Noelle McAlinden
In Northern Ireland, creativity has long been about more than artistic expression. It’s served as a tool for dialogue and healing, especially in the decades following the Troubles, a period of political conflict and violence that deeply divided communities. As the region entered the Peace Process in the late 1990s, cultural initiatives became part of the broader effort to rebuild identity and shared civic life.
Few artists embody that reality more fully than Noelle McAlinden. An artist, educator, and activist, Noelle’s four-decade long career has been deeply shaped by the late Sir Ken Robinson, an author and academic who argued that creativity is as vital as literacy. At a time when Northern Ireland was reimagining its future, his philosophy offered both strategy and conviction.
For Noelle, her connection to him was not only inspirational but also transformative. 1515 Lincoln Gallery recently had the chance to speak to Noelle about how Sir Ken’s philosophy redirected her artist path, and how it continues to guide her work today.
Education and Creativity as Potential
Noelle first met Sir Ken at Stranmillis College Belfast while working as an Arts Adviser for the Western Education and Library Board. They were attending an event celebrating All Our Futures, his landmark report reviewing the United Kingdom’s educational system and calling for a radical shift in how creativity was valued in schools.
“His findings highlighted how the education system in the UK was deeply flawed, no longer fit for purpose, and his message was like music to our ears,” she recalls. The emphasis on creativity, collaboration, technology, and learning beyond traditional educational structures felt both urgent and necessary at the time.
Like many in attendance, Noelle was struck not only by the data but by Sir Ken’s presentation. “I, like all those present was blown away by both the content of his report and his delivery,” she says, “with huge knowledge, passion, wit, humour, compassion.”
That moment became a catalyst. Noelle shared the report with her friend Dr. Aideen McGinley, then Permanent Secretary of the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure. This directly led to the creation of the Unlocking Creativity Strategy for Northern Ireland, a cross-department initiative developed in the early years of the Peace Process. It brought together leaders across sectors, including education, arts, and government, to rethink how creativity is supported in schools and wider public life.
For Noelle, this time was both professionally historic and personally profound, and it was directly influenced by Sir Ken’s work: “His message was pivotal and highlighted the need to nurture my own creativity as well as the creativity of others.”
An Unexpected Return to the Studio
For years, Noelle supported the creativity of others, from students and educators to fellow artists. But during a deeply difficult period in her life, something shifted. “At a time of huge personal loss and grief I returned to my painting practice and against all the odds, I found my passion for painting,” she explains.
Noelle’s return to the studio wasn’t just a professional decision, but a personal reclamation. She channeled her lived experience into her work using visual art and poetry. This culminated into her solo exhibition Out of the Blue, a body of work shaped by loss and resilience.
The exhibition marked “a time in my life and a period of deep personal and professional growth as an artist and arts educationalist,” she explains. The act of creating became a form of renewal, a way to transform grief into something tangible.
Noelle’s personal turn mirrored Sir Ken’s idea of helping people find their “element.” As Noelle puts it, “I am in my element!” While creativity was once something she mainly advocated for externally, it’s since become central to her survival and growth.
Creativity as a Lifeline in Crisis
With over four decades in arts education, Noelle has witnessed the power of creative expression time and again. “I have always believed in the power of the arts, our creativity, and self-expression is a gift to be nurtured and celebrated within ourselves and others,” she says.
For Noelle, this belief has been tested in real life. Through cancer, suicide loss, and supporting others through hardship, she’s come to see creativity is something much more than a philosophy. It’s essential to our being, a way to not only endure and push through, but to thrive.
“I have learned through lived experience that our creativity and the creativity of others is indeed a lifeline… especially in the most challenging times,” Noelle explains.
Today, as Co-Chair of the Northern Ireland Mental Health Arts Festival, Noelle works at the intersection of arts and public health, challenging stigma, advocating for policy change, and creating spaces where lived experience informs the conversation. She mentors artists across generations and disciplines, encouraging collaboration between the art, health, education sectors, and more. She says Sir Ken’s influence “continues to shape all I do.”
Carrying the Legacy Forward
When asked about the most enduring lesson Sir Ken left her, Noelle doesn’t hesitate: “The key one is the importance of nurturing our own creativity and self-expression and supporting others to do the same.”
Now, at the age of 64, Noelle describes her current chapter not as retirement but as “refirement,” a time in her life that’s still purposeful and guided by curiosity.
“I continue to embrace creativity and life as a curious child… For that I am indebted to Sir Ken Robinson,” Noelle says.
Through her work — in classrooms, festivals, studios, and communities — Ken’s philosophy is not simply remembered. It’s practiced. And in Northern Ireland, where creativity once helped reimagine what the future could look like, artists like Noelle McAlinden continue to shape what that becomes.
