Orla had been leading the development of this group along with 2 youth workers from Fatima and Dolphin Homework Clubs building an ambitious visual arts programme to meet the specific needs of the young people aged 13-16 years.

The Drawing Project worked off site each summer.  Their residency in studio 468 offered a new opportunity for the group to develop their skills, practice and confidence in art making and public presentation.  At the end of their residency they presented their exhibition The Crazy Colour Chromatic City in studio 468.

Orla Whelan is an Irish artist. She creates enigmatic, subtle paintings that thoughtfully present animals and humans in abstract liminal spaces. Her practice functions as a means to investigate subjectivity and perception. Her work is influenced by literature, history and personal experience and forms a quiet meditation on mortality.

Orla holds an MA in Visual Arts Practices from IADT, Dublin (2007), MA European Fine Art from Winchester School of Art, Barcelona (2001) and BA Fine Art from National College of Art & Design, Dublin (1997).