Recipient of Graduate Award Opportunity 2017

Roisin McGannon as the recipient of the Graduate Award Opportunity 2017 in partnership with BLOCK T

As part of an ongoing commitment to professional artists, Fingal County Council's Arts Office, in partnership with BLOCK T, offered a one-year Graduate Studio Award with a solo exhibition in 2018.  This residency is part of a series of initiatives by Fingal Arts to promote and support the professional practice of emerging artists.  It provides an ideal environment for the development of creative projects, development of a graduates practice and an opportunity to network with other artists.

A few words from Róisín about receiving the award:

"My first response to receiving the Fingal County Council Graduate Award for 2017 was excitement quickly followed by relief. As a recent graduate I was fast realising what people meant when they would say ‘being out of college is really hard’, the community and the bubble I had surrounded myself with during my three years in college was gone and uncertainty had replaced it.

Upon visiting the space in Block T I was reminded of my studio in NCAD, artists spaces, walls covered in images and research, shared workspaces, I felt I wasn't too far from my comfort zone which was reassuring. The difference being I will now have the freedom to try more with no restrictions as I’m not dealing with the pressure of obtaining a degree.

I hope to spend this year meeting the other visual artists working in the space, creating conversations and critically evaluating my progress. In relation to my practice my first step is to pick up from where I left off in college. During my final year I had to really fine tune my concerns, a lot of thoughts had to be put aside, now I get to go back and revisit what I was thinking, flesh things out further, explore new avenues that I perhaps had previously been too scared to try or simply just didn't have the time.

Receiving this award has given me my confidence back and a new energy that will sit perfectly within the year time frame. To be given a slow shot at the end of my time in Block T acts as the perfect motivator, enough time to gather thoughts and create a solid body of work without it feeling forced. I feel very lucky and grateful that Fingal County Council and Block T have given me this opportunity to begin my career as an artist."