Entrepreneurship and working remotely have given me the freedom to choose a city to live in because I like it and not because I need to live there for my job. I moved to Viana do Castelo in December 2021 and I’m a coworker at Dinamo10 for over two years now. I'm a freelance virtual assistant and I organise events. Although my business isn't in the creative field, I found that working in a creative hub really stimulates my creativity and gives me the motivation to continue my path as an entrepreneur.
I've already worked in some parts of Portugal, but I'd really like to have my first experience working remotely in another country. That's when Joana suggested ECHN's Hubs Alliance programme. I couldn't be happier with this opportunity!
The choice of Creative Spark in Dundalk, Ireland, was very natural. It's a creative hub very similar to Dinamo10 in its mission towards the community, but it's very different both in its structure as a company and in its size. It would also be an excellent opportunity to get to know a fab lab and a print studio up close.
On 18th November I travelled from Viana do Castelo to Dublin, first by train to Porto, then by metro to the airport and finally by plane to Dublin with a stopover in Barcelona. I arrived in Dublin at 9.30 pm in the rain and the temperature difference was at least 10 to 12 degrees. It was forecast to snow that week... I was thrilled!
On 19th November at 8.30 am I went to meet Sarah Daly, Executive Director at the Creative Spark headquarters. Sarah showed me around the facilities and the various features of the creative hub: an open-plan coworking space, small individual offices that are concentrated in the lounge space, training/meeting rooms, a fab lab, a print studio and a community café space in the making. In the morning I had the opportunity to take part in the Louth Feast at the Dundalk Institute of Technology, School of Hospitality, an event organised by the Louth Urban Food Sanctuary. This is a project founded by Louth County Council which partnered with Creative Spark with the support of Creative Ireland, a government cultural programme aimed at promoting individual, community and national wellbeing.
The aim for this project is to increase local food cultivation, embrace regional climate, encourage community collaboration and adapt to climate change. There were local food stalls like Blackrock Park, tasting samples developed by students from BA Culinary Arts, sustainable recipe highlights, local businesses like Coole Farm Salad Leaves, Fierce Mild non-alcoholic beer or Dunany Flour Organic. At the Louth Urban Food Sanctuary stall they were handing out small packages of seeds from Irish Seed Savers which aims to conserve as many of Ireland’s native varieties of vegetables, grains and fruits to create a living bank of heritage crops to share with the gardeners of today. They were also showing how international communities got engage with the project by sharing ideas and recipes from their own countries.
There was also an interesting project called “Climate Stripes Weave” with textile artist Úna Curley to raise awareness about climate change. Climate stripes are a series of vertical coloured bars that show how global average temperatures have risen over nearly two centuries on your location.
It was very interesting to talk to some of these projects and to see their contribution around climate change concerns.
In the afternoon I went with Cíara Breen to Downtown Hub, the Creative Spark coworking space in Dundalk town centre since May 2022. Cíara is the manager and she showed me all around: it can accommodate around 40 coworkers, has a podcast studio, meeting rooms and a lounge space that can be used for events.
I got to work a little bit and in the end of the day I took part on a meeting with Cíara and Stephen Hurley to discuss new ways of promoting the next events of Creative Spark in December – Christmas Craft Fair and the annual Open Day.
Creative Spark is now well known in the creative community thanks to the work they have done in the past years. Now the challenge is to reach the local community.
Comparing Creative Spark and Dinamo10, which have different organisational structures and different forms of funding, they have exactly the same challenge in reaching the local community and breaking the idea that creativity and innovation is only accessible to a small group of people.
On the second day, 20th November I went to work full day at Downtown Hub to catch up some work of my own. This was also an opportunity to feel the vibe of Downtown Hub coworking space and to stroll around the town centre a bit at lunch time.
I was able to meet Laura and Esther from the team and Paula and Adam, regular members of the cowork. This was the coldest day of my week, -2 degrees. It snowed during the night but only the top of the mountains were covered in snow.
I couldn't get my mind off the previous day's meeting, and the ideas for help began to pop up fast. I couldn't leave Dundalk without presenting them to Sarah and the team, so the presentation/brainstorming was scheduled for Friday morning. In my last two days, I was at Creative Spark headquarters. I wanted to know more about the Fab Lab and the Print Studio.
Thom Conaty explained me the purpose of Fab Lab. We had an interesting conversation about how is he communicating to people that are not from the creative field. And we realised that being too technical pushes away other targets who may be interested in the fab lab's services. Giving practical examples of what can be done at Fab Lab may solve this challenge. A real example happening in Fab Lab is a member with disabilities that needs a special set of googles to play water polo and those are being tested and made at Fab Lab.
Gráinne Murphy from Print Studio talked passionately about the Ten Year Anniversary celebration that happened last October with a 24h print challenge. Print Studio has been home to many artists spanning across the North-East Ireland region and beyond over the years! Print Studio is also part of 20:20 print exchange, a community that celebrates and promote printmaking by facilitating connections within the print community that can be local community print collectives, groups, workshops, studios, or academic printmaking departments from universities and colleges.
Although Creative Spark HQ is away from the town centre, there is a lot happening inside this hub: Creative Skills Development Programmes around Ceramics, Painting, Sewing, and Podcasting, some for children, others for adults or both. Artist in Residence Programme offers visual artists and art professionals the opportunity to research and develop their practices. This programme provides a shared studio space at Creative Spark, access to all facilities, and basic technical support. In the end, artists are required to donate one piece to the Creative Spark archives.
Creative Spark is also the place to gather local community and bring to life amazing works. I want to highlight two panels of Irish linen that were embroidered with themes and topics of County Louth using the Bayeux stitches. The Community Tapestry Project gathered over thirty women and men that embroidered their stories in these panels that hang on the walls of Creative Spark.
A small group of people was working in new panels that left me mesmorized. And because life isn’t just about work, Úna took me to visit Saint Brigid’s Shrine in Faughart, a short drive from Dundalk. Tradition holds that Faughart is the birthplace of Ireland’s iconic patroness Saint Brigid, one of its three national saints along with Saint Patrick and Saint Columba.
Sadly the last day has come... All the team, Sarah, Barry, Gráinne, Stephen, Cíara and Oscar gathered in the meeting room. It was also an excuse to taste the delicious local pastries from Dundalk!
My connection to Dinamo10 as a co-worker and staff member gave me two views of how a creative hub fulfils all that I am looking for both for my business and being part of a local community.
Like I said before, I couldn’t leave Dundalk without sharing my experience with them.
What I found at Dinamo10, I also found at Creative Spark: a place that made me feel welcomed, just like home!
My first experience working remotely outside of Portugal became a life changing moment for me. It exceeded all my expectations!
For the weekend I went to Dublin and immersed myself in the city's vibrant atmosphere: the Temple Bar, National Museum of Ireland, City Hall, Dublin Castle, Molly Malone Statue, some music concerts, the friendly people everywhere, the Cliffwalk in Howth...
I also had the chance to meet in person one of the founders of the Portuguese Academy of Virtual Assistants.
This was an experience that I will never forget!
The Hubs Alliance is dedicated to the cultural and creative professionals that constitute the communities populating ECHN’s creative hubs. By joining the Hubs Alliance, creative hubs unite their spaces and facilities to create a cross-border workspace. Cultural and creative professionals who usually work in a single creative hub will have the chance to navigate the Hubs Alliance, explore new professional communities and delve into local creative scenes.
This program is organised by ECHN - European Creative Hubs Network and co-funded by the European Union.
