As we’re coming to the end of another wonderful year of Arts for Health, we wanted to take a look back at some of the amazing work that has taken place over the last twelve months. Across eleven West Cork healthcare settings, community spaces, and Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre, our team of incredible artists have facilitated weekly sessions and a range of different projects. Here’s a brief glimpse into what they’ve been up to!
Arts for Health Projects
Storytelling project, A Life Lived, was created by Arts for Health participants at Schull Community Hospital, Skibbereen Community Hospital, and St. Joseph’s Unit, Bantry General Hospital with writer Elizabeth Rose Murray and visual artist Sarah Ruttle.
A collection of embroidery artworks inspired by conversations around Favourite Things were created by residents at Skibbereen Community Hospital with visual artist Sharon Dipity. The pieces incorporated collage, drawing onto cloth with fabric pens, stitching silks, wool, and sequins into each piece.
Arts for Health aims to support and celebrate the development of new artists on the team, so we were excited to see the completion of musician Étáin Collins’ first project with participants at Dunmanway Community Hospital. Together the group created This Story I Tell You Is True, a book of Irish songs featuring a song from every county accompanied by short anecdotes on individual’s connections to the music.
Over the summer, Michael Greenlaw worked with Arts for Health participants at St. Joseph’s Unit, Bantry General Hospital to create an incredible seaside mural.
Later in the year Michael worked collaboratively with visual artist Bénédicte Coleman and participants in Bantry Day Care Centre on a project entitled Clabhsúr. The work involved using hay to make mini stooks, lengths of súgán, and thatched cottages, and mashing blackberries to draw pictures with their ink. Their piece is now proudly displayed at the entrance to the centre.
December saw the end of Liz Clark’s ambitious project Radio Dedication Hour. Visiting every community hospital, Liz worked collaboratively with residents and staff over four weeks to develop a personalised show in each location.
For the final sessions, Liz was joined by Arts for Health musicians Ecki Krupp and Kate Liddell, and guest musicians and recording technicians Kevin McNally and Oisín Walsh-Peelo. In Liz’s words, ‘Radio Dedication Hour brings together the magic of music, storytelling, and community spirit in community hospitals. Inspired by the essence of traditional radio broadcasts that feature live musical performances, comedic sketches, and whimsical tales of everyday life, we can create a sense of connection for residents and listeners alike.’
We Had Little But We Had Love is a poetry and mark-making project facilitated by Sarah Ruttle and Sharon Dipity with participants at Clonakilty Community Hospital. The project was based on ideas around the murmuration of starlings, their movement and its similarities to the dances and waltzes experienced across the dance halls of West Cork.
Creative Carers
Kicking off the year with a celebration, Creative Carers groups from around West Cork came together for a New Year’s Tea Party in DeBarra’s Folk Club, Clonakilty. Organised by Justin Grounds, the event offered a moment to recognise the commitment, openness, and creativity of all the family carers who participate in the programme. Creative Carers went from strength to strength this year with the programme continuing in Clonakilty, Schull, Ballydehob, Bantry, and Skibbereen, and starting in Dunmanway and Beara.
Creative Carers participants in Schull explored monoprints with Sharon Dipity, while Justin Grounds’ Musical Coffee Mornings returned in March. Justin and his group took a summer field trip after speaking about pilgrimages, camions, and music that is born out of a relationship with geographical place.
Creative Brain Week
During Creative Brain Week, we were honoured to welcome Christopher Bailey, Arts and Health Lead at the World Health Organisation, to Skibbereen. Starting the day at Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre, Mr. Bailey met with our Arts for an Active Mind weekly art group, Uillinn’s Director and Board Chairperson, HSE Health Promotion and Improvement staff, Arts for Health Steering Group, and Creative Carers participants. Mr. Bailey later heard from local arts and health organisations, advocates, and artists, and discussed the wealth of services on offer in West Cork. Arts for Health projects Blanket Stitch and Beyond the Darkness were on display at Uillinn, Authenticity and A Life Lived were presented at an afternoon visit to Skibbereen Community Hospital and Day Care Centre. Christopher Bailey ended his visit to West Cork with dinner at the West Cork Hotel, joined by Programme Manager, Justine Foster, and members of the Arts for Health artist team.
