The Ark For Children And Family Events
Ark Events introduces children to the joy, wonder and creativity of the arts, and plays a vital role in raising the standard of culture for children. Here, in a unique building designed specifically for them, children aged 2 to 12 explore everything from theatre, music and literature to painting, film, dance and more. They discover what it means to be an artist, from respected professional artists. There’s no better way to nurture hungry young imaginations, or to inspire a lifelong journey through culture.
Find Out More About … The Ark A Cultural Centre For Children
The Ark’s programmes are often interactive. There is making and doing as well as listening and viewing. Their staff members work closely with small groups of children to ensure high-quality and personally meaningful experiences.
The Ark booking office is open Tuesday – Friday from 10 am-4:30 pm, and one hour before performances and workshops on weekends and in the evening. Outside these times, you can book online. Opening hours for exhibitions, workshops and performances vary – please check relevant event page on the website for full details.
The Ark Events Coming Your Way
To Find Events and More Information on any of The Ark Events and Workshops
Booking Online:– You can book any of the events online here through our booking link directly to The Ark Events ticket sales
Booking: Tel: 01 6707788
Family Fun Note – In the interests of the best possible experience for the audience and performers, we ask that you respect the age guide of the show. If you have any questions about the age guide then do contact the box office team via email or 016707788.
Me & The City – Visual Art Workshops
Discover and explore the colours and textures of a city and its environment and how architects and artists create the iconic buildings, sculptures and street art within it.
Have you ever stood in front of Dublin’s famous Spire and wondered what the city looks like from the top? What shape it makes, from the foot of the Wicklow Mountains, along the river and between the canals? You could count its many bridges and see how different each one is, or marvel at the coloured lights from the many new buildings as they shimmer and play in the water of the Liffey as it flows out to meet the sea.
Creative Workshop Schedule: 3 March – 7 April
Every Saturday (excl 17 March) & Bank Holiday Mon 19 March
To start each workshop, you will visit our gallery, which will be full of displays that will explore the creation of cities, their architecture and diverse habitats. You will see plans that show the design process of urban spaces as well as architectural drawings, sketchbooks, photographs and 3D models.
After exploring the gallery, you will take part in a fun, practical visual arts workshop with artist Jole Bortoli. There are different workshops each week:
- A New Building for Dublin
Sat 3 March @ 11.30am (Ages 5-7) & 2pm (Ages 8-12)
Drawing and 3D mixed media workshop. Have you got any original ideas for a new building that Dublin would be proud of? What would it look like? Who would live there? Where would it be placed? In this workshop you will have the opportunity to design and build a model building of your own. - Spectacular Street Art
Ages 5-7: Sat 10, Sat 24 & Mon 19 March @ 11.30am
Ages 8-12: Sat 10 March @ 2pm
Drawing and painting workshop. Dublin is full of colourful murals. Have you seen any? On the side of many buildings you can spot skillfully done large-scale paintings. Some depict realistic subjects and some are abstract designs. What subject would you paint if you had the choice? What would passers-by see that would catch their interest and perhaps take a photo? Come with your ideas and paint one! Workshops on Mon 19 March are presented in partnership with St Patrick’s Festival - Spires, Towers & Imaginative Structures
Ages 8-12: Mon 19 & Sat 24 March @ 2pm
Mixed media workshop. Dublin has the Spire, Paris the Eiffel Tower and New York has the Statue of Liberty but perhaps you would like to design and make a new landmark monument or structure for your city today. Would that be a new bridge across the Liffey? An imaginative tower or a play-structure for a square of park? In this workshop you will create an original avant-garde structure using a wide variety of materials and textures.
Workshops on Mon 19 March are presented in partnership with St Patrick’s Festival - What’s in a City?
Sat 31 March @ 11.30am (Ages 5-7) & 2pm (Ages 8-12)
Mixed media workshop. In this workshop you will have the opportunity to learn, observe and to explore built spaces through the senses. You will, draw, feel and transform spaces using a wide selection of materials and textures and fill these spaces with ‘street furniture’ (objects and pieces of equipment installed along streets and roads for various purposes) that are found in any modern city environment, or invent new ones that may be essential for the functioning of a city of the future, for its citizens young and old, and for their working life and leisure.
Tickets –
Dates & Times – Every Saturday (excl 17 March) & Bank Holiday Mon 19 March
Age Guide – Recommended for Ages 5-7 & Ages 8-12
Duration – 90 mins.
Please note:
In the interests of the best possible experience for everyone involved, the Ark ask that you respect the age guide of the workshop. If you have any questions about the age guide then do contact us via email [email protected] or 016707788
Early Years Workshops: My Town
The youngest participants can also get involved with Me & The City with these gentle, creative workshops for Ages 2-4.
