Tag: Wool in School

Event: Irish Wool Events at Dingle Food Festival

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland

Several wool-related events are scheduled for this year’s Dingle Food Festival.

The Irish Grown Wool Council will participate in the Wool Marquee at the Dingle Food Festival this Saturday and Sunday.

In addition, Wool in School will share its ‘Feirm VR’, their agricultural virtual reality program that enables viewers to understand the importance of wool and shearing in relation to sustainable farming practices.

The virtual reality experience of ‘Future Tapestry‘ will also be shown. It is an artistic response to Irish wool production’s history, legacy, and contemporary currency, developed following a research period with sheep farmers who harvest wool. The work is directed and produced by artist John Conway, with a virtual reality experience by Nóho. It is structured around an ode written and performed by theatre maker Aisling Byrne – a verbatim text based on her engagement and conversations with Kildare Sheep Farmers.

On Saturday and Sunday, panel discussions will be at 2 PM.

For more information about the event, visit the festival’s website – https://www.dinglefood.com/

Disclaimer for Feltmakers Ireland Blog

Feltmakers Ireland aims to share information about awards, education, events, exhibitions, and opportunities that you will find interesting. Our sharing is neither paid for by nor an endorsement of these individuals or organisations.

Contact Us: If you have any concerns about content, please email us at feltmakersie@gmail.com.

Questions: For questions about content, please follow the link to the organisation involved in hosting the event.

News: Fourth Annual European Wool Day

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The Fourth Annual European Wool Day will be held in Greece on April 9th, from 2:30 to 7:30 Central European Time. This year’s theme is ‘New Routes of Wool towards a Sustainable Future’.

WoolinSchool will present as part of the Wool in Education section at approximately 18:30 CEST.

You can watch the presentations live on EWE Foundation’s YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ewefoundation-europeanwool255

Local programs will run from 6th to 7th April 2024 as part of the Celebrating Wool Weekend, so you are more than welcome to attend in person and enjoy the series of workshops, exhibitions, lectures, and roundtable discussions taking place locally in Metsovo, Greece.

For more information, visit their website – https://www.ewe.network/european-wool-day-2024

Disclaimer for Feltmakers Ireland Blog

Feltmakers Ireland aims to share information about awards, education, events, exhibitions, and opportunities that you will find interesting. Our sharing is neither paid for by nor an endorsement of these individuals or organisations.

Contact Us: If you have any concerns about content, please email us at feltmakersie@gmail.com.

Questions: For questions about content, please follow the link to the organisation involved in hosting the event.

Review: St Brigid’s Cloaks- Brigid 1500 – Kildare Town

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All photographs are by Breda Fay, except for the Cathedral window by Tamzen Lundy.

Written by Feltmakers Ireland guild member Breda Fay

I took a trip to nearby Kildare town on Saturday, the 27th of January, to visit the launch of the Brigid’s Cloaks exhibition. I love “launches” as they usually provide an opportunity to talk to the artist and I was not disappointed here.

It was a pleasure to meet the manager/director of this project, Lorna McCormack, of the Wool in School programme. From my days [as an educator] “at the chalkface” I have been impressed with the ethos of this school programme, aligned closely with local culture and heritage and Sustainable Development Goals 2030.

Lorna introduced me to lead Artist Michelle Hickey Legge, who described the works. The focus was on using locally sourced Irish wool and sustainable resources. Four stunning St Brigid’s Cloaks were crafted “with an all-encompassing approach to wool heritage and art”, Lorna explained. “With a focus on an all-island approach involving many generations, people across Ireland came together and immersed themselves in heritage crafts and community connections”. Lorna had some amusing stories about how the children chose the placement of their work. She also pointed out some interesting features I might have missed: a knitted piece from one of Seamus Heaney’s aran jumpers featured; one of the cloaks had Brigid Cross motifs included.

A total of 925 were involved, including 250 local school children from the town of Kildare who made pompoms, covered CDs, pieces of wool lace and knitting, each placed onto a cloak.

St Brigid’s Cloaks is a community artwork developed by Wool in School in association with Creative Ireland and Kildare County Council. The exhibition runs until April and will tour the country afterwards.