Festivals
The annual Bealtaine Festival, celebrating arts and creativity as we age, returned to Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre. An exhibition showcasing the work of Arts for an Active Mind and a selection of incredible Arts for Health projects including A Life Lived, Favourite Things, Collaborative Quilt, and Collected Poems by Josie Mackle, was on display from 1 – 31 May.
As part of the Bealtaine festivities, Sarah also brought In the Picture on Tour to Bantry Memory Café. The Arts for Health dementia-friendly endeavour initially took place at Uillinn galleries but has been successfully brought into the community in recent years. The event offers attendees the opportunity to engage in conversation around ideas brought forward by looking at and exploring the selected artwork. Pieces for this session were kindly provided by Brian Lalor from his Retrospective exhibition.
Arts for Health visual artist Michael Greenlaw worked with forty participants from Bantry Day Care Centre to create an artwork inspired by Lá Buidhe Bealtaine – the bright or yellow day of May. He described the final piece saying, ‘We have the front door – which is itself symbolic of the month of May, the doorway into Summer – surrounded by individually made pieces – some incorporating real wild flowers including: dandelions; daisies; furze; buttercups and bluebells, some of the pieces are knitted and crocheted from wool which has been dyed yellow from boiling furze; there are some paper pieces which incorporate furze ink and dandelion ink – again both made by boiling the plants. For extra good luck a horse shoe is added above the door.’
As part of the West Cork Literary Festival in partnership with Arts for Health, Elizabeth Murray invited author Jan Carson to speak at Bantry Day Care Centre. Both writers read excerpts from their own work and shared stories from personal experience. As well as sharing plenty of memories and opinions, participants recited some favourite poems that they learned by heart – which, as one participant pointed out, ‘is an important skill to keep alive, as you always have something beautiful to think about when you need it’.
Afterwards, Jan Carson shared on social media: ‘I would love to see more book festivals creating spaces for writers to give short readings in nursing homes and residential care facilities so those who can’t attend events still get to enjoy the festival. It’s super easy to set this up and really impactful.’
Arts for Health also partnered with Clonakilty International Guitar Festival’s community outreach programme Reverb. Festival coordinator Kevin McNally said of the collaboration, ‘In 2024 Reverb was strengthened by partnering with Arts for Health to deliver a programme of events in Clonakilty Community Hospital, and a once off performance in Bushmount Nursing Home. Working with Arts for Health meant access to their panel of exceptionally talented artists, meaning that we could include the hospital in our programme and the residents would benefit from the expertise of an AfH artist. The other major benefit was that we could engage an artist for a sustained programme rather than a once-off during the festival.’
Podcast Series
Arts for Health celebrated Culture Night in September with the release of a new series of podcasts created by Liz Clark. Cabhair and 100th Birthday Celebration feature conversations around music and the impact of the Arts for Health programme with participants at Skibbereen Day Care Centre and Schull Director of Nursing, Róisín Walsh.
Research
In June, visual artist and speech and language therapist Áine Rose Connell presented findings on her Arts for Health supported art and Parkinson’s Disease project, A Dive in Line, to members of the artist team. The research project, which commenced in 2023, aimed to engage individuals with Parkinson’s disease through tailored art-making experiences. Áine was mentored by Justin Grounds throughout the work, and Programme Manager, Justine Foster, acted as advisor on the project.
Training
Our team continued to develop their arts and health practice through engaging with different trainings throughout the year, including Dementia training with Sarah Cairns, podcasting and mobile film-making workshops, and movement training with dance artist Helga Deasy.
Thank you!
We want to extend a huge thank you to all the participants who take part in Arts for Health, this programme would be nothing without them. Thank you to our fantastic artist team, the healthcare staff we work with every day, the Arts for Health Steering Group, and our partners at Cork Kerry Community Healthcare, Cork ETB, and Cork County Council. Looking forward to another exciting year of Arts for Health in 2025!
Images by Sarah Ruttle, Catherine Weld, and Liz Clark.