In late September we invited some online bloggers to speak with Paul Butler and Mark Garry of the Reverse Pedagogy residency. Simon Fleming, Canadian Visual artist and occasional art writer based in Galway, wrote this short piece about his conversation with Butler.
If you would like to get involved writing online about The Model future projects please get in touch with Denise who would love to hear from you.
Our ex-Development Manager (now Music and Events Manager) Aoife Flynn was invited to present a case study at the recent National Gallery of Ireland Symposium on Audience Development. The case study was around the Model Blog, how we came to set it up, whether it’s been a success and some tips for others thinking about setting up an arts blog.
The motivation for this blog was to create a virtual front desk for The Model during our temporary closure; somewhere online where people could drop by and pick up information beyond that contained in the programme of events. We wanted it to be relatively informal, conversational and informative, much like how we want our Front Desk in the physical building to function. We’ve been running the blog for over 18months now and have reached a monthly readership of 2,400+ , which has increased traffic to our main website by 33% over the same period.
For us it’s been a great success, we feel we have a platform to add extra information to enhance the exhibition experience- as with the case of Barbad Golshiri’s mails sent from Tehran during the recent political unrest while Medium Religion was ongoing – and somewhere to fill you in on works in progress like the redevelopment, The Interview project, The Niland Collection, The Trades Club and more. It’s also a place where people can post replies and give us your reactions to articles or updates, and we’d love to hear more of that.
It’s also been a great way for us to test other social platforms like flickr, facebook, twitter and youtube and we look forward to integrating all of these elements into our new web platform which we’ll launch along with the new building in spring next year
For anyone at the symposium that wants the notes from the case study, which include some further reading around current theories on the use of web 2.0 for the museum/gallery you can download them below, and you can view the slide show here
Click to Download: Case Study on The Model Blog for NGI Symposium
Artist Seamus Nolan has been keeping everyone up to date on the developments at The Trades Club Revival. We’ll be uploading his updates here every week. The Trades Club operated from 1893 to 2007, and has since fell into disrepair. A major refurbishment plan is underway, a new stairs, electrical fittings and some structural improvements have been completed so far.
Progress on the revival of the Trades Club is going well, there has been a huge interest in the project and a lively attendance to the meetings held so far. The meetings have led to discussions around the direction of the club, issues around licensing, events, membership and even whether a working bar is feasible way forward.
The Trades Club closed in 2007 and fell into disrepair
Ideas as to how the club might operate, the kind of events taking place and the overall ethos are being fleshed out by all who wish to contribute.
The genuine affection for the Trades Club and the kind of social space it is renowned to have been, the possibility for late night sessions, the camaraderie and respect shown to members and visitors, and the sense of community seems to be the driving force for those who would like to see the club reopened again, returning the club to its glory days as a self determined a-political space for people and culture to thrive where diversity is celebrated and all are equal
We are making a call out to those who have some free time, possibly some design or diy experience, events management, club or bar experience etc to get in contact and help kick start the Trades Club revival.
A number of works have been completed and others are in the pipeline, the license is being looked into, a number of funding opportunities are being sought, design and building days have been organised where those with some free time can put in an hour or two in the cleaning and refurbishment of the space, and the possibility of benefit gigs and events to fund the revival all are being looked at.
The next meeting will take place tonight(Tuesday 3rd November) at 8pm in the Trades Club itself on Castle Street. It will have an actual agenda and should last about 45 minutes after which there is an opportunity to hang on and have a coffee and continue the conversations.
There will be someone in the building from 10 to 6 every Tuesday and Wednesday, please feel free to drop in.
Join the Facebook fanpage for the Trades Club Revival, we’re already getting a lot of great response. If you have any stories, photos or memorabilia that you would like to share with the Club, please get in contact. An exhibition celebrating the history of the Club will take place once refurbishment is complete.
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