May 2013: Mental Health Art Awards 2013 - Coláiste Oiriall takes the Prize!

Colaiste Oiriall take the Top Spot in Mental Health Art Project 2013
Colaiste Oiriall were the winners of Monaghan Mental Health Association’s Post Primary School Art Project for 2013 when their piece “Is Turas é an saol, ní ceann scríbe é” was selected by judge Joan Mallon at last weeks prize-giving ceremony. St Macartan’s College, under the stewardship of artist and teacher Nelius Flynn, took the runner-up spot followed by St Louis Secondary School in third and Beechill College, last years winners, in fourth.
The project, which was aimed at groups or classes up to and including Transition Year encouraged the creation of a piece of art or sculpture using materials of the artist’s choice. Substantial prizes were on offer including a perpetual trophy and a €500 first prize for the winning school and runner up prizes of €300, €200 and €100 respectively for second, third and fourth places.
The purpose of the project is to boost awareness of positive mental health and the role of sculpture and art in interpreting and promoting positive health messages. MMHA secretary Emer Brennan explained that the beautiful perpetual trophy had been sponsored by the Knights of Columanus and that their support for the project was much appreciated.
“The aim of the project is to promote positive mental health messages through collaborative art work. We greatly appreciate the input of the teachers and the art departments of the schools. We will continue to build on this project. We are delighted with the standard of work and we did not envy our judge, Joan Mallon, in her task of selecting the award winners,” she said.
The winning piece “Is Turas é an saol, ní ceann scríbe é” (“Life is a journey, not a destination”) was designed by 3rd & 4th Year Art & Woodwork students, Colaiste Oiriall.
The winners explained their entry which consisted of a beautiful wooden puzzle with symbols on each movable piece representing different aspects of life such as family, education and so on:
The judge praised the extremely high standards of work on show, all of which were of national standard. Colaiste Oirall and St Macartan’s took the sculpture route but all entrants clearly put a great deal of thought into their entries. The top two had superb PowerPoint presentations explaining the development of their work. These can be viewed below....
Colaiste Oiriall were the winners of Monaghan Mental Health Association’s Post Primary School Art Project for 2013 when their piece “Is Turas é an saol, ní ceann scríbe é” was selected by judge Joan Mallon at last weeks prize-giving ceremony. St Macartan’s College, under the stewardship of artist and teacher Nelius Flynn, took the runner-up spot followed by St Louis Secondary School in third and Beechill College, last years winners, in fourth.
The project, which was aimed at groups or classes up to and including Transition Year encouraged the creation of a piece of art or sculpture using materials of the artist’s choice. Substantial prizes were on offer including a perpetual trophy and a €500 first prize for the winning school and runner up prizes of €300, €200 and €100 respectively for second, third and fourth places.
The purpose of the project is to boost awareness of positive mental health and the role of sculpture and art in interpreting and promoting positive health messages. MMHA secretary Emer Brennan explained that the beautiful perpetual trophy had been sponsored by the Knights of Columanus and that their support for the project was much appreciated.
“The aim of the project is to promote positive mental health messages through collaborative art work. We greatly appreciate the input of the teachers and the art departments of the schools. We will continue to build on this project. We are delighted with the standard of work and we did not envy our judge, Joan Mallon, in her task of selecting the award winners,” she said.
The winning piece “Is Turas é an saol, ní ceann scríbe é” (“Life is a journey, not a destination”) was designed by 3rd & 4th Year Art & Woodwork students, Colaiste Oiriall.
The winners explained their entry which consisted of a beautiful wooden puzzle with symbols on each movable piece representing different aspects of life such as family, education and so on:
The judge praised the extremely high standards of work on show, all of which were of national standard. Colaiste Oirall and St Macartan’s took the sculpture route but all entrants clearly put a great deal of thought into their entries. The top two had superb PowerPoint presentations explaining the development of their work. These can be viewed below....
See Colaiste Oiriall and St Macartans presentations on their projects here......
