FINAL Year students from Limerick School of Art & Design, LIT have overcome the limitations of the COVID-19 pandemic by launching the showcase of their graduate work on a special online platform.
IMPACT, the Limerick School of Art & Design Graduate Showcase of 2020, was launched on Saturday, May 30, featuring a specially commissioned 45-minute documentary produced former student Pat Short together with current lecturer Simon Maguire.
A significant part of Limerick’s vibrant arts calendar for decades, The LSAD Graduate Show attracts national and international attention but could not take place as usual on the Clare street Campus due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Staff and students, determined that these restrictions would not deter them from showcasing the work of this year’s talented artists, designers and creators, busied themselves making the 2020 online graduate showcase one of the best ever.
LIT Dean of Limerick School of Art and Design and Director of Cultural Engagement Mike Fitzpatrick explained while the college supporters previous graduate shows wit an online showcase over the past six years, “this year it has come into its own as the sole means of presenting our graduate’s work”.
Mr Fitzpatrick said, “It is the Graduate Show of 2020 – celebrating the resilience, creativity and talent of our final year students.
“This year’s LSAD Graduates have produced great creative projects while working remotely online, coming up with homemade solutions that ensured even this pandemic did not stop them.”
To celebrate the achievement Mr Fitzpatrick said the LSAD Graduate Online Showcase was launched in “a typical LSAD style” with a specially commissioned video.
“This year’s show also features the work of LSAD, LIT Graduates across fifteen programmes, from Limerick City Centre Clare St Campus, Moylish Campus and Clonmel Campus. We are delighted to welcome our first graduates from Music Technology & Production and Creative Broadcast & Film Production on this platform,” he said.
The online showcase features the work of final year graduates from Animation & Motion Design, Creative Broadcast & Film Production, Ceramic Design, Creative Media and Design, Digital Animation Production, Fashion Design, Fashion & Textiles for Product & Costume, Game Art & Design, Graphic Design Communication, Music Technology & Production, Painting, Photography Film Video, Print Contemporary Practice, Sculpture & Combined Media and Professional Masters of Education in Art and Design with Digital Media.
President of LIT Professor Vincent Cunnane paid tribute to all those who helped make IMPACT the Limerick School of Art & Design Graduate Show of 2020 happen in challenging circumstances – the academics, technicians, administrators, students union, support staff and most importantly the 2020 graduates.
“This graduate showcase has been brought together under exceptional circumstances. It has been a very difficult time for our staff and students, but the indomitable spirit of LSAD and LIT has shone through,” Said the LIT President.
He highlighted the 228 “highly talented” people leaving the Limerick School of Art and Design, students who have “come through the most difficult of times”.
He said, “They have been focused. They have been guided by staff who have taken every precaution to make sure their students were able to achieve their goals. They have succeeded in producing a collection of work they can be proud of.”
Professor Cunnane wished all the graduates of 20202 “every success as they move on from LIT, LSAD and look forward to seeing even more of their work into the future”.
You can view the LSAD, LIT Graduate Show here.
