Arts in Health Mentoring & Resources
Artists are enablers of cultural & creative experiences
by Rowena Keaveny & Julie Spollen
A Creative Charter for older people, funded by The Community Foundation for Ireland Advocacy for Older People Award 2018, published and exhibited in 2019.
A Creative Charter is a working live document to promote creativity in older age. It will have ongoing contributions and updates for best practice and arts access. It is an articulation of a collective aim to create and advocate Arts and Culture in community and care settings, with the simple philosophy that if it works for older people it will benefit & work for everyone. To assert one aspect of best practice for the multimodal arts in health.
A Creative Charter to share…
In support of creating collaborative engagements…
In support of cultural community life & generously living together…
Our Programme will endeavour to…
We envisage a short online link or post to a participation session and follow up creative charter questionnaire for best practice, policies and certification for individuals and groups to take part in, for a recognised customised Charter Certificate.
This charter has been developed by the Anam Beo programme in Offaly which is partnered with the Dublin Mid – Leinster HSE & supported by Offaly County Council Arts Office. It is intended that this charter will provide a framework of understanding & become a useful resource for artists, participants, interested parties & relevant bodies. Anam Beo challenges ageism, perceptions of what it means to be an older adult and what it means to be creative. As visual artists we facilitate creative engagements and art production using professional socially engaged collaborative arts practices.
https://www.facebook.com/notes/anam-beo/a-creative-charter/3146902178681260
Generously living together requires an atmosphere of mutual respect. This creative charter is designed to enable an inclusive community to collaborate, for both cultural & contemporary art & design practices. Feedback with & by the community for the community. Today, we need to create new markers that reflect our present culture, to inspire others in the future in the same way that we can enjoy the legacy of our past. Culture is always a response to circumstance, location, history & landscape & its values should leave tangible marks. Sustainable communities need cultural engagement & artistic thinking in tandem with equity and ownership. Engagement through collaborative processes ensures community investment is relevant & informed.
Anam Beo serves as a collective for artistic skill sharing and social innovations. Advocating investment and resources for creative facilities and services through meaningful engagements with contemporary arts consultative practices. A Creative Charter is an artists led published initiative by Rowena Keaveny and Julie Spollen, a collaboration to support creative engagements with the community, for the community. This was funded by a Community Foundation for Ireland Advocacy for Older People Award in 2018, and unpacked by Artists in the Community ‘Activate’ a conscious place for living initiatives & exhibition @atrium at Áras an Chontae, Offaly.
Mentorship, Training & Artists in Residency
“Together We Create” demonstrates a positive time! A project booklet that will be shared with all involved and at Esker Arts Centre. With valuable learning and sharing with artists Bronagh Tully and Emma Barone, who are developing their professional skills and best practice to work in the area of arts & health with older adults in care and community settings.
“Even though there were some challenges to negotiate, the whole group had a positive experience. The artistic journey unfolded across two vibrant Anam Beo placements, each fostering a unique and creative exploration.” Emma Barone
With a successful award from the Arts Council Ireland Capacity Building Support Scheme, Anam Beo are developing an Arts and Health Mentoring Programme with project placements for 2 artists. Using the online workspace and collaborating with the Irish Wheelchair Association, HSE residential and day care centres, participants and Esker Arts Centre. The purpose is to support sustainable arts and health practices and contexts in Offaly, where the sharing of skills and the creative process is very much at the heart of Anam Beos values and strategic plan. The arts organisation would like to see an arts and health programme along with green realm and diverse community projects embedded at Esker Arts.
This mentorship programme was supported by The Arts Council’s Capacity Building scheme and focused on mentoring artists who wished to work with socially inclusive arts engagements that encourage voice, visibility, and creative activity. We were pleasantly surprised by the number of applicants and selected two artists at different stages of their careers, Emma Barone and Bronagh Tully. The artists were based in one residential and two community care settings, mentored with one-to-one guidance at Esker Arts, online and within the centres in collaboration with staff; using the Anam Beo Creative Charter for individuals, care staff and groups. A shared online accessible workspace was established to provide best practice info, support documents, worksheets, guides and power point. The mentoring was delivered using a process of advice & reflection to exchange information and experiences whilst also learning a range of social arts engagement processes. This Arts Council award has allowed us to be able to continue our projects at community and care settings, to develop and value a growing network of artists who will provide progress and access to creative engagements through arts & health practices in the Midlands. We would like thank Esker Arts for accommodating our mentoring sessions, all the staff and participants that took part at Riada Community and Nursing Unit and the Irish Wheelchair Association in Ballinagar.
Welcome @b.r.o.n.a.g.h and @emmabarone as new members of our team, sharing skills and knowledge to deliver Anam Beo’s Arts Collective and programme in care and community settings in Offaly. In preparation for our 20th Anniversary in 2025 we are now busy on our new HSE projects at Ofalia, Riada , Birr Community and Nursing Units and Clara Day Care along with a large Creative Ireland project and a future Green Realm Project for our community in collaboration with Esker Arts!
Rowena Keaveny & Julie Spollen
Resources
Minding Creative Minds work with people in the creative sector and offer free sessions with a Creative Arts Therapist: https://mindingcreativeminds.ie/what-we-do/
Safe to Create Policies, Training & resources: https://www.safetocreate.ie/
The Irish Hospice Foundation, Arts and Culture: ‘Bereavement and Grief’ training with the Irish Hospice Foundation
https://hospicefoundation.ie/our-supports-services/ihf-in-the-community/arts-and-creativity
For free E-learning courses on grief and bereavement in the health care environment see:
https://hospicefoundation.ie/our-supports-services/education-training/e-learning