Summer Project 1997

Summer Project 1997 is a scene setting installation accompanied by audio that tells the story of a memory of going to Clara Lara FunPark in 1997. Though both parts can be experienced independently they exist to unfold a narrative that converses the subjective and objective of a working class child's experience with “anti-poverty” learning development strategies. The infamous Summer Project is well-known in disadvantaged areas as a programme that offers subsidised trips and outings for working class children during the summer months. The programmes are organised by tenants’ associations and representatives in communities who make applications for funding through The Dublin City Council Community Service which was established in 1973.

Although the Dublin City Council Community Service was established in 1973, inner city Dublin children’s play initiatives can be dated as far back as the early 1900s. The first Earl of Iveagh, Edward Cecil Guinness set up Myra Hall playcentre on Francis Street in 1909. Following the success of Myra Hall, a new playcentre was included in an ambitious development plan for the Liberties area in Inner City Dublin which was highly impoverished and overcrowded at the time. Lord Iveagh proposed, at his own expense, an extensive redevelopment plan for the area between St. Patrick’s Cathedral and Christchurch. The Dublin Area Bull Alley Improvement Act was brought to parliament and passed in 1899. Lord Iveagh stated that he aimed “to acquire and clear about three acres of rookery in the heart of the city of Dublin adjoining the new St. Patrick’s Park now being formed”. The main purpose for the redevelopment was to create housing and spaces to accommodate the working class. Thanks to Lord Iveagh St. Patrick's public park was built in 1897-1904, The Bull Alley Buildings known as Iveagh Flats Block A built in 1901 and Block E in 1904 which created 244 affordable dwellings for families, The Iveagh Hostel which has since been a long standing shelter for the homeless built in 1905, The Iveagh Baths which was a haven for working class children was completed in 1906 and the finally the Iveagh Play Centre which was built and completed in 1915. The Playcentre became known locally as “The Bayno” which was derived from the 18th Century word beanfast meaning feast for kids as the Iveagh Playcentre became famous for offering buns and cocoa to children. It was then shortened by Dubliners to Beano and finally became known as The Bayno. The book Constructions of the Irish Child in the Independence Period, 1910-1940 describes the ethos of the playcentre as follows; “The Iveagh Trust Play Centre was to provide education with amusement, so that the two wants of children could be catered for. This was an echo of Karl Schinkel’s seminal credo on the function and role of museums: first to delight, then to educate”.

The Bayno playcentre closed in 1975 and the building operates as a post-secondary school college today (Liberties College). Throughout the 70s and 80s “anti-poverty” strategies were developed which encouraged community work and volunteers within communities.  These types of strategies at a national level encouraged local participation and volunteering. National strategies and community plans are vital for development of children in working class communities. In Community Development Journal 38, 2003, Anna Lee when describing the importance of National community development strategies states as follows;

“There is an increasing level of dismay and anger at a local level about this lack of horizontal and vertical integration at national level. Effective anti-poverty strategies require coherent and integrated action. It is not always evident at a national level. There has been a historical mistrust from the centre/national level of the local. This mistrust continues to influence connections between the local and the centre. It impacts negatively on the development of effective action at local/community level and has made the transfer of learning from the local to the national, for example in the development of the social economy difficult”.

Anna Lee makes it apparent that national strategies are crucial for communities to branch out beyond their monetary limitation. The existing mistrust between communities and the national government creates a barrier. Summer projects and subsidised organised play programmes are a vital part of children’s learning development in working class areas. National strategies promote a volunteer ethos. The Dublin City Council Community Service has been operating since 1973 and is a continued community support system which makes funding available for Summer Projects. Three generations of my family enjoyed summer projects and although that might display the poverty line of my family it more importantly highlights the lack of class mobility in Dublin.

The installation and audio mediate a materiality of class whilst considering both sculpture environments and language as a tool to bring forward discussions of class, taste, belonging and identity. The short story about Clara Lara portrays an element of inner-city Dublin wit and character that with a conscious awareness of the Other raises questions regarding the politics and ethics of representation. Whilst evidencing a duality of past/present site/self, Summer Project 1997 Others both materials and self. The memory of Clara Lara alongside the past and the present site are considered as a material bank. The installation pools from the material bank and displays a generous portion of my material psyche.