The River Tolka which runs through the Botanic Gardens in Dublin is very close to Glasnevin Co-ed School. This river inspired me to create a piece of work for the school (atrium) that would inspire the children to recognize the beauty and importance their river has to their heritage and culture and to instill joy in taking responsibility for its well being and all the life that depends on it. I also felt that the large swathes of coloured windows in the school would lend itself well to internal glass work. Installed at the bottom edge of the main river piece is a children’s gallery in which 9 small glass pieces from their observational drawings were turned into coloured decal and fired onto glass. In other workshops the children looked at some of the river creatures with microscopes which gave them a deeper connection and understanding of the life that the river holds and the importance of keeping the water clean for them to thrive. Since the recent river clean-up, a pair of otters have returned to live on the river and had pups. The river has a resident Heron who is loved by the local residents so I designed a steel Heron with glass inserts to sit outside one of the school windows.
The dimensions of this glass work is 4114 mm high by 3048 mm wide.
THE SCHOOL CHILDREN HERE ARE LOOKING FOR WHAT LIFE FORMS LIVES IN THE RIVER TOLKA . WE HAD SEVERAL WORKSHOPS TO LOOK CAREFULLY AT WHAT THRIVES IN THIS RIVER AND DISCUSSED WHAT WAYS WERE BEST TO PROTECT THE CREATURES AND THE HEALTH OF THE RIVER.