Cork students bring Halloween to life at Douglas Court Shopping Centre

There are few times in life that creativity pays off quite as much as it does on Halloween.

From creating a cool costume and disguising yourself as an alter ego for the night, to inventing spooky snacks for party guests, or even testing out new lines to use on the neighbours as you go out trick-or-treating, collecting a stash of candy big enough to last until winter, there are plenty of rewards to be reaped from thinking outside the box.

At Douglas Court Shopping Centre, an innovative collaboration with the local community has made this year’s Halloween festivities their most creative yet — and boy has it paid off!

In a daring new project, the shopping centre has teamed up with two local schools to create a Halloween art installation that offers a real treat for the eyes this trick-or-treat season.

“We’re really proud of our engagement with the local community in general at Douglas Court,” explains Property Director Bartosz Mieszala. “We aim to provide a space that everyone feels is their own in a way, and so we really want the shopping centre to be somewhere that local artists can showcase their work, whether they’re a performer, a painter, anything!

“We know how creative young people in the area are in particular — we held a ‘kite festival’ here last spring that we had such a fantastic response to. Kids could pick up templates of the kite here at the desk, then they would decorate them and we put them on display all throughout the shopping centre. The whole community participated. All our customers loved seeing them, and the kids loved the idea that the whole of Douglas could see their work.

“This Halloween, we wanted to use that space again, this time so that local schools could showcase all that they’re capable of. We know they do fantastic work in their classrooms, so we really wanted to give them a platform and a space to present their art to the local community. Watching their creations come together has been incredible, and the results are fantastic — they’ve really brought Halloween to life in the shopping centre.”

The young artists who brought it all together are students from Douglas Community School and Regina Mundi College. The two schools each brought their own unique ideas to the project, resulting in two distinct and terrifyingly good additions to Douglas Court — the Creepy Corner and the Haunting Horde.

“The Haunting Horde features Anthony the Pumpkin Man, Fidelma the Scarecrow and Bart the Bat,” shares Melissa Murphy, the art teacher at Regina Mundi College. “The girls named them, which was hilarious, because we were spending so much time with these creations, making them in the classroom each week. They have their own identities we’ve given them, and the girls even made a few TikToks with them — we really grew attached!”

The attachment is understandable, given how hands-on the students were in bringing these figures to life. The project was completed by the school’s senior cycle students from fourth, fifth and sixth year, many of whom gave up their free time to take part.

“Because we have a very full curriculum to get through, we couldn’t do this project during class time,” Melissa explains. “We worked for two weeks after school on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings, sometimes until eight o’clock at night. We had about 18 students in total involved, which was incredible because many of them had homework and exam stress and so much else going on, but they were just so enthusiastic about taking part. They put so much thought into the creatures and the design of each one, and each evening they’d come in thinking ‘how do we refine this more?’ or ‘how can we make it better?’ 

“It’s really been an incredible experience. I always have total and utter trust in the girls, but seeing them develop that same faith and trust in themselves as they see their ideas come to fruition has just been great. They took on so many new challenges, some of the girls were sawing wood, and drilling holes to make inner frames for the characters – things they never thought they’d do! I think it’s taught them that they can really achieve anything they put their minds to.”

Similarly for Douglas Community School, the project was all about pushing boundaries and going beyond what may have initially seemed possible.

Among the school’s creations is a gigantic spider created by the school’s TY students — the scale of which has to be seen to be believed!

“We did a bit of brainstorming before diving into the project, and we realised that arachnophobia was one of the most common fears we could come up with. It lead to this idea of a gigantic dangling spider, because we knew that would get people talking and reacting to it,” explains Annette Millard, art teacher at Douglas Community School.

“We also wanted to create something that the public could interact with, so we made the ‘jail cell’ and some photo stand-ins with fun Halloween characters. We wanted to get as many students as possible involved, so we roped in our first and second years to do a little bit of origami, making bats with black paper, that are dangling down near our big spider. About 10 transition year students worked on that main part, so it was great to have three years in total involved.

“We worked on it during lunch breaks, free time, and in art class when we could, but each student put a lot of extra effort into it, as did their teachers; Mr Fahy, Mr Buckley, Mr McNamara and myself. We spent a month in total working on it, with our Halloween creations living in the classroom with us!

“It’s great to see the hard work pay off now that the art is actually installed in Douglas Court and people are coming to see it. The students’ friends and families have been out to the shopping centre to view the pieces, and they’re all so proud. I’ve even had students come up to me in the school corridors to say ‘oh I spotted my bat hanging up in Douglas Court’ and they’re so excited.”

Customers’ reactions to both of the schools' work have been so positive, in fact, that Bartosz is eager to get more of their masterpieces into the shopping centre very soon. He’s already collaborating with the schools on possible future plans for Christmas and beyond.

“We’re getting fantastic feedback and it’s only encouraging us to try new things for new seasons,” he shares. “Sharing the students' art for all the community to come in and enjoy has been great. There’s a really genuine connection with the community there that we want to continue to nurture.”

Until their next project is unveiled however, there’s still time to check out both the Creepy Corner and the Haunting Horde at Douglas Shopping Centre before it’s too late. Both art installations will be in place until the end of the month — and they’re not the only things worth coming to Douglas Court for!

"We have it all here; from well-known brands to trusted local businesses. Don’t miss the newly revamped Dunnes Stores, featuring the fresh Baxter & Greene deli, a bakery, along with a selection of fish, sushi, and the James Whelan Butchers, plus many more exciting additions to come. You’ll also find trusted pharmacies, cozy cafes, delightful restaurants.

"Additionally, you’ll find a travel agency, mobile and tech shops, a jewellery store, hair and beauty salons, a post office, a cobbler in a new bigger store, fashion boutiques, and unique home decor and gift shops. We also have a free Jungle Adventure play area especially for kids," Bartosz promises. “It’s a great day out for all the family over the mid-term holidays."

To find out more, visit www.douglascourt.ie.