The Ark Club

This year, online workshops for children in DEIS schools, emergency provision and Direct Provision Workshops will all operate under one umbrella ‘The Ark Club’.

The Ark After School was a pilot programme consisting of a series of online creative writing workshops for children attending DEIS schools in inner-city Dublin. Led by writer Kate Heffernan, the project aimed to enable the creative potential and expression of participating children. Based on the theme of “My Place”, the workshops invited children to explore the story of their immediate environment and their place within it, enabling them to write about and share a personal experience of space and place. Take a look at the zine here.

In 2022, The Ark Club will be made up of two programmes – one in spring, one in autumn – each consisting of six online workshops and exploring a different art form such as visual arts or creative writing. They are tailored and flexible– trained Ark artists will prepare activities but adapt according to ability and need. Children will be encouraged to attend all sessions but will not be left behind if they cannot. Each programme will culminate with the viewing of a performance filmed live in The Ark, the sharing of independent arts activities or the delivery of special art packs.

In this way, The Ark Club gives regular and flexible access to art and culture and its proven benefits to children living in disadvantage, and will connect them and their families to Ireland’s only children’s culture centre, regardless of geographic location.