Media
‘New public artworks explores what influences modern masculinity’
By Enda O’ Dowd, Irish Times, 24 May ’21, on the occasion of the launch of the What Does He Need? audio piece and public posters by Fiona Whelan, Brokentalkers and Rialto Youth Project, in partnership with The LAB gallery.
What Does He Need? at IMMA. Interview with artists Fiona Whelan and Feidlim Cannon
By: Artbeat
Source: Dublin City FM
Date: 30 March 2022
Writing
Presentations
Conference: ‘Boys in the Making | On Masculinity and Method’
A critical engagement with the methodology and emerging themes of the Boys in the Making programme. A conference marking the end of a month long exhibition and programme of events at the NCAD Gallery.
Convened by: Dr Fiona Whelan, Dannielle McKenna and Dr Ciaran Smyth
Location: National College of Art and Design
Date: 14 Feb. 2025
Presentation ‘Reflections on Collaborative Arts and Youth Work Practice’, as part of the CFA event ‘Shaping Ireland’s Creative Future: Measuring What Matters’,
As part of the event ‘Shaping Ireland’s Creative Future: Measuring What Matters’, artist Fiona Whelan and youth worker Gillian O Connor reflected on their collaboration through Boys in the Making, discussing the importance of long-term relationship-building, resisting short-term individualised metrics, and creating space for young people to shape their own narratives.
Convened by: Creative Futures Academy
Location: Royal Irish Academy of Music
Date: 24 March 2026
Boys in the Making – a presentation &panel discussion at Arts Council England conference ‘Engaging Communities in Arts and Culture’
Presentation by: Dannielle McKenna & Michael Byrne (Rialto Youth Project), Dr Fiona Whelan (Artist and Educator) and Aaron Sunderland Carey (Artist), in conversation with Patrick Fox and Kate Houlton (Heart of Glass, Merseyside UK)
Location: The Lowry, Salford, UK
Date: 3 April 2025
Boys in the Making – inside the methodology (A keynote presentation)
Presentation by: Dannielle McKenna (Rialto Youth Project), Dr Fiona Whelan (Artist and Educator) and Aaron Sunderland Carey (Artist) – a keynote address as part of the ‘Shared Learning Day’ for PME2, staff and colleagues, hosted by Dr Angela Rickard.
Location: Maynooth University, School of Education
Date: 1 May 2025
Introducing What Does He Need? & Boys in the Making – St Helens, a developing collaboration with Heart of Glass (Merseyside, UK)
Presentation by: Dannielle McKenna (Rialto Youth Project), Dr Fiona Whelan (Artist and Educator), Feidlim Cannon (Brokentalkers) and Dara Clear (writer, teacher and performer), in conversation with Suzanne Dempsey Sawin and Kate Houlton (Heart of Glass). Introducing What Does He Need? and Boys in the Making – St Helens pilot being developed in collaboration with Heart of Glass and partners to local stakeholders, youth organisations and education spaces.
Location: World of Glass, St Helens, UK
Date: 22nd March 2024
What Does He Need? – a presentation on methodology
By: Dr Fiona Whelan
Event: ‘Behavioural Economics And Commoning Practices; From Cultural Value To Social Wealth’ – An international symposium as part of the SPACEX-RISE research action. Spatial Practices in Art and ArChitecture for Empathetic EXchange (SPACEX) is an interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral knowledge-transfer and research initiative.
Convened by: National College of Art and Design
Date: 3 March 2023
Drawing by Aoife Balfe