News
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TU Dublin School of Art and Design Graduate Exhibition 2025
15th May 2025
Opens daily: 30th May – 5th June, 10:00am – 5:00pm (closed Sunday, but will re-open bank holiday Monday)
Location: The East Quad building, TU Dublin, Grangegorman, D07 XFF2.
This is the fourth year that we have hosted our exhibition at the East Quad, the creative and cultural hub in the heart of TU Dublin’s Grangegorman Campus. The East Quad is home to our state-of-the-art new studios, workshops, practice, and performance spaces.
The exhibition is the highlight of the academic year for students and staff. It features an exciting, innovative range of work from over 200 degree students from our programmes in Fine Art, Product Design (in partnership with the School of Mechanical Engineering), Interior and Furniture Design, Visual Merchandising, Visual Communication Design, Creative Industries and Visual Culture, Film and Broadcasting, Game Design, Photography, and Journalism.
This year, we are also joined by the TU Dublin Conservatoire, which will host performances from Music graduates and screenings of Drama and Opera.
The work presented in this exhibition, print publication and on our GradX website represents the culmination of many years of full-time study. It allows our students to showcase the results of their imaginations, hard work and significant creative skills.
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Hidden Scientists/Hidden Creatives Exhibition 2025
6th May 2025
“Hidden Scientists/Hidden Creatives” is an annual poster exhibition highlighting the vital work of under-represented women in STEM and Graphic Design.
For this exhibition, the second-year TU973 B.A. (hons) Visual Communication Design students have honoured the work of underrepresented and marginalised women in science and the creative fields. By designing original posters by interpreting the style and aesthetics of female designers, the students created a series of posters highlighting the critical work of key female figures in science. The students completed this assignment in their Design and Career Management module.
This year, all the students who participated in this module are Erasmus students from TU Dublin’s international partners. This international cohort joined us from IADE - Universidade Europeia - Faculdade de Design, Tecnologia e Comunicação da Universidade Europeia, Lisbon, Portugal and Escuela de Arte San Telmo, Malaga, Spain.
This project is a collaboration between the TU Dublin School of Art and Design, the School of Biological, Health and Sports Sciences, the Sustainability and Research Hub, and the Research, Ethics, and Integrity Office. It is supported by the Office of Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion and the Faculty of Sciences and Health.
This exhibition ran from 6-9 May 2025, East Quad Atrium, TU Dublin, City Campus, Grangegorman.
Click here for the 2025 exhibition.
Posters are permanently displayed in the TU Dublin Greenway Hub.
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Dr Con Kennedy Appointed to the Advisory Board of the Liberties Festival
2nd April 2025
The Liberties Festival is one of Ireland’s oldest festivals. It is an innovative community festival that works with local community members and professional artists to place culture, creativity, and diversity at the heart of The Liberties. Founded in the 1970s, the Liberties Festival has become a highlight of Dublin summers, offering a series of family-friendly, sporting, and community events and an exciting multi-cultural and arts programme.
Dr Kennedy is intimately connected with the community in Dublin 8, having grown up in Oliver Bond House and attended both primary and secondary schools in the area. Dr Kennedy also has intergenerational connections to the Liberties and family members living in the community. Dr Kennedy’s later father was extensively involved in community work in the area, and he now continues his father’s legacy.
Dr Kennedy will be joined on the festival's first advisory board by Laura Gibbons (StayCity), Michael Quinn (Fáilte Ireland), and Sarah Byrne (MA Student - NCAD).
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Dr Con Kennedy featured in TU Dublin Staff Spotlight
25th March 2025
In this staff profile, Dr Con Kennedy speaks of the importance of education and how TU Dublin has always been his first choice for education and developing his career in the graphic design industry.
Click here to read the full article.
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Dr Con Kennedy to host TU Dublin’s Start-Up Café
12th March 2025
The Start-up Café is a monthly meet-up where aspiring entrepreneurs connect, gain insights from guest founders & develop their business ideas.
Held on the last Thursday of each month, the Start-up Café is a free, relaxed coffee morning where aspiring entrepreneurs gather to learn, connect, and develop their business ideas. Each session features a guest entrepreneur who shares their journey, from early ideation to launch and leads a workshop to help you refine your concept. You’ll also have the chance to pitch your idea and receive valuable feedback in an open-mic session.
For more information: https://www.tudublin.ie/connect/enterprise-dev/news--events/startup-cafe/
Register here: https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/march-start-up-cafe-tickets-1279029063359
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Italia Geniale—Design Enables
11th March 2025
Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Dublino invited Dr Con Kennedy to attend the launch of the exhibition Italia Geniale—Design Enables.
