentary, art & design, fine art, and textiles in a vibrant and lively community of learning and exchange. CCAM maintains partnerships with institutions – NUIG, LIT, and cultural organisations - TULCA; 126 Artspace, and has just initiated an international residency programme on Campus. Over 40 members of staff are employed at CCAM. Learners, lecturers and graduates have won accolades and awards for their achievements and are leaders throughout the film, television and arts world. Staff are also research active within the GMIT Tourism and Arts Research Centre (TARC).
Mission and Objectives

The Mission and Objective of GMIT is to develop life-long learning opportunities through teaching and research by supporting regional development consistent with national higher education policy.
Within the Centre for Creative Arts and Media and TARC, lecturer and artist Deirdre O'Mahony's research is centred on the relationship between communities and public art practices. Her recent work has focused on the following: how artists and artist-initiated organisations promote and enable active citizenship, inclusion and sustainability especially in relation to changing rural/urban landscapes and environments.
Other members of staff are active in this field and to further this research and build on O'Mahony's experience of the ALF network event in Taroudant Morocco CCAM would like to join the ALF. This will enable staff and students at GMIT to benifit from the ALF networks and forge new relationships with partners in Europe and North Africa allowing the development of new artistic projects, research and networks.

Main Projects / Activities

Research into the role of contemporary art in rural places including
o The hosting of conferences, Shifting Ground (2006); The Burren Sproing Conference (2013); Publications: Verge (2010)
o Active research into the representation and mediation of changing perceptions of ‘community’ in rural places.
o Projects around rethinking tacit, place-based knowledge in relation to sustainability, food security and global climate change.
o The development of participative methodologies for negotiating the regulation of post-productivist landscapes
o The development of inter-national connections between local rural communities negotiating the cultural and societal effect of globalisation- partnership projects with regional organisations BurrenBeo; Burren Connect; Burren Geopark; Change X Grizedale Arts; Scottish Sculpture Workshop.
o GMIT’s Centre for Creative Arts and Media (CCAM) is now running a residency programme designed to support the work of arts practitioners who are interested in developing practice and research in Galway City and the West of Ireland during the summer months of 2014. The programme aims to provide opportunities for artists to research and develop their practice in the privacy of their own studio and with access to GMIT’s Library facilities. The residency will be of most benefit to artists seeking a space and quiet time to focus on their artistic development. The residency aims to support both emerging and established artists. A longer term aim of this programme is to establish links with international artists, students and lecturers, and third level art institutions to actively encourage contemporary artistic practice within the City of Galway which is preparing for its application for Europe City of Culture 2020, and has applied for Unseco status as City of Film. http://www.galwayfilmcentre.ie/events/galway-unesco-city-of-film/

How can you contribute to the Network in your country?

CCAM’s development as a cultural, educational and media based centre is uniquely suited to meeting the aims of the ALF. More specifically, both CCAM and the Tourism and Art Research Centre bring skills and deep knowledge of the development of strategies that can foster mutual respect across cultural difference in rural contexts that is relevant to ALF mandate. Furthermore the centre can offer an institutional base from which to facilitate meetings and events for the ALF Irish Network. Through her EVA nomination, Deirdre O’Mahony began the process of establishing links with Irish ALF members. CCAM would now like to develop this further by formally joining the network opening the possibility of contributing to a broader discourse on the development of cultural policies and strategies within Ireland and the Euro-Mediterranean Region that can make recommendations to decision-makers and policy makers.
A city on the edge of the Atlantic, Galway pointed to the role of cultural development as a driver of economic development. Within CCAM and the Tourism and Art Research Centre, staff and students are also examining how cultural representations of place, space and landscape might move away from hegemonic and singular ideas of national identity towards more understandings of the complexity of publics that now live and work in the West,
 

Why do you want to join the ALF Network?

GMIT and CCAM would like to join the Anna Lindh Network to build and develop networks with artists, academics and educational institutions in Europe and North Africa.

Contact (1) Full Name
Deirdre O'Mahony
Job Title
Lecturer
Head of the organisation
Sarah Searson
Contact (2) Full Name
Sarah Searson
Job Title (2)
Head of Campus