"Julie created two new learning spaces that highlight to our students and teachers that their wellbeing is an essential element of our ethos. One is a meditation room, the other an art history seating area.
Everyone can now spend time in welcoming spaces that are visually stimulating and vibrant. Both areas before were functional but lacked interest. We now have regular active users that have a great space for group work, quiet time and rest.
Our parents have welcomed our new spaces and feedback is extremely positive, our students are even asking if we can hold classes in our new environments that Julie designed."
-Emma Ryan, principal at CBC, Claregalway.
“Since Julie installed our new ‘book stairs’ our reception area is now an attractive space that lifts everyone's spirits. Everyone has a pep in their step walking UP our re-vamped stairs (an unheard-of thing surely!) and that is all down to Julie and her brilliance!
We have seen a real injection of enthusiasm and pride in our school's appearance. Before working with Julie, our reception area was drab and made no impression. We now have a space that reflects our "joy of learning" ethos and the importance we place on reading in our school community.
With the addition of our re-vamped staircase, our reception area has now become the portal to our library and Julie converted this space into something magical; a grand entrance to a world of books.
Julie's work has given our space the "wow" factor and brought about conversations between staff, pupils, and visitors regarding novels, art, and reading. Her work has driven home to everyone that reading and creativity are highly valued in our school. We now have a whole school reading project lined up inspired by Julie's artwork.
We are excited about future projects with Julie to further improve our school's appearance".
- St Peter's College, Dunboyne
“Through working with Julie and having our staff and clubs involved in the design, we achieved a real sense of connection and pride within our school community. Our space before was bland and lifeless but now we have a space full of colour and positivity that brings a smile to those who pass by”.
-Scoil Mhuire, Greenhill, Carrick on Suir
"Working with Julie ensured our library renovation project met its full potential. It was truly a collaborative process that ensured a final product that has surpassed our expectations.
Our students now see how much our school community values reading and developing collaboration skills. The inviting, dynamic, bold design of our library shows how we prize reading, research, and teamwork.
Within our library, Julie created a hub for students with specially sourced collaborative desks, where project work and joint enterprises now have an inviting space to reach their full potential. The careful design of this area has revolutionised how schoolwork happens at our school and reinforces our ethos.
Our collaboration with Julie has been so successful that the project will be showcased at the Teaching Council’s national conference, Féilte, 2021."
-St Aloysius, Cork
" We engaged Julie Potter to help with the transformation of our School Library. This was the best decision made in the entire renovation process. Not only was Julie helpful, but her experience, keen eye for design, imagination and professional, can-do attitude were central to the vision of our new school library being realised.
Before the transformation began, the space, although light-filled, was unappealing. The library had lost its sense of purpose, and was somewhat and tired and uninviting. The book collection was housed on shelving behind glass doors, which acted as a barrier to students and was turning them off engaging with the books.
It's difficult to remember or visualise how that space was before Julie's involvement, as it's now the exact opposite - a bright, attractive, appealing space that celebrates the joy for and love of reading for pleasure as well as for education.
Julie's vision for the library made us think outside the box - she helped us create a beautiful, practical, versatile space that is appealing to our students of all ages. Her thoughtful, considered ideas for the artwork and decor elevated the project to the next level. Not only that, but Julie and her team were a pleasure to work with throughout - punctual, practical and friendly, their can-do attitude and perfectionist eye for detail, refreshing.
Instead of dismantling the original shelving, Julie's team removed the glass-doors and painted the shelves, saving a lot of money and time in the process. From the beautiful book-stack artwork, the abstract book spine art panels above the fiction section, to the gorgeous blossoming cherry tree in the corner and practical, durable yet comfortable low-maintenance furniture, from providing the illusion of space through clever use of mirrors, to the incredible statement book-desk, Julie Potter and her team helped us make a library that our students are drawn to and want to spend time in. The project represented great value for money and we haven't looked back since.
It was an immediate hit with our students of all ages. The new School Library was officially opened by Ryan Tubridy on December 3rd. Ryan, himself an author and passionate advocate for literacy, spoke of this library as a space for kindness, a refuge and haven for the sharing of ideas, thoughts and stories. It is a whole-school library, for all pupils and students; pre-school, primary and secondary. The library has proved immensely popular with our girls (and the boys in the pre-school) – there’s a little queue outside the door each morning when the library opens at 8am!
