CONSTRuCT Exhibition Catalogue

During the academic year 2014/15, under the guidance of Louise O'Boyle a multi-disciplinary group of eleven undergraduate students from Belfast School of Art worked with the Northern Ireland Office, Belfast and the Office of Public Works, Dublin to select artworks from their respective public art collections for a group show which would tour to four venues throughout the island of Ireland from September 2015-January 2016. The students had complete control of the shows theme, selection of artworks, catalogue design and its content. They worked with the curators and staff in each of the two governmentʼs departments to understand more thoroughly the role of public art collections andgain a richer understanding of contemporary curatorial practices. A key component of the project was the studentsʼ examination of the role of the artist within society.Louise O'Boyle has written the introductory essay and outlines how she designed the project to encourage and support the students to become active agents in their learning experience. While student engagement with public bodies is nothing new within highereducation, this project aimed to innovate a new approach to the delivery of writing andcritical analysis skills, in a format that was inclusive and equitable for all learners.