Semblance is a new sculpture commission for Scoíl Bhríde National School in Edenderry, Co Offaly. The sculpture was created via arts participation in collaboration with 100 students, staff members and contributions from local authors.

Project Curation: Rina Whyte Public Art Curator.

Year: 2023

Funded by: Office of Public Works Percent for Art Scheme.

The concept for this new sculpture which celebrates the building of the new 600 pupil school connects ideas about heritage, community, inclusion, friendship, nature, place and spirituality. A series of 636 laser cut letters in mirror polished stainless steel were fabricated to form the sculpture.  The text for the sculpture is composed of a series of words selected by 5th and 6th class students that are important to them. It connects the folklore and myth that surrounds Edenderry with a sense of place. It also includes texts from local songwriter Liam Lawton and Poet Dr Phillip Brady. The work was created in collaboration with 5th and 6th class students through a series of site visits to local archaeological and places of interest. On site workshops in making folklore objects were conducted with Heritage specialist Melanie Lorien carried out with all the students in the school. Site visits included the The Grand Canal (Virtual), Blundell Castle, Edenderry Town Hall and others. Semblance was launched on 7 Febuary 2023. The sculpture was made possible using advanced computational design and fabrication methods. Special thanks to Jess Matterer (Bremen-Germany) and Amir Khazaei (Tehran-Iran) along with Olandi Engineering Castlebar, Co Mayo.