Introducing Sarah Thornton
Sarah is a socially engaged artist, theatre maker, lecturer, artistic director and arts consultant. For the past 30 years she has worked in many different arts, community and education settings in freelance, contracted and permanent positions.
Sarah began her career in Dublin during a community arts revival in the 1990s and learnt her trade from socially engaged arts pioneers. She has always interwoven her practice and research, travelling in Europe, the USA, Canada and South Africa to see interesting projects, meet inspiring people and share ideas. She has convened festivals, conferences and events which have brought international artists, academics and activists together to share and learn from each other. She has published and presented her ideas and has fed her learning into her practice, so her art and creative processes continue to grow.
Sarah was founding Artistic Director of Collective Encounters, a sector-leading Theatre for Social Change organisation working with communities in Liverpool. Sarah led the organisation in socially engaged arts innovation, cross-sector learning and high quality art.
She is firmly rooted in her community, surrounded by friends, farms and beautiful countryside. Sarah was Chair of Cloughjordan Circus Club for 8 years and has worked informally with local artists, but in summer 2022 decided it was time to leave Collective Encounters in safe hands and move her practice fully to Ireland. Sarah is particularly excited to work in the Midlands with the communities close to home.
As a consultant Sarah is a highly skilled and motivated professional, with both practical and academic expertise in socially engaged arts and culture, visioning, strategic planning and creative evaluation.
Sarah is delighted to be working with Nenagh Arts Centre for the next few months as artist in residence on The Debs, a new community outreach project that will celebrate the history and experience of the debs and will include drop in workshops, outreach workshops and an exhibition that will lead to a breathtaking transformation of the arts centre.
