Angela McDonagh is in her second year of a master's degree in fine arts (MFA) at the National College of Art and Design (NCAD). From Dublin, and living in Stoneybatter, she is a full-time student and has two children.

Her career path was not a linear one. In 2000, she finished a film and television studies course at the Ballyfermot College of Further Education and worked as a TV researcher for several years.

But McDonagh’s first love was art and she started a diploma in drawing at NCAD in 2007. “I knew I wanted to do my own thing, and I wasn’t quite sure what that was. I ended up going to NCAD at night. My son was nine months-old. I went back and then kept going.”

She wanted to do the two-year MFA because a few friends had recommended it.

But she didn’t have an undergraduate degree, which was a prerequisite. She got into 4th year of the degree programme in drawing at NCAD and went straight into the master’s.

McDonagh’s focus in the two-year programme is sculpture.

The course is a combination of taught modules and independent work. She says the course has enabled her to explore different things and collaborate with other artists and the community.

This year, as part of the programme, she collaborated with skateboarders to create a concrete skate park in the basement of a building on Thomas Street in Dublin.

“It was this big void, so I was interested in making something happen there. I was very interested in the line and movement in the space. It turned into a pretty massive build.”

She and her 18 classmates are set to graduate this year.

“Most artists just love what they do, and that’s the thing that keeps you going. If I could work in a way that was somehow related to the art world [when I finish the course], that would be amazing.”