The word “site” refers to “the spatial location of an actual or planned structure or set of structures”, or alternatively describes “the place, scene or point of an occurrence or event”.

Both of these definitions have meaning in the context of the 2009 Fine Art and Ceramic Design Honours Degree Show. This evening, and throughout the coming week, you, the visitor, will observe and experience physical objects and structures as well as intangible or transient constructs.

During the past months we at the CIT Crawford College of Art & Design have been challenged to look beyond our own “site” – to move beyond the boundaries of our building – to transcend our “site” both conceptually and geographically. To succeed in this we will rely on our graduates and our partners in the city and beyond. A new dialogue has commenced and I know that we will succeed in meeting this challenge.

Our students will soon become our graduates, and we are rightly proud of the achievements of this year’s students. There is an association in many people’s minds of the word “site” with the concept of a “building site”. Here on this “site”, in this Show, the foundations have been laid for 46 future careers of practising artists, teachers, creators.

With this in mind, I urge you to put on your hard hat, inspect those foundations, and be confident, as I am, that they are solid and will endure. Enjoy!

Orla Flynn
Acting Head