No space for children who act on impulse

There is a poster-sized information sheet about The Ark prominently displayed both outside and inside this purpose-designed arts centre for children in Dublin's Temple Bar. It states clearly and succinctly what The Ark is and what goes on inside.

But, I ask myself again and again, why do I feel disappointed when I read this resume of the function and format of events in this wonderful place, which has a theatre to seat 150 people and two floors of workshop and exhibition space dedicated to children right in the heart of our capital city?

My disappointment, I realise, is linked to two specific questions, the answers to which encapsulate the policy of The Ark over the last five years of its existence. The reply to the first question - Is there a permanent exhibition? - is "The Ark is not a centre which you can visit on a `drop-in' basis to view a permanent exhibition or a fixed programme." With a follow-on sentence on the programming of plays, exhibitions, workshops, concerts, readings and performances - virtually all of which must be booked in advance.

Take, for example, the forthcoming word-wide festival of storytelling which runs from April 19th to May 9th. There is an exciting line-up of visiting storytellers from England, Wales and Scotland, and illustrators from Ireland. Yet the whole format of the festival is - as usual - made up of book-in-advance workshops and performances. While these are often excellent, my gripe is that there should also be a less formal dimension to all events. If I were a foreign visitor to Dublin aged between 3 and 14, I would find it very difficult to gain access to this centre, which describes itself as "Europe's only arts centre dedicated to children". The absence of this "drop-in" dimension is a huge loss not only to foreign visitors but also to the majority of children whose parents just happen to be in Dublin for the day. The second question on this resume that irritates me is: Can I just walk around and see what's on? And the reply, "Sorry, not normally. Firstly, if there are children participating in programmes we give them priority and don't allow others to wander through while they are working. Secondly, because what we do is very often `hands-on' or `process-based', there are not always `finished' works to view." While I appreciate that groups of children involved in workshops shouldn't be disturbed, surely there is room to accommodate a small exhibition space for some of the work produced from such workshops. Process-based work is sometimes just as interesting and inspiring for children as work produced by adults or children specifically for exhibition purposes.

In my view, not including some sort of permanent exhibition space for children to call in to see is a serious gap in policy for The Ark. When contacted on this point, The Ark's general manager, Clodagh O'Brien, stated that "you cannot be a drop-in venue sometimes and a pre-book venue at other times". Why not? "The philosophy underpinning The Ark is that the children have a high-quality encounter with art where there is a strong emphasis on the process and hands-on interaction, rather than an non-mediated looking-and-listening experience," she adds.

But can we truly differentiate between the "quality of encounter" of children when they visit an arts centre on a drop-in basis as opposed to watching a performance or participating in a workshop? I would argue that the quality of a child's encounter with the arts - performance, workshop or exhibition - depends on many other factors. These include how comfortable they feel in the space and with the animators, how happy/open to new experiences they are at the time and what preceded the visit - in terms of how well they were getting on with their friends or family. They could have a high quality encounter just as easily when viewing and responding to a wacky interactive multimedia exhibit as when attending a small pre-booked workshop led by puppeteers, illustrators or musicians.

In my view, creating an on-going exhibition programme, based both on work produced at in-house workshops (without the participating children feeling they have to "produce" good work, of course) and visiting shows, is an area which certainly should be addressed by the new artistic director, once he/she is appointed. And this leads me to my next point: if there is an exhibition to view, there should be a space to respond to it. The availability of space for children to enjoy the process of creativity - to draw, paint, write or make things drawn from a magic box of materials - on a drop-in basis - should be a fundamental part of an arts centre for children. Take the Irish Museum of Modern Art, for example. Not an institution dedicated to children. Yet, there is a lovely large, bright room set aside for children to draw in. Little tables are lined up with cushions to sit on and paper and crayons to work with. There is even a big notice board where the children can display their finished work - leaving behind their signed pieces as part of an informal exhibition for everyone to view.

Any time I have visited the children's room at IMMA, there have not been more than four or five children using the space. So we are not talking about the need for huge supervisory roles for staff members. The National Museum in Kildare Street and at Collins Barracks also makes a special effort for its younger visitors by providing activity sheets for different age groups. They are filled with questions which test the children's observation and interpretative skills while they wander around the large exhibits. The younger children are asked to colour in simplified drawings of specific exhibits. Even ENFO, the environmental exhibition and resource centre, has a table for children to draw and write at as well as giant-sized jigsaws of birds to make. So why can't The Ark - a dedicated space for children - not set aside some of its floor space for children to use on a drop-in basis? Such an opportunity for spontaneous interaction with art should be central to its activities.

sthompson@irish-times-ie