‘Forged Friendship’ sculpture installed at County Roscommon school
Pictured alongside the Forged Friendship sculpture are Fifth Year students. Back row: Anna Regan, Maria Fox, Hannah Corcoran, Elia Cormican, Laura Marques, Mia White, Lilly Murray and Ava Clyne. Front row: Sumaya Magomayev, Roksana Majek, Dana Gutierrez and Lauren Kilroe.
A 'Forged Friendship' sculpture, a collaboration between a Galway based blacksmith artist and 60 Transition Year students, has been installed at a County Roscommon school.
Last year's Transition Year students at Roscommon Convent of Mercy, with the help of blacksmith Garrett Herbert and their teacher Ms Kilcommins, successfully designed and created the beautiful sculpture ‘Forged Friendship’. The project was carried out through the creative engagement project.
The aim of the project was to introduce the students to some basic blacksmith skills and it provided the opportunity for the TY students to explore their own friendships and discuss the notion of friendship with their family and friends at home, discussing key qualities and fond stories of friendship across a few generations.
A Lily of the Valley was selected as a visual for friendship as it symbolises love, joy and happiness. The girls worked in small groups with a transportable forge to hammer and mould small sections of the sculpture. The work was then completed and assembled back at the artist’s studio.
The school thanks Garret who skilfully helped the girls’ vision come alive. Garret trained in France and Ireland and eventually opened his own forge designing and making items, displaying his exceptional talent and the imagination of many.
The piece has now been successfully installed in the Convent Garden.
"The sculpture was forged in metal and created by and for friendship. The school is certain that the friendships forged by students in TY will stand the test of time as will their sculpture," said the school.
