Sherkin Island’s BA visual art degree programme (BAVA) has benefitted both students and islanders over the last quarter of a century.
WHEN the first group of art students arrived on Sherkin Island from the mainland to study on the new BAVA programme, nobody involved could have imagined what a success story it would turn into.
That was 25 years ago, and since then over 100 people have passed through what has become one of Ireland’s most innovative and interesting degrees – thanks in part to the way in which the Sherkin community have embraced their visitors.
‘It’s totally and utterly been a game changer for Sherkin,’ Majella O’Neill Collins tells The Southern Star.
Majella has been involved in the programme from day one, first in its inception and now as a facilitator on the island.
Majella O’Neill Collins has be a part of the programme since its inception, and remains a course facilitator alongside her own work as an artist. (Photo: Emma Jervis)
‘When I came to Sherkin originally, there were a load of artists, musicians, writers. It was very cosmopolitan. And, of course, the community embraced artists, which was great.’
The course began as a pilot programme in 1999 before being recognised as a BA degree by DIT, and in 2022 it was advanced to include a masters degree.
The BAVA is a community-based, four-year honours programme delivered by the Dublin School of Creative Arts, Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin), in partnership with Sherkin Island Development Society and Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre.
‘It actually came together because the community wanted it, I wanted a job on the island, and the lady that set it up, who originally worked in DIT – Bernadette Burns – she wanted it to happen as well. So there was a perfect storm in how it originated.’
Students come to Sherkin via boat every second weekend to attend classes at the community centre, but get so much more than just that.
‘The community was so behind it, so it wasn’t like this college was coming down from Dublin to do a course and forgetting about the community,’ Majella says.
‘The community took ownership – fishermen, farmers, bus drivers, people who own the pub, restaurants – everyone on Sherkin knew what it was about. That made a huge difference because it wasn’t just people coming in to lecture a degree course, they were tapping into the local people.’
The programme offers a unique setting to explore art, something which can’t be found in many mainland courses.
‘If you go to college in Cork or Dublin or in Limerick or anywhere like that, you go in and you’re there from 9-5 and you have your studio, and you work in your studio,’ Majella explains.
‘But in Sherkin, your studio could be a field or a farmhouse kitchen, or it could be on top of the hill in Slievemore or in the middle of the beach. It’s like an apprenticeship in many ways.’
Attracting students hasn’t been a problem – this week’s graduates took the number of artists who have passed through Sherkin to 106, with each one embracing the island and its people in turn. Majella counts recent graduate Sinéad McCormick as one of the programme’s big success stories.
Sinead McCormick is a graduate of both the BA and MA degrees, and is now a lecturer on the programme. (Photo: Leon Farrell)
Sineád graduated from both the BA and MA degrees on the programme and was shortlisted for the RDS Awards in 2022, and is now a lecturer on the island. She is just one of the course’s many graduates who have gone on to become successful artists. Just last year, Ballydehob’s Sorcha Browning claimed one of Ireland’s most important art prizes, the RDS Taylor Art Award, for her film installation ‘Eden’, while Mary Sullivan also won the award in 2018, and currently has a solo show at the RHS in Dublin. The list could go on.
The programme also involves the wider West Cork community, through Uillin: West Cork Arts Centre.
‘This programme has had an immense impact not only on the students who have graduated but also on the cultural and social fabric of Sherkin Island and beyond,’ said Ann Davoren, director at Uillinn, as this year’s students graduated.
‘Twenty-five years ago, few could have imagined that an honours degree in visual art, delivered on a remote island, would become a leading choice for aspiring artists. Thanks to the visionaries who always believed in its potential, we are celebrating another cohort of graduates and the programme’s resounding success. Their commitment to accessibility, creativity, and education has shaped BAVA into a model of excellence that without doubt will continue to inspire for many years to come.’
For Majella, it’s the effort of the entire island that has turned a pilot degree programme into a viable artistic endeavour and unique opportunity. ‘It’s not down to anyone but the community because the community keeps feeding it,’ she concludes.
Cork county mayor Cllr Joe Carroll attended the graduation ceremony which marked 25 years of the programme. (Photo: Emma Jervis)
‘The ferry is amazing. The bus is amazing. Everybody knows people, and it’s a business that helps them in the wintertime when there’s nothing happening. I could leave in the morning and it wouldn’t make a hell of a difference. It’s like a teenager that’s grown into an amazing adult. There’s been a hundred students go through the door, and they’re all doing really, really well.
‘Nobody came out and said they wish they had never done it, which is a great legacy as well.’
