Funded through the Big lottery Fund’s Culture for All programme, Stendhal will be providing four eight-week workshops which will include; Photography skills, Music making, Ceramic Sculpture skills and Crocheting.

The photography workshops will commence in the Roe Valley Arts and Cultural centre on February 20 with four weeks of Photoshop skills training. This four week course will help participants aged 16+ who would like to learn basic Photoshop skills or refresh their knowledge using the Adobe Photoshop computer programme. If you would like to get creative with your photos, and learn some basic tips on how to enhance your photos, remove unwanted objects, or blend images together, then this is the course for you.

Local photographer and Photoshop tutor Rachel Cassidy will teach you the tools you need to help you develop the confidence to use Photoshop to meet your individual needs and fully utilize the programme.
Participants are asked to bring their own laptops with Adobe Photoshop CS2 or CS3 already installed.

The Belfast Exposed traditional black and white photography workshop will then run for the following four weeks, beginning on Thursday March 20. Week one will be an introduction to traditional black and white photography and will introduce participants to new skills and an understanding of photo composition.

Week two will feature a guide to darkroom film processing, week three will be an all encompassing dark room workshop and week four will focus on editing.

The Pottery/Ceramic Sculpture workshop also begins on Thursday February 20 as artist McCall Gilfillan will work with the theme of folk stories and legends of the Roe Valley. Using clay carving and sculpting techniques we will explore stories of our area in a new way. Sculpting with clay is a wonderful sensory experience. All ages are welcome and no previous pottery or ceramic experience is necessary. Come in comfortable clothing, aprons are recommended. For questions feel free to contact McCall: [email protected].

The classes will take place at the Keady Claghan, a wonderful venue on the Ringsend Road that champions all kinds of creativity. There is only space for 10 participants in the pottery workshops, so book your space early to avoid disappointment. If travel is an issue, we will do our best to provide a means for you to get out to the Keady Claghan and back home again.

The popular Valley Wool School will return with their popular Crochet workshop at the Roe Valley Arts and Cultural Centre. Last year the workshop focused on creating a wonderful woollen woodland for the festival but this year will focus on more practical applications for Crocheting. The crochet workshops will take place at the Roe Valley Arts and Cultural Centre on Monday nights, beginning on February 17.

These particular workshops were a great success for all involved last year and branched out into the local community by visiting places such as Thackeray Place, where the residents there got into the festival spirit by knitting the cover for a tree which doubled as a petition tree to help keep the home open.

The Music Making Workshop will welcome musicians of all ages and abilities to the Roe Valley Arts and Cultural Centre on Thursday February 20, where we will once again collaborate in making beautiful music in order to take to the streets of Limavady to raise money for charity with a big busk.

Places on the Photography, Photoshop and Pottery workshops are limited so to book a place or make any general enquiries, please send an email to [email protected]

Event Director at Stendhal Festival of Art, Ross Parkhill, said that the workshops are for people of all ages and levels of experience and are a great way to bring members of the community together to explore their creativity.
“The idea of community spirit is one of the key ideals we try to promote with the festival,” said Ross.
“We hope that people take advantage of this opportunity to make new friends and learn new skills.”