A heartfelt thank you to Julie and all her team from all their friends at the Teresian School.
- Robin Stewart, librarian at The Teresian School, Stillorgan
“I smile walking through the corridors as I feel the photography, the colour, the mural, and the wording artwork all help to create an energetic, pleasant working and learning environment for myself, my fellow staff members, and most importantly the students in our school.
The colour and aesthetics of our everyday environment are now refreshing and visually pleasing.
This makes the school a much more pleasant place to be in and has an impact on the student’s mood and focus in class.
The physical surroundings created by the artwork displayed around the school has definitely contributed to creating this vibrant learning environment.”
- Ian Byrne, teacher and wellbeing coach, Colaiste Pobail Setanta, Dublin
Our school was built over a period of 175 years and while it has great character, it is of its time.
Julie transformed dark spaces with vibrant colours, inspirational quotes and casual furniture.
Students now sit and chat in areas that previously were dead spaces.
Their positive reaction is testimony to the contemporary quality of Julie’s work".
Robert Dunne, Principal at Loretto Abbey, Loreto Avenue, Harbour Road, Dalkey, Co. Dublin.
"At Le Chéile Secondary School we have been embedding the research of ‘David Thornburg on learning spaces’ into both our pedagogy and physical environment.
We spoke with Julie about our desire to use the area under our stairs, for one, as a space for students to get away on their own.
A place for them to think and reflect and work at their own pace.
Once we shared this idea with Julie, with minimum fuss or expense, she transformed forgotten corners into much loved spaces.
She applied the theories of David Thornburg in a physical, attractive way to our everyday environment.
‘Welcome’ is at the heart of our school culture and although we have a beautiful entrance lobby we felt there was more we could do to make sure students and visitors immediately feel enfolded into a community of love. Julie’s design did just that.
The tactile grass walls and apple blossom tree are so inviting. The mirror with our school animating principle ‘God is love, Love is Here’ reminds everyone who sees their own reflection that they are loved and they are love. This is a spot where students love to sit.
Another David Thornburg space Julie created was ‘The Plains'. She transformed what was a ‘dead’ space, with no purpose, into gorgeous ‘pods’ that encourage conversation and reflection.
Teachers are no longer confined to their classrooms. There are now a number of useful learning spaces they can bring their classes to.
Parents regularly comment about the attractiveness of our school and the design work Julie has done. And most importantly how much their children enjoy their school.
We love to have visitors to our school and to see their surprise as they turn a corner and see a ‘Julie The Genie’ inspirational space. They are always impressed how personalised our building is and how well the physical environment supports pedagogy."
- Aine Moran, Principal at 'Le Cheile Secondary School' 15 Tyrrelstown Way, Hollystown, Dublin 15
“Julie’s work has completely achieved our objective of enhancing the sense of health and well-being in our hospital.
She totally met our brief and the art has exceeded all our expectations. Our senior management has been delighted with the calibre of work created.
Before, our space was a dark, high traffic area with a large wall which appeared to be never-ending.
The area has been transformed and it’s been wonderful to observe the positive impact on our staff. Smiles of delight and uplifted spirits! “
- Pauline Kent - Smoking Cessation Officer, HSE, Sligo
“Changing our space has created a welcoming atmosphere and communicated a strong message to our students that they are valued.
We want our students to do well through encouragement which is evident in the messages we have displayed around our school.
When they enter the school they can see what it takes to be a successful student and this is a strong message to send to the parents, students and staff.
Before working with you, there were no welcome signs, walls were empty and boring and there was no inspiration for students.
The images have helped with building a culture of positivity and this is now promoted throughout the school.
The students think the images are cool and create a more welcoming environment.
They enjoy that the images give out positive messages, it really helps them if they are having a bad day.
For staff and parents, they can see visually that we are a school that promotes a positive message.
I look forward to working with you again when we open our new extension”.
- Anna McCready , Scoil Ui Mhuiri, Co Louth
“You have enhanced our school environment with wonderful colour and your inspirational quotes.
Our main focus was to bring new life to the older parts of our school building which has many nukes and crannies.
We are truly delighted with the beautiful artwork you did in our school. It is a joy for our students and staff to admire your creative work everyday.