Where: St Brigid’s Cathedral, Kildare Town.

When: through April 2024, with the cloaks then touring the country.

There is a short video on Instagram of the installation of the show- https://www.instagram.com/reel/C2zPBxII-tH/?igsh=azMxNWJodzlhdWI4

For more information, visit the Wool in School website – https://woolinschool.com/

Editor’s note: Thank you so much, Breda, for sharing your visit to the launch of St Brigid’s Cloaks in the Cathedral in Kildare Town. We love having articles by our community members. If you are a guild member and have an interesting textile event to share, please email us at feltmakersie@gmail.com

Exhibition: Four St Brigid’s Cloaks – Kildare

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland

Open viewing of four St Brigid’s Cloaks unveiled in St Brigid’s Cathedral, in conjunction with the Brigid 1500 celebrations across the county.

St Brigid’s Cloaks is a community artwork developed by Wool in School, in association with Creative Ireland and Kildare County Council. These four stunning St Brigid’s Cloaks were crafted with an all-encompassing approach to wool heritage and art.

This project, managed by Director Lorna McCormack and lead Artist Michelle Hickey Legge, focused on using locally sourced Irish-grown wool and sustainable resources aligning with the ethos of Wool in School and several of the Sustainable Development Goals 2030.

This contemporary manifestation of St Brigid’s cloak highlights the value of knitting as a creative past-time which is beneficial for the health and well-being of everyone living in Ireland’s community and will create a beautiful backdrop to the celebrations and commemoration of the legacy of St Brigid at St Brigid’s Cathedral in Kildare Town in 2024.

When: the 27th of January, 2024, from 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM.

Where: St Brigid’s Cathedral, Kildare.

There is additional information in this news article – https://kildare-nationalist.ie/2024/01/23/kildare-artwork-st-brigids-cloaks/

Disclaimer for Feltmakers Ireland Blog

Feltmakers Ireland aims to share information about awards, education, events, exhibitions, and opportunities that you will find interesting. Our sharing is neither paid for by nor an endorsement of these individuals or organisations.

Contact Us: If you have any concerns about content, please email us at feltmakersie@gmail.com.

Questions: For questions about content, please follow the link to the organisation involved in hosting the event.

News: Wool Events at the National Ploughing Championship

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There are several wool-related activities at the National Ploughing Championship.

On Tuesday, the 19th of September, a Wool Industry Panel in the Creative Ireland tent, Block 3 Row 23, will discuss the importance of wool and how we can encourage innovation, creativity, education and growth in the sector.

This event will be moderated by Lorna McCormack, Director @woolinschool

The panellists are Pat Byrne of the @irish_grown_wool_council_, Zoe Daly @eriu.ireland, and Matthew Carroll of @thegalwaywoolco_op.

From Tuesday through Thursday, Creative Ireland, in association with Kildare County Council and Wool in School, invites visitors to the Culture, Creativity, Innovation and Sport tent to complete fun and short knitting challenges, which will be attached to a final knitted collage, becoming an artistic “Wall of Wool”.

Each wall panel will depict a St Brigid’s Cloak celebrating and commemorating the legacy of St Brigid. Wool in School, our Artist in Residence @michellehickeyart, and our team of Artists will assist the public in creating a #WallofWool.

The Wall of Wool comprises of Irish wool from Donegal Yarns, Galway Wool, Ciarán’s Yarns, and Eriu.

Lastly, Feltmakers Ireland guild member Tamzen Lundy has a stall selling her felted creations. Find her at Location OU, Block 4, Row 31, Stand 467. She is part of Irish Makers Artisan Collective.

For more information, visit The National Ploughing Championship website – https://www.npa.ie/

FYI: Wool Facts via Wool in School website

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Wool in School is a wool-inspired education company. They are committed to increasing the awareness of wool’s production and sustainable qualities in the school, home, and community environment. They sell colourful display boxes for classrooms containing fun, educational and creative resources, making it easy for teachers to integrate wool education into their curriculum. Additionally, they have kits for families.

They also have a wonderful fact page all about wool. Did you know that wool is UV resistant?

To learn more, visit their website – https://woolinschool.com/wool_qualities/

From Wool in School website