Visual artist Jane Groves invites you to investigate a sense of place in this hands-on experience for teh very young and their grown-ups. The session is structured to inspire young imaginations through stories and the playful building of a dream city. There will be places to plant flowers, build towers and the chance to paint the town red, green and purple!
Tickets –
Dates & Times – Thu 8, Thu 15, Thu 22 & Sat 24 March @ 10am (Ages 2-3) & 11.15am (Ages 3-4)
Age Guide – Recommended for Ages 2-3 & Ages 3-4
Duration – 45 mins
Please note:
In the interests of the best possible experience for everyone involved, the Ark ask that you respect the age guide of the workshop. If you have any questions about the age guide then do contact us via email [email protected] or 016707788.
4-Day Visual Art Camps
Be part of the youngest architectural design team in town! During this enjoyable and highly creative camp you will work in groups to plan, design and build a model for The Children’s Quarter, a new urban development and landmark for the city of Dublin.
From brainstorming and then sketching ideas, you will then create detailed drawings and construct 3D models. Working with artist Jole Bortoli, you will be one of the lead architects who will contribute to creating a model city of the future. A city every child would want to live in and urban planners would want to consult you about.
- “Architecture begins with an idea.” Louis Kahn, Architect
You will learn about some of the most well-known architects of today, where they get their ideas from and how they transform ideas into inspiring built spaces. - “Architecture is frozen music.”Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Writer.
You will contribute to design and build models for built spaces that are in harmony with its youngest inhabitants and its environment. - “In a city the atmosphere is all around you and is ever changing.”Alvaro Siza, Architect
Not only will you be the architect, but also the sculptor, the street artist and the structural engineer who will work to transform a hypothetical area of the city into a colourful and vibrant space.
A detailed day-by-day schedule for the 4-day camps will follow at a later stage.
Please note that this is a 4 day course for children aged 8-12. Individual days cannot be booked. In the interest of the best possible experience for all participants, we ask that you respect the age guide.
Tickets
Dates & Times –
Camp 1 –Mon 26 – Thu 29 March 2018 @ 10am-2pm each day
Camp 2 – Tue 3-Fri 6 April @ 10am-2pm each day
Age Guide – Recommended for Ages 8 – 12 years
Duration – 4 day camp.
Please note:
The camp includes a lunch break each day so children will need to be provided with a packed lunch. This is a 4 day course. Individual days cannot be booked.
The Ark Opening Times
The Ark booking office is open Monday-Friday from 10am-4:30pm, and one hour before performances and workshops on weekends and in the evening. Outside these times, you can book online. Opening hours for exhibitions, workshops and performances vary – please check relevant events.
Directions To The Ark
The Ark is located in the heart of Temple Bar, on Eustace Street, which links Dame Street, at the South Great George’s Street junction, and the Quays, at the Millennium Bridge.
Car
The Fleet Street (Temple Bar) Car Park is located just off Westmoreland Street. As soon as you enter Westmoreland Street turn left for Fleet Street and the car park is on the left (opposite The Morgan Hotel).
The Fleet Street car park rate for visitors to The Ark is €5 for 3 hours. Any additional hours are charged at €3.10 per hour. To avail of the parking rate please present your ticket stub from The Ark, along with your parking ticket, when paying at the cash desk prior to collecting your car.
To get from the car park to The Ark, walk straight down Fleet Street, through Temple Bar Square and East Essex Street. Then take a left turn onto Eustace Street. The Ark is located just up the street on the right.
Bus
Take any bus to Dame Street or College Green. Walk down Dame Street and turn onto Eustace Street. The Ark is located halfway down the street on the left.
Dame Street is serviced by the following Dublin Bus services: 16; 16a; 19; 19a; 121; 122; 123; 49; 49a; 50; 51b; 51c; 54a; 56a; 77; 77a; 78a; 150; 151.
College Green is serviced by the following Dublin Bus services: 16; 16a; 19; 19a; 121; 122 123; 4; 7; 10; 10a; 11; 11a; 19; 19a; 46a.
Dart
Get out at Tara Street Dart Station and walk up the Quays, turning left when you reach the Millennium Bridge onto Eustace Street. The Ark is located just up the street on the right.
Luas
Red Line Luas (from Tallaght/Connelly): Get out at the Jervis stop.
Walk down through the Italian Quarter and cross the Millennium Bridge. You are now at the end of Eustace Street. The Ark is just up the street on the right.
Green Line Luas (from Sandyford/St Stephen’s Green): Get out at Stephens Green stop.
Walk down through Grafton Street. Take the left turn just after Brown Thomas onto Wicklow Street to Great George’s Street. Turn right and walk to Dame Street. Cross the road and turn onto Eustace Street. The Ark is located halfway down the street on the left.
