Down Syndrome Ireland Mayo's Art & Movement Group was founded in 2018 by Mairead Dunford along with Ballina-based Artist Alice Dixon to provide an outlet for an amazing group of young artists who are now showcasing their work with a special film which has just been released.
Over the past three years these art classes have allowed the artists to have the freedom to move to music while expressing themselves on paper and canvas, with paint and other materials.
The group teamed up with Paula Rouse and Andy Smyth of Anula Productions to capture the magic and share their work to mark World Down Syndrome Day. Make sure to watch it all at the top of the article!
The artists have an exceptional relationship with Alice Dixon, in that she empowers them to express creativity through the visual medium of artistic expression.
The group also featured on RTÉ's news2day and you can see the report below.
We need your consent to load this comcast-player contentWe use comcast-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
The film 'Looking and Living' shows how the children lived through the first of many Covid lock downs when their only contact, apart from their immediate family, with the outside world was through the art class with their tutor Alice and their friends over Zoom.
As Alice says: "With visual art being so subjective and personal there are no differences just art."
In recent years have the group have successfully showcased their artwork in Our Hands Art Exhibition in the Library Ballina Co. Mayo to a full house. The response from people from all areas across the county was exceptional.
And not only that the artists have also taken part in Cruinniú na nÓg for Mayo with Creative Ireland. An artistic collaboration with other artists as part of an online visual art exhibition.
The classes and the film were funded by the Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP) Mayo North East based in Foxford.
