Art in Brooke Park
May 8 - 12, 2007
Spreading Beauty: Teenagers Decorate Park
By Theresa Casey
City News, 14th May, 2007
A group of 30 teenagers were involved in an innovative project last week to help them reclaim an area of their community that has been plagued by antisocial behaviour.
The programme was arranged by the Friends of Brooke Park in conjunction with the University of Ulster Cultural Development programme and it encouraged the young people to express their own visions of the city through photography, waste sculpture, tile art and drama.
Sean Breslin, Connor Gallagher, Kiera Dean, Mark Burnside and Niall Toland
who have scripted and produced a play on the history of Brooke Park
with the help of drama facilitators.
It culminated in a exhibition and celebration of their work in Brooke Park last Saturday, with the Mayor Cllr Helen Quigley handing out certificates in recognition of the effort the teenagers, who were all from schools or youth clubs located around the Brooke Park area, put into the project.
Aine Downey from the Friends of Brooke Park said the project was another event to highlight the importance of "keeping Brooke Park a family friendly, safe, green space."
She said it is "vitally important to get the young people involved in a variety of events to show them the park is not just for sitting about and drinking in. It's a place where you can do interesting things like art and photography.
Ciara Boyle created mosaic poles that will be placed in the
ground around Brooke Park.
Friends of Brooke Park have organised a number of events in the past to show that Brooke Park is a place to "come for picnics, for walks, a place to enjoy yourself without drinking alcohol."
"The Park is a breathing space for the city, it is the lungs of the city. There is nowhere else to go for nice walks, to enjoy nature or just to sit and relax in an open space. While there are lots of things wrong with the park they can be righted."
Ciara McCay creating sculptures to be placed on the trees around Brooke Park.
Aine continued, "It is so much part of the community and it plays a big part in the education of children who attend the surrounding schools.”
"This project is about saying the park belongs to you - if you don't take care of it then who is going to. It has been so successful because the young people are looking at the park properly for the first time and it is good to see the wide range of interests being brought to the park.""
Two 14-year-olds, Stephanie Knox and Samantha Doherty, who took part in the digital photography aspect of the event said they use the park often and it was a great opportunity for them to get involved in creating art that will be on display.
"More things like this should be made available to us so we can enjoy art. We have met a lot of people through doing this and have learned to use different things, like new computer programmes that we wouldn't get in school.”
Denise Hasson and Aoibheann Lynch creating mosaic sculptures.
Hilary Morton the tile art facilitator said the week had been a great experience for the young people.
"They have been so enthusiastic and very dedicated to it. Creating mosaics with tiles and on poles means that they can be put out in the park to brighten up the area. It will make the young people feel like they have contributed to making the park a nicer place. Its great that their creations will be in the park."
Roisin O'Donnell helped the teens create sculptures out of waste which will be positioned all around the park.
Members of the digital photography class from the Art in Brooke Park event.
(L-R) Martin Carlin, James Mullan, Stephanie Knox and Samantha Doherty.
"The sculptures are based on mystery and imagination. We are trying to put the mystery back into the trees rather than seeing them as objects. We will be bringing the trees back to life with waste art. The young people have gained so much confidence. It took them a while to come round to the idea but once they did they started flying through it. These teenagers aren't even doing GSCE art yet but the standard is so much higher than I expected."
The teenagers also wrote and produced a play about the history of Brooke Park, that traces its importance to the city through every stage of past and recent history
Felicity McCall one of the drama facilitators praised the teens and their enthusiasm for the event. "We have been very impressed by all their hard work and it has been great craic altogether."
The teenagers who took part in the play said it made them think about the park in a new way.
Sean Breslin said, "It's a good park but I always thought it was just a park that was put there, now I know that the people of Deny own the park and that it was given to the people of the city forever."
