WHO WE ARE
Welcome to
young at art
Young at Art, Northern Ireland’s leading arts provider for children and young people, is home to the flagship Belfast Children’s Festival in March each year. We also engage with children and adults year-round through our Education & Engagement and Professional Development programmes and much, much more.
The company believes that arts provision should be FOR children and young people as well as BY children and young people. In this, it promotes child-inspired work by professional artists with an emphasis on performance and exhibition content over participatory activities.
Our Strategic Framework
Who We Are
We believe that every child has the right to access exciting and original creative experiences, no matter who they are or where they’re from.
We believe arts provision should be FOR children and young people as well as BY children and young people. We promote child-inspired work by professional artists and develop child-led programmes and activities.
What do we do?
Create and curate exceptional and innovative arts experiences for all children and young people.
Why do we do it?
How do we do it?
Accessibility and Inclusivity
For families with additional and special needs, we have a range of initiatives to make their festival visits as accessible and inclusive as possible including our ‘Access All Areas’ programme with tailored performances and support provisions, use of welcoming and accessible venues, low-cost ticket prices and plenty of free activity, trained ‘welcome hosts’ and clear, accessible information on these initiatives in our marketing and communications.
commitment to
sustainability
Young at Art is committed to working more sustainably and being a changemaker for sustainability
with the next generation.
As an international arts festival, we aim to strike a balance when presenting the best international,
national and local arts experiences to our audiences with minimising our impact on the environment
and ensuing ongoing access to the arts.
Young at Art / Belfast Children’s Festival is a Silver-certified Green Tourism event (December 2023)
participating in the scheme with support from Belfast City Council and Visit Belfast. Through our
participation in various working groups and sectoral initiatives, we take the opportunity to
benchmark our actions ensuring best practice, improved standards and shared advice. Led by our
Green Champion, our team continually review our activity for ways to further reduce our impact
whether it be through procurement, travel and transport, energy-management and programming.
We encourage our audiences, artists and partners to join us on this journey.
Our Environmental and Sustainable Development Policy can be viewed and downloaded here.
If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact our Green Champion, our General Manager.
She can be contacted here.
OUR TEAM
A small, dedicated staff team oversee the delivery of our work by exceptional and experienced artists, project and production support. Our work is overseen by a voluntary Board of Directors, from the arts, education, youth and business sectors, who meet regularly and participate in active sub-committees.
Recruitment opportunities are openly advertised but we are always keen to hear from artists and makers, facilitators, events staff, students and others wanting to work or volunteer with us. If you would like to stay up to date on these opportunities, please sign up to our newsletter like our Facebook page or follow us on Twitter. Or you can contact us here.
If you think you could contribute as a Board member to our development, we are keen to hear from you too.
Eibhlín de Barra
Director
Kelly-Anne Collins
General Manager
Jackie Fauteux
Creative Producer
Mary McClelland
Executive Assistant, Marketing & Box Office Assistant
Becca Wilson
Education & Engagement Coordinator
Annie Nichol
Development Assistant
Julie Sherlock
Communications & Marketing Manager
OUR Board
Maria Lee
Acting Director of Education and Student Services, Queen’s University Belfast
Tom Maguire
Head of the School of Arts & Humanities, Ulster University
Cathy Law
Development Director, Campbell College
Ailbhe Greaney
Lecturer in Photography, Ulster University
Dee Harvey
Freelance Immersive Media Producer
Anna Busby
HR Business Partner, Dale Farm
Stephanie Johnston
Senior Associate Solicitor, Carson McDowell LLP
OUR Board
A small, dedicated staff team oversee the delivery of our work by exceptional and experienced artists, project and production support. Our work is overseen by a voluntary Board of Directors, from the arts, education, youth and business sectors, who meet regularly and participate in active sub-committees.
Recruitment opportunities are openly advertised but we are always keen to hear from artists and makers, facilitators, events staff, students and others wanting to work or volunteer with us. If you would like to stay up to date on these opportunities, please sign up to our newsletter like our Facebook page or follow us on Twitter. Or you can contact us here.
If you think you could contribute as a Board member to our development, we are keen to hear from you too.