WHO WE ARE

Welcome to
young at art

Young at Art, Northern Ireland’s leading arts provider for children and young people, is home to the flagship Belfast Children’s Festival in March each year. We also engage with children and adults year-round through our Education & Engagement and Professional Development programmes and much, much more.

Who We Are
Young at Art believes passionately that every child should have the right to access exciting and original creative experiences, regardless of who they are or where they come from. As such most of its programme is universally accessible. Behind the scenes work such as the Creative Child engagement programme try to overcome barriers to access – economic, educational, social and physical.
The company believes that arts provision should be FOR children and young people as well as BY children and young people. In this, it promotes child-inspired work by professional artists with an emphasis on performance and exhibition content over participatory activities.

Our Strategic Framework

Who We Are

Welcome to Young at Art, home of the flagship Belfast Children’s Festival, Special Events & Activities, our Education & Engagement and Professional Development programmes and much, much more. Make yourself at home!

We believe that every child has the right to access exciting and original creative experiences, no matter who they are or where they’re from.

We believe arts provision should be FOR children and young people as well as BY children and young people. We promote child-inspired work by professional artists and develop child-led programmes and activities.

What do we do?

Create and curate exceptional and innovative arts experiences for all children and young people.

Why do we do it?

The world needs creative people.

How do we do it?

By being Changemakers, Risktakers and Placemakers…

Accessibility and Inclusivity

At Young at Art, we believe every child/young person has the right to access quality arts experiences no matter who they are or where they come from. We actively work to identify barriers to attendance and introduce measures to reduce those barriers to ensure accessibility and equality of opportunity. We respect and celebrate diversity, and diverse models of family.
For families with additional and special needs, we have a range of initiatives to make their festival visits as accessible and inclusive as possible including our ‘Access All Areas’ programme with tailored performances and support provisions, use of welcoming and accessible venues, low-cost ticket prices and plenty of free activity, trained ‘welcome hosts’ and clear, accessible information on these initiatives in our marketing and communications.
Who We Are
Who We Are

commitment to
sustainability

Young at Art is committed to working more sustainably and being a changemaker for sustainability
with the next generation.

As an international arts festival, we aim to strike a balance when presenting the best international,
national and local arts experiences to our audiences with minimising our impact on the environment
and ensuing ongoing access to the arts.

Young at Art / Belfast Children’s Festival is a Silver-certified Green Tourism event (December 2023)
participating in the scheme with support from Belfast City Council and Visit Belfast. Through our
participation in various working groups and sectoral initiatives, we take the opportunity to
benchmark our actions ensuring best practice, improved standards and shared advice. Led by our
Green Champion, our team continually review our activity for ways to further reduce our impact
whether it be through procurement, travel and transport, energy-management and programming.
We encourage our audiences, artists and partners to join us on this journey.

Our Environmental and Sustainable Development Policy can be viewed and downloaded here.

If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact our Green Champion, our General Manager.
She can be contacted here.

Who We Are

OUR TEAM

A small, dedicated staff team oversee the delivery of our work by exceptional and experienced artists, project and production support. Our work is overseen by a voluntary Board of Directors, from the arts, education, youth and business sectors, who meet regularly and participate in active sub-committees.
Recruitment opportunities are openly advertised but we are always keen to hear from artists and makers, facilitators, events staff, students and others wanting to work or volunteer with us. If you would like to stay up to date on these opportunities, please sign up to our newsletter like our Facebook page or follow us on Twitter. Or you can contact us here.

If you think you could contribute as a Board member to our development, we are keen to hear from you too.

Who We Are

Eibhlín de Barra

Director
Who We Are

Kelly-Anne Collins

General Manager
Who We Are

Jackie Fauteux

Creative Producer
Who We Are

Mary McClelland

Executive Assistant, Marketing & Box Office Assistant
Who We Are

Becca Wilson

Education & Engagement Coordinator
Who We Are

Annie Nichol

Development Assistant
Who We Are

Julie Sherlock

Communications & Marketing Manager

OUR Board

Who We Are

Maria Lee

Acting Director of Education and Student Services, Queen’s University Belfast
Who We Are

Tom Maguire

Head of the School of Arts & Humanities, Ulster University
Who We Are

Cathy Law

Development Director, Campbell College
Who We Are

Ailbhe Greaney

Lecturer in Photography, Ulster University
Who We Are

Dee Harvey

Freelance Immersive Media Producer
Who We Are

Anna Busby

HR Business Partner, Dale Farm
Who We Are

Stephanie Johnston

Senior Associate Solicitor, Carson McDowell LLP

OUR Board

A small, dedicated staff team oversee the delivery of our work by exceptional and experienced artists, project and production support. Our work is overseen by a voluntary Board of Directors, from the arts, education, youth and business sectors, who meet regularly and participate in active sub-committees.
Recruitment opportunities are openly advertised but we are always keen to hear from artists and makers, facilitators, events staff, students and others wanting to work or volunteer with us. If you would like to stay up to date on these opportunities, please sign up to our newsletter like our Facebook page or follow us on Twitter. Or you can contact us here.

If you think you could contribute as a Board member to our development, we are keen to hear from you too.

Who We Are

Maria Lee

Acting Director of Education and Student Services, Queen’s University Belfast
Who We Are

Tom Maguire

Head of the School of Arts & Humanities, Ulster University
Who We Are

Cathy Law

Development Director, Campbell College
Who We Are

Ailbhe Greaney

Lecturer in Photography, Ulster University
Who We Are

Dee Harvey

Freelance Immersive Media Producer
Who We Are

Anna Busby

HR Business Partner, Dale Farm
Who We Are

Stephanie Johnston

Senior Associate Solicitor, Carson McDowell LLP
Who We Are