Deputy Mayor Matt Lyons met with a unique group of Estonian, Hungarian and Irish artists last Thursday 4th April at the Model, Sligo as part of a special pilot initiative led by Kids’ Own Publishing Partnership, Sligo Arts Service and the Model.

This exciting project sees the three Irish partners linking with the Ludwig Museum in Budapest and Sally Stuudio in Tallinn to bring together artists who work with children and young people to share and discuss their approaches, and to establish a pilot network that will connect online over the next two months and culminate in a showcase at The Ark in Dublin on June 10th.

The project, funded by the Arts Council’s special EU Local Partnership Scheme – to mark Ireland’s presidency of the European Union in the first half of 2013, is the first of its kind and seeks to make visible the value and importance of arts practice with children across different European contexts.

As organisations which support and champion arts practice with children, the vision of the co-ordinating partners is that this project will strengthen and enrich practice that is taking place locally in each country, and will provide richer arts experiences for children and parents in Sligo, Tallinn, Tartu and Budapest.

A research strand within the project aims to draw out findings that will inform and give direction to the development of a wider and more long-term network in the future.

The Deputy Mayor’s welcome came at the start of a two-day exchange between the 8 participating artists at the Model, Sligo, in which the artists were engaged in presentations, discussions about areas of their practice that they were interested in exploring together, and planning their online exchange programme.

A group trip to Strandhill also provided an opportunity for the European visitors to see some of beautiful local scenery in the Sligo region and to enjoy the unseasonably good weather!