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April 2013: Post Primary Mental Health Art Awards 2013 Launched
Schools invited to take part in Prestigious Art Project

2012 winners - Beech Hill College
Monaghan Mental Health Association (MMHA) are launching their annual Post Primary Schools Art Project repeating the new format introduced last year when Beech Hill College took the honours with their innovative video offering. Schools from across the county are again invited to participate in the awards and information will be with the schools by 8th April. The project, which is aimed at groups or classes up to and including transition year encourages the creation of a piece of art or sculpture using materials of the artists’ choice. Substantial prizes are again on offer including a perpetual trophy and €500 first prize.
The purpose of the project was to boost awareness of positive mental health and the role of art or sculpture in interpreting and promoting positive mental health messages. MMHA secretary Emer Brennan explained that the committee had decided to revamp the project by focussing more on groups or classes working together. “The impressive perpetual trophy has been sponsored by the Knights of Columbanus and we appreciate their support of the project,” she explained.
“The idea is that the students will focus on positive mental health messages and promote them through their collaborative art work. We were also conscious of the input of the teachers and art departments of the schools and the importance of art in mental health so we decided that the rewards should go to the schools. Our objective is to build on this project annually. We were delighted with the high standard of art submitted from the participating schools last year. The amount of thought and hard work that went into each piece was impressive,” she said. Monaghan Mental Health Association is a local voluntary organisation with volunteers from all sections of Monaghan life.
The aims of the Association are to promote Positive Mental Health and to support those with mental health difficulties.
MMHA are asking for a group or class project in the form of a piece of art or sculpture, maximum size 4 x 4 feet, using materials of your choice and we are offering substantial prizes for the Art Departments of the winning schools.
The prize fund is as follows:
1st - €500 and a perpetual trophy
2nd - €300
3rd - €200
A number of themes are suggested with an emphasis on promoting Positive Mental Health. The suggested themes are:
The closing date is Wednesday May 15th 2013. Entries should be delivered from 2pm and at the latest by 5pm to the Westenra Arms Hotel, Monaghan on the day and can be removed after the prize giving ceremony which will take place at 7.30 pm. All students, parents and teachers are invited MMHA asks that schools which intend to take part should confirm their interest by April 20th 2013 by email or text.
Support from the schools, teachers and students for the project is greatly appreciated.
The purpose of the project was to boost awareness of positive mental health and the role of art or sculpture in interpreting and promoting positive mental health messages. MMHA secretary Emer Brennan explained that the committee had decided to revamp the project by focussing more on groups or classes working together. “The impressive perpetual trophy has been sponsored by the Knights of Columbanus and we appreciate their support of the project,” she explained.
“The idea is that the students will focus on positive mental health messages and promote them through their collaborative art work. We were also conscious of the input of the teachers and art departments of the schools and the importance of art in mental health so we decided that the rewards should go to the schools. Our objective is to build on this project annually. We were delighted with the high standard of art submitted from the participating schools last year. The amount of thought and hard work that went into each piece was impressive,” she said. Monaghan Mental Health Association is a local voluntary organisation with volunteers from all sections of Monaghan life.
The aims of the Association are to promote Positive Mental Health and to support those with mental health difficulties.
MMHA are asking for a group or class project in the form of a piece of art or sculpture, maximum size 4 x 4 feet, using materials of your choice and we are offering substantial prizes for the Art Departments of the winning schools.
The prize fund is as follows:
1st - €500 and a perpetual trophy
2nd - €300
3rd - €200
A number of themes are suggested with an emphasis on promoting Positive Mental Health. The suggested themes are:
- My boat I so small and the sea is so great – ship ahoy!
- Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow
- Education is not the filling of a bucket but the lighting of a flame
- Life is the journey, not the destination!
The closing date is Wednesday May 15th 2013. Entries should be delivered from 2pm and at the latest by 5pm to the Westenra Arms Hotel, Monaghan on the day and can be removed after the prize giving ceremony which will take place at 7.30 pm. All students, parents and teachers are invited MMHA asks that schools which intend to take part should confirm their interest by April 20th 2013 by email or text.
Support from the schools, teachers and students for the project is greatly appreciated.