In September 2023, Aoife Boyle took up her post as arts development officer at Derry’s Waterside Theatre; in the last week of November 2023, Zoë McSparron began her new job as community programmes manager at Derry’s Waterside Theatre; at the start of April 2024, the imminent closure was announced of Derry’s Waterside Theatre.
It’s safe to say, finishing before they’d even got started was probably not what either woman would describe as ideal.
But, maybe it wasn’t all bad…
Because, following the closure of the theatre, they joined forces to found Fuse Arts, and the ideas and ethos that inform its work were born out of Zoë and Aoife’s experiences at the Waterside. Had it stayed open, they would never have started the organisation.
Art that unites
The name, Fuse, is an acronym for the more cumbersome ‘Facilitating arts opportunities that Unite communities, Support the creative infrastructure, and Engage people of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities’.
The dictionary definition – to bring and blend together – is both less of a mouthful and provides a clearer understanding of the organisation’s aims. Electrically speaking, though, Fuse doesn’t break circuits; it aims to establish them.
Although they had both run classes in the past at the same time at Studio 2, Derry, the two women didn’t actually meet until they worked together at the Waterside Theatre. There, they both found themselves with the same passions and vision for the Waterside Theatre, but also found themselves frustrated at the same things.
The name, for one thing. The full title was Waterside Theatre and Arts Centre, and yet the last two words often fell by the wayside, certainly in the minds of the public. The perception of the venue was that it was a theatre which catered to a particular section of the population.
Derry’s diverse Waterside
“There was something of a stigma attached to the theatre,” says Zoë. “There was an assumed notion of who the theatre was for, which disregarded the increasingly diverse nature of the Waterside population.”
“We did a hell of a lot while we were there to break down that notion,” echoes Aoife, citing their efforts with the literary festival, Spread the Word. “We tried to let people know the Waterside was not just a theatre and that it was a space for everyone.”
The two women both come from arts backgrounds. While their particular interests were in different genres, their journeys to Fuse share a passion for engagement with the public.
Aoife (32) is born and bred in Derry. She took a degree in music at Ulster University, her instruments being voice and guitar. A singer-songwriter, recording as Reevah, her debut album, Daylight Savings, has been shortlisted for the Northern Ireland Music Prize. Much of her working life was spent at Void Gallery and at Nerve Visual, in addition to which she ran Mama Music workshops, combining music, craft, and art, for children and parents.
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Like Aoife, Zoë (26), from Claudy, graduated from Ulster University with a degree in fine arts. Although their paths didn’t cross, again, like Aoife, she worked at Void, firstly as an intern, then as project officer, then learning and outreach officer, before becoming the interim head of public programming.
Her roles there involved developing the youth programmes and engaging children, families, and the wider community, having the freedom to do whatever she pleased, so long as it connected to whatever was the current exhibition. Unusually for a cutting-edge contemporary gallery, her work saw the space frequently filled with paint-spattered children.
Becoming conscious of the gallery’s change of direction, Zoë decided that it was her time to move on, so she could remain focused on her prime interest – engagement with communities and creating ways for people to engage with art. Looking back at her degree in fine arts, she says, “I still consider myself a painter, but my practice has changed. Community arts is a practice in itself. My canvas now is the people I work with.”
Community arts
Fuse currently operates without a specific base, but its work will focus primarily – though not exclusively – on the Waterside, which, unlike the Cityside, lacks any arts organisation.
“We saw community arts as a key role of the Waterside Theatre,” says Aoife. “When it closed, we were left with bags of ideas, but no means of putting them into operation. It was so frustrating as there was such need in the area, and it certainly didn’t sit well to move away from that need and the potential of the community.”
Zoë adds: “Fuse is a neutral organisation. The Waterside community is vast and people wrongly assume they know what the area is.”
The move from employed to self-employed has been liberating. Both women stress how much they enjoy having creative direction and being catalysts for the change they see is needed in the approach to arts provision in the Waterside.
Fuse is a neutral organisation. The Waterside community is vast and people wrongly assume they know what the area is
— Zoë McSparron
Fuse is something of a nexus, the intention being to create opportunities for both artists and the community.
“We draw up the projects,” says Aoife, “and then employ arts facilitators and practitioners to run those projects.”
Ebrington Square
And they intend also to bring the arts to public spaces, of which they say there are many in Derry, the key among them being Ebrington Square.
“There’s a hotel, restaurants, and bars there,” says Zoë, “but there’s also a huge space that shouldn’t just be for the occasional large-scale concert.”
A recent Fuse event there saw an attempt to showcase Ebrington Square as a non-traditional arts space, with activities such as community weaving, story-telling, DIY magazine making, sensory painting, and an emerging artists’ busking trail.
Following on from that, was their Halloween production last week, The Blue Guardian. In this, the spirit of the ‘Blue Guardian’ escaped from the old Glendermott Road Workhouse, searching for the children she once cared for. As she reached Ebrington Square, the spirits of these children rose from the shadows, singing and dancing, blending in with the living, in a flash mob style performance before gathering behind the ‘Blue Guardian’ in a haunting display, and ultimately disappearing into the night...
Fuelled mainly by passion, but by a gnawing sense of frustration and, perhaps, a little anger, Aoife Boyle and Zoë McSparron of Fuse Arts are determined to drop rocks into the Waterside and beyond, creating concentric circles that ripple out and cross each other, bringing together artists and the public, harnessing and highlighting the talents that they know exist in the city of Derry.
More information from fuseartsni@gmail.com