You were a pleasure to work with and really took the time to listen to our requests while also offering very valuable advise as a gifted and talented artist “.
- Sr Mairead and Ann Waters, Ursuline College, Sligo
Before working with Julie the décor of this particular classroom was very tired and the room was underused.
We contacted her saying we wanted to turn this classroom into a ‘Hair and Beauty Room’.
It is a large room and originally we had thought that we would leave most of it in a classroom format and put some salon features at the back.
Julie suggested , instead of removing these old cupboards, we would used them as the side benches and turn them into attractive beauty stations like you’d see in a real salon.
This meant using the structure that was already there which saved on costs massively.
Since Julie’s transformation the students are very excited about the room and the subject.
Hair & Beauty is a new subject and the room has given it a great profile in the school which we hope to build on.
Because of the large work benches in the centre of the room, we can use the room for other purposes also.
Our HSCL Co-ordinator is planning a course in Beauty for parents and we are looking at the possibility of running a PLC.
We have linked with a local salon Core Beauty who are very interested in the development of the room.
Therapists from the salon have visited the school to talk to the students and have contributed products and a salon visit is planned for next month.
The students love the room because it is bright and attractive.
We have two fabulous statement art pieces which have created a real wow factor.
Julie’s attention to detail really pulled the room together.
We really enjoyed working with Julie on the project as she brought great ideas to the plan and listened very well to our needs and concerns.
Karen Quigley - Principal at St. Aidan’s Community School, Dublin
"I cannot recommend Julie and her work highly enough.
Julie’s work has transformed our space.
We are based within a sister school and her work has given us an independent identity.
Most importantly, it has transformed the temporary premises into a vibrant, colourful school where students are very proud of their surroundings.
Swords Community College opened in temporary premises in 2018.
Our space was small, unconventional and lacking in character.
Julie's work has impacted our staff and given them a real sense of belonging and pride in their workplace.
Our parents have reacted really positively too to the artwork and were so impressed with how inviting it was for their children.
Julie was easy to work with, creative and responsive.
The students were so impressed and our new environment has helped us create the positive, warm and welcoming atmosphere we wanted for our school."
- Mark Mc Donald - Principal at Swords Community College, Dublin.
"Since Julie designed and transformed my new office I now have a place that my spirit can breathe in!
In Julie, I finally met someone who understands the importance of our school environment as a learning tool. As the principal of a start-up school, we have expanded from 79 pupils to 1000 and were grappling with a filing system that was lagging behind.
My own creativity was stifled and I didn't have a space that represented my values and educational views.
Julie not only helped organise my files and put systems in place but she created a magical Hogwarts style office for me, an oasis of free-thinking and wonderment that students and teachers just love.
Many of the artistic additions are carefully curated secondhand pieces, including an old refurbished barber's chair. And as for the fireplace Julie installed, you will just have to visit to see that!"
- Anne Marie McCarrick, Principal at Colaiste na hinse, Drogheda.
Our new reception space now gives us our own identity that emphasizes the ethos and values of a Loreto school.
The carefully thought out changes have meant a lot to everyone in the school, including visiting past pupils.
Julie did an absolutely fabulous job. I was blown away; her work is imaginative and sensitive.
She reworked the existing foyer and gave life to some of the most unimaginative spaces.
She followed our brief to a T, supplementing it with her own creativity and style.
We've now rejuvenated our reception area which is of such critical importance to our school because it is the first point of contact for visitors.
It needs to communicate not only a welcoming feeling but a sense of who we are and our value system.
A once dumping ground for books, bags, and furniture; our redesigned space is now filled with colour, life and meaning.
- Orla Forde, Principal at Loreto Fermoy, Co Cork
"When I walk in to school in the morning I’m in a bad mood but the colour changes it"
"I feel different in a colourful school as it brightens up my thoughts"
"The first time I saw the artwork, it made me feel more confident about my new school"
"The library, It's like a beautiful dream!"
"I never knew our school could be this cool"
"I'm just going to live in here, I love it"
"Sooo Instagramable!"
"This is the coolest room I've ever seen"
"It's like a magic fairytale place"
"I'm so excited, I want to stay and read"
"Going down the corridor, you'd never guess that this could be here, it's amazing!