The Irish language is one of the oldest languages in Europe, having been spoken in Ireland for over 3,000 years. It was once the native language of all people living in Ireland, but today the Irish language is listed as endangered by the global cultural heritage organization UNESCO. Irish continues to be spoken predominantly in smaller Gaeltacht communities, many of which are located in rural areas in the south and west of Ireland. However, a powerful language reclamation movement is taking shape across Ireland and in the vast Irish diaspora. Dr. Kristin Dowell, associate professor of Indigenous Art & Film, is a proud speaker of the endangered Irish language.  This summer she received a Seed Grant from the FSU Council on Research + Creativity and a College of Fine Arts Dean’s Faculty Travel Award to support her research on the Irish language, art, and media production.

Dr. Dowell traveled to Inis Meáin, in the Aran Islands off the west coast of Ireland, for a week-long Irish language immersion program taught by Aedín Ní Thiarnaigh. She describes the encompassing experience of the workshop and the location:

Tá Inis Meáin áit fíor speisialta – Inis Meáin is truly a special place. This beautiful island with verdant green fields and dry-stacked stone walls has only 180 residents, and Irish is the language of daily life. The week-long program also included traditional cultural activities such as basketweaving, fishing, sean-nós singing and dancing, as well as visits to historic sites with local Knowledge Keepers.

While in Ireland Dr. Dowell also attended the Galway International Arts Festival and carried out research in archives and collections at the ESB Centre for the Study of Irish Art at the National Gallery of Ireland, the National Irish Visual Arts Library, and the National Library of Ireland in Dublin.

She also visited the studios of artists Méadhbh O’Connor and Miriam de Búrca,whose art works, along with the work of eight other artists, will be featured in an exhibition that Dowell is curating for FSU’s Museum of Fine Arts. Talamh agus Teanga: Land and Language in Contemporary Irish Art, the first exhibition of Irish art at MoFA, will be on view from January 25^th, 2024—May 18^th, 2024 and is supported by the Florida Humanities Council, the Florida Department of State, Culture Ireland and an Emigrant Support Programme Heritage Grant through the Government of Ireland’s Global Irish Program.

This multidisciplinary exhibition features the work of ten Irish women artists, some of whom are native speakers of Irish and make art work in and about the Irish language. Through dance, performance, music, installations, media art, painting, drawing and sculpture these artists explore fite fuaite, the dynamic interconnected relationships between people, language, land and sea.

Dr. Alison Reilly (PhD ’23) recently joined the School of Art and Art History at the University of South Florida (USF) in Tampa, Florida as Visiting Assistant Instructor. At USF, Dr. Reilly is currently developing and serving as the instructor for a pioneering Contemporary Art survey course focusing on significant themes explored through art spanning the years 1980 to the present day.

Dr. Reilly’s recent appointment also provides her with the unique opportunity to incorporate her extensive knowledge of exhibition history and curatorial practices into her courses. Drawing from her formative academic studies under her advisor at FSU, Dr. Adam Jolles, Dr. Reilly is now instrumental in shaping hybrid seminars for both graduate and undergraduate students.  At USF, she also created Modern and Contemporary Art seminars that investigate pivotal exhibitions mounted in the twentieth century and artists who have taken on the dual role of both artist and curator from the late-twentieth century through the early-twenty-first century.

I am grateful for the exceptional mentorship I received from my professors at FSU, which provided me with the skills to design a range of engaging courses on Modern and Contemporary Art. Of course, I will always consider Dr. Jolles’ Museum History class as the cornerstone of my academic journey. His course made me aware of the intricate interplay that occurs between art, its displays, and its reception. I now have the opportunity to share information about museum, exhibition, and curatorial practices with a new generation of students.