Bio

Artistic Director of The Performance Corporation. As the recent Director/CEO of Carlow Arts Festival she developed a focus on Digital work including creating a Virtual Festival Campus. Recent directing work includes The Performance Corporation’s The Dead live at the Gaiety Theatre and screened at Kilkenny Arts Festival, 5 films for Irish National Opera’s 20- Shots of Opera, 14 Voices from the Bloody Field for the Abbey and Out of the Ordinary – a Virtual Reality Community Opera work for Irish National Opera, the film 72 Hour Lost Weekend and live performance for Woman in the Machine project at the former Braun Factory. Other recent Performance Corporation work includes The Table, Expedition, and The Symposium at various locations in Canada including the National Theatre Festival and Dublin Theatre Festival.
She founded the BIG House Festival 2013 (winner ERIC for Best Irish Festival) and was Artistic Director of the Bram Stoker Festival (2014 Eric for Best Irish Festival). Other recent work includes Bingo Wings, an aerial dance show for Fidget Street, Curator for the Prague Quadrennial Design Exhibition 2019 for Ireland using Virtual Reality, Digital Consultant for the Arts Council programme Brightening Air, she was also international programmer for Limerick City of Culture. Jo founded The SPACE Programme - Ireland’s longest running multi-disciplinary international artists residency with a current focus on Arts and Technology, and has served on many boards, including as Chair of the National Campaign for the Arts.
Awards include multiple Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards, the UK based Clore Leadership Fellowship and most recently the prestigious Fedora Digital Prize for her Irish National Opera project Out of the Ordinary.

Project

I'm Director/Facilitator of CREATION 21/22, a truly unique programme which was created for performing artists at all stages of their careers and across a range of disciplines (dance, theatre, circus, spectacle, performance art, street arts), to develop their practice, network, learn and showcase work. It will include in-person collaboration opportunities in Ireland, as well an international residency in 2022 The project offers artistic development opportunities through mentoring, coaching, residencies and ‘in-progress’ presentation opportunities as part of Carlow Arts Festival, Dublin Dance Festival, National Circus Festival and Danseur Festival. This project is an opportunity to deeply collaborate with artists from various performing art forms and areas of experience. This residency is specifically focussed on performing artists in the East and Southeast region of Ireland, as well as European partners. It will be designed hand in hand with makers from the Theatre, Dance, and Circus/Street Art/Spectacle worlds to ensure it is delivering to the participating artists what they need at this time. The project is flexible and will focuses on creating space to support artists in the ways they currently need.