Italia Geniale is promoted by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and organized by the Italian Embassy in Ireland in collaboration with the Italian Institute of Culture in Dublin, the ITA Italian Trade Agency London, and the Italian Irish Chamber of Commerce. The exhibition features over 60 iconic artefacts of Italian design, including pieces by Ferrari, Poltrona Frau, Flos, Artemide, and Olivetti.
The keynote speaker was Architect Massimo Roj from Progetto CMR. Since 2016, Massimo has been an Ambassador of Italian Design, nominated by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The exhibition is open to the public until 27th March.
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Dr Con Kennedy appointed Chairperson to the TU Dublin Faculty of Arts and Humanities Student Enrolments and Growth Committee
20th January 2025
The Student Enrolments and Growth Committee (SEGC) is a TU Dublin Faculty Executive Team subcommittee. This committee oversees and supports activities that increase student enrolment and retention across the schools and disciplines of the Faculty of Arts & Humanities.
The purpose of the SEGC is:
Review and evaluate academic portfolio trends and engage in enrolment planning
Identify progression, transfer and retention figures across programmes of all types of educational provision in the Faculty
Define and identify progression/retention at national, university, and programme levels for the purposes of this committee. At all NFQ levels provided in the Faculty
Devise and implement a plan to increase retention rates and to ensure that they meet the national retention norm. Devise a multi-annual iterative approach to enrolment and growth, each year drawing on learnings from previous years
Capture and show the diversity of our learners who are supported to progress and succeed at the Faculty of Arts & Humanities, TU Dublin (including internal recruitment form level 9). Record Inclusivity in the Faculty: We will be the most ‘accessible’ university in Ireland with the largest number of diverse learners’
Identify the significant transitions and incidents that contribute to lack of progression (e.g., transition to higher education, assessment) and develop a framework for data collection
Liaise with the Student Experience & Success committee and relevant school recruitment committees to review and plan relevant supports that will help students progress through their studies at TU Dublin
Dr Kennedy will chair this new committee and help coordinate a new research-informed strategy for the Faculty.
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Dr Con Kennedy is featured in the new TU Dublin Compendium of Undergraduate Research
17th January 2025
“Fostering Undergraduate Research: A Practice-Based Approach” is a new compendium of undergraduate research conducted at the TU Dublin Faculty of Arts and Humanities.
This Compendium presents thirteen cross-disciplinary case studies, which seek to contribute to and demonstrate a better understanding of the faculty’s undergraduate research experience.
The Hidden Scientists/Hidden Creatives student-led exhibition highlights an interdisciplinary project led by Dr Con Kennedy and details how student research returns underrepresented female scientists to the public eye.
Click here for further information.
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New Research on Design Entrepreneurship Published
20th December 2024
Wiley & Sons published a new research paper by Dr Con Kennedy, 'A Business Model for Communication Design Enterprises' in the prestigious Design Management Institute Journal.
The research article addresses the perceived entrepreneurship skill deficit among designers and proposes a new business model derived from empirical research for design enterprises from the perspectives of creatives.
The article is available via open access and can be viewed here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/dmj.12096
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Dr Con Kennedy Appointed Judge for Seven Mills Community Fund
19th November 2024
Seven Mills is a new town currently being built beside the Grand Canal, between Clondalkin and Lucan in Dublin 22.
The Seven Mills Community Fund is awarding grants to local community groups in the arts, music and culture, sports and recreation, education, social advocacy, wellness, neighbourhood initiatives, and social, youth, and senior sectors. The grants are structured to positively empower successful local groups working to impact Dublin 22 through their volunteering efforts.
Local groups are encouraged to apply before the application deadline on 20th December 2024.
Seven awards will be available to the successful applicants:
1 x up to €10,000
1 x up to €5,000
5 x up to €3,000
Grants will be awarded to community projects deemed innovative and clever and make a real difference for the local community.
The judging panel tasked with choosing the successful projects consists of Aideen Darcy (Neighbourhood Network), Kenneth Egan (former Olympian), Maura Winston (Cairn Homes), and Dr Con Kennedy (TU Dublin, School of Art and Design).
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Launch of the Seven Mills Community Fund. (L-R) Aideen Darcy (Neighbourhood Network), Kenneth Egan (Olympian), Maura Winston (Cairn Homes), Dr Con Kennedy (TU Dublin School of Art and Design).