THE PURE Thinking Community Group are about to undertake their next project, which will see them attempting to bridge the gap between adolescence and adulthood.
The aptly-titled project, Bridging, will target Carlow’s teenagers with 13 to 17-year-olds being asked to come on board.
Founded by local business-woman Connie Byrne Hyland, who last year won a Carlow Person of The Year award for her work, the Pure Thinking Community Group have so far undertaken four projects. The last of these, Wall R Us, finished in October and resulted in a permanent art piece being erected outside The Tavern pub on Castle Street.
The group is now collaborating with Carlow Youth Services for Bridging and Connie says she hopes the project will “allow the subjects to have a voice, be heard and ultimately contribute to our community in a very fluid and artistic way”. Registration will take place in The Vault, Burrin Street on Saturday 28 January between 7pm and 9pm and a youth club will be held each following Saturday.
Explaining how the youth club will work, Connie said: “We will hold a youth club that will allow the teenagers to enjoy an array of many different art forms. It will provide workshops in photography, film, music, movement and graphic design. These will be facilitated by local artists who are dedicated to the wonderful outcome of this project.”
The aim of Bridging is to allow the teenagers to experience different art forms, from film to photography, in a safe environment and to help uncover how they feel about being a teenager in Carlow.
On top of that, they will work with local artists to create five different expressive pieces.
These will include working with local musician Eddie Sheehan to create a piece of music, working with local photographer Michael Murphy to create a photographic exhibition, working with movement facilitator Bryan Burroughs to create a performance piece and with Gary McHugh from Young Irish Film-makers to create a piece of film.
They will also be working with graphic designer Paul Byrne to create a permanent art piece which will be placed on a wall in Carlow town.
Given that the Pure Thinking Community Group is a non-profit organisation, Connie says all contributions from local groups or businesses are gratefully received.
The group’s previous work can be viewed at www.purethinking.ie or on www.cbh.ie.
And remember: registration for what promises to be a hugely worth-while project, takes place on Saturday 28 January between 7pm and 9pm in The Vault, Burrin Street.