Garter lane Arts Centre, in collaboration with Waterford Institute of Technology Department of Creative and Performing Arts is proud to present FIRST VIEW, an exciting visual arts project which offers final year Visual Arts students the experience of installing and exhibiting their own work publicly in a gallery setting.

The concept behind this annual exhibition is to offer students in the final year of their studies the unique opportunity to mount a professional exhibition of their work in the public arena. The students will be exposed to the full process of mounting an exhibition in a professional context. FIRST VIEW is as much a learning environment as it is an exhibition- at this critical juncture in their artistic careers, this project empowers students with the opportunity to learn in a hands-on way about designing promotional materials, working with professional technicians to install their work and promoting their work with local press. They have the chance to build key skills and awarenesses for success in their artistic careers and develop them in a professional context. As Visual Art Lecturer Ger Casey explains, ‘this invaluable experience of working in a live venue, with its various possibilities and limitations, means that the students have to engage actively in the various decision making processeses and work collaboratively to mount two successful displays of their work. For many students, this is the first time their artwork will be seen publicly so FIRST VIEW presents an exciting glimpse of the emerging talent in Waterford.

FIRST VIEW also gives students the opportunity to learn and develop their work in advance of their degree show in May which is the culmination of four years of hard work at WIT studying for the BA (Hons) Visual Art degree. FIRST VIEW runs in two phases, with the first group show opening in Garter Lane Arts Centre on Thursday, 26th January at 6.30 pm and continues until Sunday 29th. The first exhibition showcases innovative and exciting work in a variety of media by students Anne Tweedy, Thomas Jenkins, Mariana Jarabkova, Kerri-Ann O’ Grady and Clare Scott. The second group show opens in Garter Lane Arts Centre on Thursday, 2nd February at 6.30 pm and continues until Sunday 5th February featuring work by Margaret O’ Neill, Stephanie Harvey, Rory Van Dokkum, Rory Young and Caolain Power.