Title of artwork: An Meitheal Mór – Global Citizens Together
Artist: Sarah Murphy, Feargus Murphy, Cheylene Murphy and Seamus Devenny (Wall2Wall Music)
Year: 2019-2020
Commissioner: Scoil San Phroinsias National School
Funder: Department of Education and Skills
Per Cent for Art Location: Scoil San Phroinsias National School, Galway City
How do you express the core cultural and social identity of a school and its community? Scoil San Phroinsias National School wanted to answer this question in a creative, innovative and inclusive way: the result is a collection of five new pieces of music created by their students as a celebration of global citizenship. Facilitated by Wall2Wall Music, An Meitheal Mór – Global Citizens Together was a collaborative musical art project that sparked a joint process of engagement, learning and creativity with Scoil San Phroinsias students, staff and, where applicable, parents.
Inspiration
The An Meitheal Mór project began in November 2019, when Wall2Wall Music presented the theme of global citizenship to the students to creatively engage with. the school had recently explored this topic with a view to welcoming everyone’s voice.
Wall2Wall Music noted that the spirit of the Scoil San Phroinsias informed the approach to this unique art project. “These pieces are a true celebration of the wonderfully warm school community, there was so much life, happiness and song in Scoil San Phroinsias every time we visited! The students of this school have so much to say about big, important issues and it has been wondrous to work with all the young people who contributed to these songs.”
One of the goals of An Meitheal Mór – Global Citizens Together was to draw together the sense of pride and purpose that already existed amongst the Scoil San Phroinsias community and embody it in something tangible and permanent, an art work that would encapsulate the school spirit for years to come.
Process
Each class was asked to bring in objects for a Portable Museum of Cultural Heritage and to participate in lyric writing and music workshops on the theme of global citizenship. In February and March 2020, Wall2Wall Music composers and music facilitators visited the sixth classes and turned their classrooms upside down, filling them with new instruments and creative activity. Shortly after the final workshop with the students in March 2020, a COVID-19 restrictions were imposed; this resulted in the closure of Scoil San Phroinsias and the cancellation of the final performance (the main artistic output and legacy of the project).
While everyone was disappointed that the music would not be performed on stage as originally planned, Wall2Wall Music pivoted to create a lockdown project, sharing backing tracks with the students, who then recorded themselves singing the songs they had created. Piecing together audiovisual footage and photos taken over the course of the workshops, they created music videos for the five new pieces, which then became the main creative output of this Per Cent for Arts Scheme project.
Community collaboration
This ambitious public art work was funded by the Per Cent for Arts Scheme and delivered by Wall2Wall Music, in association with Music Generation Galway City and the Contemporary Music Centre, Ireland, with support from Galway City Council Arts Office.
The primary aim of An Meitheal Mór – Global Citizens Together was to foster a spirit of engagement, learning and creativity within Scoil San Phroinsias, as well as creating and performing an original piece of music that expresses the core cultural and social identity of the wider community.
For example, Swim To The Moon, one of the pieces in the collection, is a collection of sights and sounds from the workshops, the school community and surrounding area of Galway City, composed and arranged into an evocative soundscape (with audio composition by Feargus Murphy and videography by Cheylene Murphy).
About the artist
Wall2Wall Music was founded by flautist, composer and facilitator Sarah Murphy in 2010 as a means of engaging with people through immersive, inclusive and transformative musical experiences. Since their first project as part of North 55-7’s Illuminate in Malin Head, Donegal, Wall2Wall Music’s experience and reputation has enlarged and diversified.
Sarah Murphy studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London; her highly varied career has involved highlight performances, compositions and music education projects. Seamus Devenny is a session artist, tutor and facilitator, based in Carndonagh, Co Donegal. As a facilitator and director with Wall2Wall Music, Seamus has delivered Creative music workshops in schools and with communities throughout Ireland and the UK.
Cheylene Murphy is a songwriter, musician and creative who has toured the globe with her songs. Her most recent project is Beauty Sleep; merging lush synths with groovy guitar lines and catchy vocals, Beauty Sleep’s 2019 debut album Be Kind was co-written and co-produced with Ryan McGroarty. Feargus Murphy graduated from the Music and Sound Recording (Tonmeister) course at the University of Surrey and has worked as a freelance musician, sound engineer and workshop facilitator. He has worked with Wall2Wall Music in locations across Ireland as a music facilitator.