Courts of Justice Art Exhibition 2010

St. Paul's Secondary School, Greenhills

The purpose of the “Courts of Justice” Art Exhibition Project was:

to broaden our student’s knowledge of the Irish Courts and Legal System . This supplements & enhances the study of C.S.P.E and S.P.H.E for some and or Legal Studies at senior cycle for others.
through the medium of Art, to enable and facilitate student exploration of the courts and legal system aesthetically. This encapsulates the schools Mission which is ‘the holistic development of students’.
to maximise creative explorative learning using the mediums of art, puppetry, fieldwork, music and ICT to visually articulate and demonstrate students’ interpretations and understanding of legal concepts such as criminality justice & punishment; the roles, rights and responsibilities of the various participants in the legal process; the criminal trial process; and the function of the Courts.
to create ‘institutional’ synergy and educational partnership between the Courts and our school by informing and sharing students’ ‘interpretations’ of law with the wider legal community thus giving real meaningful effect to the legislatures mandate of affording due regard to the ‘voice of the child’.
to create broader community synergy by having the students work exhibited and viewed by the public in a legal setting. This not only affirms each student’s efforts but also creates positive access to and experience of legal institutions and personnel.

It was envisaged that the ‘learning design’ would be broad enough to ensure:

that a curriculum based approach would be adopted and used by the Art department and that the cross-curricular dimension would be the instrument used to add breath and depth.
active student engagement where the emphasis would be placed on the learning ‘process’ as facilitated by the teachers rather than ‘outcome’.
Peer mentoring and teamwork.
‘inclusiveness’ by inviting all students to participate with a specific mandate to target SEN students and those from culturally diverse backgrounds.
that all participants work and achievement would be celebrated in an non competitive forum.

[i]The following aims of the ArtDepartment had to be formalised separately to conform with school policy in that regard:

To assist and encourage junior, senior and transition year art students to produce Art pieces for the exhibition. At senior cycle ,the project will extend to include a study of the work of James Gandon (Leaving Certificate Art Syllabus).
To heightened student awareness of the Four Courts as a historic building through problem-solving and exploration of different media. The cultural process will be explored through drawing, painting, mixed media, pattern design, puppetry, graphic design, calligraphy, imaginary composition and 3D modeling and construction.