FieldWorks Gap Year: Autumn, 2019 Final Update
It has been about a week and a half since our last group of gap year students for 2019 went their separate ways, and the studios are as quiet as they have been for quite some time. At Cow House we are all incredibly grateful to host such wonderful students year after year. 2019 marks our first time running FieldWorks, our 12-week gap year and we have learned so much. We have had some great successes and a long list of improvements we would like to make but one thing is clear, we love running this program! For us, at Cow House we’re used to running shorter programs and it is a real privilege to teach the same group of young artists for an entire semester. To witness the maturation in our students as artists and as young adults reminds us how impactful this time in their lives can be.
Our final four weeks of FieldWorks began with a workshop by the fantastic Laura Fitzgerlad. Our students worked with her to explore using text in the landscape and everyone produced some great work. The influence of Laura’s humor was evident and in viewing some of the final works our students produced, Laura’s workshop was clearly a catalyst for growth. The remaining three weeks were spent working towards a final critique where students had the freedom to work on their own art. Everyone worked closely with Rosie and Frank to produce some wonderful projects. Many students made their own books while others worked towards making a series of paintings. Others worked across mediums and we even had an installation of sculptural work and video as part of our final critique.
We took plenty of time to travel. Two days in Dublin and another two in Cork were spent viewing some art at both Douglas Hyde and Crawford, learning about Ireland’s complex history at 14 Henrietta Street, the Dunbrody famine ship and the Butter Museum in Cork. We definitely took some time to have a bit of fun sampling the Irish nightlife and even getting a tour at Teeling Whiskey distillery in Dublin. These days away were the perfect break from intensive days in the studio and a great way to mark the final weeks of the program.
We will really miss this group. We had such a wonderful time getting to know their quirky personalities. We hope to see many of them during our travels to the US this winter and hope they all have a wonderful time during their spring semesters. You can see our full selection of images here.
