National College of Art & Design, Ireland

We are delighted to introduce the first cohort of volunteer alumni mentors joining the NCAD Alumni Mentoring Programme, a group bringing together a broad range of practices, from art curation and performance to sound art, fashion, illustration and socially engaged work. The programme pairs graduates with alumni, creating space for honest exchange, shared learning, and meaningful professional connections.

Meet some of the mentors below, with more to be introduced in the coming weeks:

Cóilín O'Connell
Fine Art / Found Image / Text & Object-Based Practice
Artist working across found and original images, objects, and texts, with an internationally exhibited practice and current residency at Fire Station Artists' Studios.

Eva Richardson McCrea
Film / Video / Sculpture
Artist working across moving image and sculpture with an internationally exhibited practice.

Dr Pierre Jolivet
Sound Art / Film / AI / Architecture
Artist-academic exploring sound, film, and emerging technologies.

Elayne Adamczyk Harrington
Performance / Sculpture / Arts Education
Artist and educator working across performance and socially engaged practice.

Aoife McCloughlin
Curatorial Practice
Curator and producer focused on care-led and dialogue-driven approaches.

Emily Johnston
Sculpture / Experimental Publishing / Sound
Artist working across installation, publishing, and collaborative practice.

Becky Moriarty
Illustration / Graphic Design / Irish Diaspora
Illustrator and designer based in London with over 13 years of experience across freelance and in-house practice in Ireland and the UK.

Olwen Kelly
Mixed Media / Textile / Social History
Artist exploring memory, material, and environmental change.

📲 Learn more: https://shorturl.at/lgMF7

Mentor applications are closed for 2026. Apply to be a mentee here: forms.gle/9MzQb8tziZLLSwVr5

Last week, NCAD welcomed researchers and community collaborators for the launch of CO-CREATE Ireland: Art and Design Research Network for Inclusive Futures. Funded under the North-South Research Programme and administered by the Higher Education Authority on behalf of DFHERIS, Co-Create is an all-island initiative applying art and design research and practice to drive citizen-centric engagement with societal challenges.

The project is co-led by NCAD and Belfast School of Art (Belfast School of Art) with UL (University of Limerick) and ATU (ATU Donegal), in collaboration with a network of 24 partners: Age and Opportunity (Age & Opportunity), Age Friendly Ireland (Age Friendly Ireland), Big Motive (), Brink! (Brink!), Community Gardens Ireland (Community Gardens Ireland), Create (), Creative Ireland (Creative Ireland), Department for Communities NI (Department for Communities NI), Department of Public Expenditure (), EMEEN, Grow NI (GROW), Health Innovation Research Alliance Northern Ireland (), HSE Spark (), Irish Grown Wool Council (IrishGrownWool), Limerick City Partnership (Limerick City Partnership), Mourne Textiles, National Museum of Ireland (National Museum of Ireland), National Youth Council of Ireland (National Youth Council of Ireland), North West Community Network (North West Community Network), Quarto, Réalta (), Spunout (spunout.ie), The Liberties Community Project () and The MAC Belfast ().

Sarah Glennie, Director of NCAD, and Brian Dixon, Head of BSOA, launched the project, emphasizing the value of art & design research and all-island collaboration. The event also saw a panel discussion moderated by Declan Long (NCAD, Co-PI on Co-Create), with Crona O’Donoghue (ATU), Pamela Whitaker (BSOA) and Tara Byrne (Age & Opportunity), exploring ideas of co-creation and social partnerships for meaningful real-world impact.

Delighted to see recent NCAD interaction design graduate Nathan Costello featured in an RTÉ News piece by Sinéad Courtney, following his final year project ‘Simulated Storytelling’ - which resulted in Cian, an AI storytelling robot inspired by the Irish seanchaí tradition, first shown at NCAD Works 2026.

“I think, over time, people would see the value in you being able to access an oral bank of stories, because so many stories are not written down.”

📲 Read more and watch Nathan’s interview on stories, via the link in bio or visit: https://shorturl.at/ykHMP

🔗 Find out more about Nathan’s project here: https://2026.ncad.works/graduates/nathan-costello

seanchaí NCAD Interaction Design

There's still time to apply to both the full-time and part-time Undergraduate Visual Culture programmes! It's a great idea to consider studying how art and design impact the world through NCAD's Visual Culture programme.

Learn more here: https://www.ncad.ie/undergraduate/school-of-visual-culture/

Tomorrow is your last chance to see ‘𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗖𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀: 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗔𝗿𝘁 𝗙𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀’ at Rua Red Arts Centre, Tallaght.

The exhibition brings together 14 artists from the final graduating cohort of the MFA Fine Art programme at NCAD, presenting work across stained glass, print, sculpture, painting, and mixed media.

Spanning themes of ecology, gender and sexuality, embodiment, consciousness, aesthetics, relationality, and neurodiversity, it is a show that stays with you.

Don't miss it!

📍 Rua Red Arts Centre, Tallaght, Dublin 24, D24 KV8N.

📷 Mai Nguyen

Love art and design? Considering studying a BA in Visual Culture?

If the fulltime BA doesn't suit you, consider checking out the part-time BA in Visual Culture through CEAD at NCAD. https://www.ncad.ie/undergraduate/school-of-visual-culture/

Making with 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲 means making with awareness. These students built a VR world from the inside of an ADHD brain, turned the scars and textures the body carries into jewellery worth wearing, and brought printmaking and play into a children's ward as a language for what words can't hold. Thinking beyond the studio, and towards the people their work might reach.

𝗕𝗮𝗺𝗯𝗶 𝗔𝗯𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗻 𝗕𝘂𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗻
Moving Image Design
𝘖𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘮𝘦𝘥

‘Overwhelmed’ is a multi-media VR experience that is deliberately overstimulating to try to reflect the inner experience of one's brain when living with ADHD. Grounded in my experience from a misunderstood child to an accepted adult, the world is built around different aspects of ADHD that many others including myself have felt going through life with this condition.

𝗟𝗮𝗿𝗮 𝗣𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗰
Jewellery & Object
𝘚𝘬𝘪𝘯 𝘋𝘦𝘦𝘱

‘Skin Deep’ is a jewellery collection that focuses on the scars and textures carried by our skin. A scar marks where something was once hurt and has since healed, becoming part of a person’s story. The pieces explore these qualities through casting, moulding, and the process of reticulation. The patterns created through reticulation can never be perfectly replicated, resulting in unique, skin-like textures that differ each time.

𝗗𝗼𝗹𝗴𝗲𝗮𝗶 𝗕𝗮𝘀𝗰𝗼
Print
𝘞𝘢𝘳𝘥 (𝘐𝘯)𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵

Dolgeai Basco is a printmaker and installation-based artist. Her work delves into the connection between emotions, play and comfort which stem from her personal experiences with a leukaemia diagnosis. Through her core practice of printmaking and installation art, she analyses themes of childhood resilience and the power of creative imagination as a vital tool for younger patients. She is captivated by how visual language can become a communication outlet for children with similar upbringing experiences.

🔎 See more about their work at 2026.ncad.works.