Board of Directors

Davie Philip (Chairperson)

Liam Mannix

Helena Fitzgerald

Mick Lennon

Our Team

Rosie Lynch, Creative Director

As Creative Director of Workhouse Union, Rosie Lynch leads the strategic development and artistic ambition of our programme and activities. She works alongside a diverse team to develop partnerships and funding opportunities for our work. As a co-founder of Workhouse Union, she has been vital in developing the seven-year Nimble Spaces/Inclusive Neighbourhood engaged research and co-housing process and connecting to our broader community in Callan and further afield. Rosie was a steering committee member of SOA’s Roadmapping a Viable Community-Led Housing Sector for Ireland Research Project (2022/21) and is actively involved in community-led housing advocacy in Ireland. Rosie’s upbringing in Camphill communities deeply informs the care and attention to inclusion in our work and our understanding of the complexity and challenges of community building and change. She has a BA in Fine Art, NCAD (2005) and an MA in Visual Arts Practice, IADT (2011). Rosie is a board member of Trasna Productions and was previously a board member of Kingsriver Community Holdings.

Contact: rosie@workhouseunion.com

Hannah Mc Cormick, Creative Producer & Co-Design Facilitator

Hannah McCormick is a creative producer with a background in theatre and performance. Hannah has worked as a theatre practitioner and facilitator in Ireland, Germany, Palestine, the UK and South Africa. She was the assistant director on the Bridge Street Project in Callan (2015) and Creative Producer at Monkeyshine Theatre (2015 to 2017). In a freelance role, she is currently developing Youth Ecology Art, an arts training and participation programme for young people at Butler Gallery, Kilkenny. She has extensive experience in coordinating public participation and inclusive facilitation. Hannah has a BA Hons in Contemporary Directing from Newcastle College, UK. As the Programme Producer for Workhouse Union, Hannah coordinates the logistics of each activity, liaising with participants and partners to establish solid links for all collaboration.

Contact: hannah@callanworkhouseunion.com

Ailbhe Cunningham, Creative Producer & Co-Design Facilitator

Ailbhe Cunningham is an architect MRIAI, printmaker and educator based in Cork. She is interested in the complex dynamics that shape our urban and rural environments with a deep commitment to nature and community engagement. She recognises the necessity to nurture cross-disciplinary collaboration in order to envision resilient, future landscapes. Ailbhe is co-creator of TEST SITE, a collaborative art, architecture and ecology project that activates a vacant site in Cork city centre through three core lenses – Biodiversity, Urban Planning and Architectural Heritage. A public event programme was presented during the summer of 2021 and is ongoing in 2022. Ailbhe joined Workhouse Union in 2022 and brings her architectural and creative placemaking experience and research to our work and team.

Contact: ailbhe@workhouseunion.com

Noortje Van Deursen, Creative Producer & Co-Design Facilitator

Noortje van Deursen joined the Workhouse Union team as a Creative Producer and Co-Design Facilitator in June 2023. Noortje has over 25 years of experience at the forefront of arts and disability in Ireland and was one of the co-founders of KCAT Arts Centre. For the past ten years, she worked in senior management in social care and has joined Workhouse Union to lead our disability, housing and social inclusion projects. Noortje graduated in 1998 with a BA in Art Therapy from the University of Applied Science, Leiden, the Netherlands. She has extensive experience working with and leading teams of employees and volunteers. She is passionate about supporting meaningful co-production to engage and empower individuals and groups to represent themselves as active citizens and to shape and inform their neighbourhoods, supports and services.

Contact: noortje@workhouseunion.com

Mark Girling, Administrator

Mark Girling has 30 years of experience in the community sector and is a trained and certified accounting technician and bookkeeper. Mark brings lived experience of developing intentional communities with a particular interest in sustainability and education. Mark was a coordinator with Trasna Productions in 2019/20 of the Creating the Future We Want process and report, looking at Camphill’s impact in County Kilkenny over 40 years. In addition, he has various roles supporting Kilkenny Steiner School. Mark worked in Camphill Jerpoint for 18 years, and for five years, he was part of the management team with oversight of training and maintenance systems. Mark joined the Workhouse Union team in 2022 and is busy implementing administrative systems to support and strengthen our core creative and community work.

Contact: admin@workhouseunion.com

Michelle McMahon recently joined as the PrintBlock Callan technician and facilitator. Michelle is a visual artist, primarily concentrated on the art of print-making and an established workshop facilitator working with women’s community groups through the Brat Bride Project. She is currently a commissioned artist as part of The Acorn Projects’ ‘Leave the Long Grass Grow’ collaboration.

Contact: printblock@workhouseunion.com

Associate Team

Paul Bokslag, Workshop Facilitator and Designer

Paul Bokslag is a visual artist, designer and facilitator from the Netherlands, based in Callan, Co. Kilkenny. He co-founded KCAT Arts Centre and has worked as a Creative Associate for Helium Arts. He works across a range of media, from drawing, painting, printmaking, papercutting, photography and type design to sculpture and murals. He regularly collaborates on design and community engagement projects with Workhouse Union and brings a highly creative and inventive approach to group facilitation. Other clients include Kilkenny Leader Partnership, National Design & Craft Gallery, Kilkenny County Council, Dublin City Council Heritage Office, Archeology & Build Heritage Ltd and Camphill Initiatives for Social Inclusion.

paulbokslag.com

Liz Nilsson, Workshop Facilitator and Designer

Liz is a multi-disciplinary artist, facilitator, curator and yoga teacher who has lived in Dublin since 2000. Originally from Southern Sweden, she shares her time between Dublin and her birthplace. Liz is a co-founder of PrintBlock, which relocated to Workhouse Union in 2020; it operated as a collective in Dublin since 2010 – with a shared vision to develop the Irish textile printing industry. Liz is central to reimagining the textile screen printing studio within the broader Callan and Kilkenny creative ecology– opening up the studio to designers, artists, craftspeople, community groups and social enterprise opportunities.

lizinspires.com

Workhouse Assembly, 2013

Previous team members include: Sinead Phelan (Research Producer), Eilís Lavelle (Co-Director/Curator); Hollie Kearns (Co-Founder/Curator); Orlaith Treacy (Producer/Curator) and Etaoin Holahan (Curator)

Recent and current artists, architects and designers that we are working with include: An Endless Supply, Michelle Browne, Eimear O’Connell, Ed Devane, Andrea Doyle, Kate Fahey, Bridget O’Gorman, Kate Griffin, Tim Harper, Islander Architects, Gareth Kennedy, Mollie A King, LiD Architecture, Sarah Lincoln, Ruth E Lyons, Méahé Design (Kaye Toland and Amber Perng), Deirdre O’Mahony, Fiona McDonald, Jennie Moran, Marielle MacLeman, Ita Morrissey, Ríonach Ní Néill, Rosie O’Reilly, Vagabond Reviews, Studio Weave, Todo Por La Praxis, Uncertain Futures, Luis Vega, Katherine Waugh, Jane Walker and Lucas Wilson.

Patrick Lydon, 1950 – 2022

Workhouse Union is indebted to the vision and support of Patrick Lydon, a collaborator, co-creator, mentor and friend. In January 2022, he passed away after his illness with Motor Neurone Disease. Patrick’s belief in the social good of creativity and community and his support of new future-orientated initiatives over many years has seen Callan become a place where the arts flourish in a supportive and inclusive way. Our profound thanks to Patrick for our strong foundations and inspiration.