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Inspiring resources from Ireland
During a recent trip to Dublin, we found out about an arts project which has been running in County Mayo since 1999. At that time local artist Deirdre Walsh, who had been working in arts and health for several years, began to work with older people in the Sacred Heart Hospital in Castlebar encouraging them to express themselves in artistic ways. Many of the people who use and live in the hospital have dementia.
A book about this work, titled Creative Reverie: meeting the person as an artist was published in 2002. This extremely attractively-produced book begins with an extensive introduction from Mike White of the Centre for Arts and Humanities in Health and Medicine at the University of Durham, which puts the material which follows in a wider context. The artist herself then explains her approach to the work and the values which underpin it, and describes setting up the project and carrying out the work, including discussion of very practical aspects such as the type of artistic materials used and the space required.
In addition to the main text, there is also a wealth of material directly from the participants in the form of a poem, quotations about their experiences, and many reproductions of their work. These are interspersed with excellent pictures of people engaged in artistic work, reminding us that the process is as important, if not more so, than the final outcomes. There are also quotations from members of staff who work in the hospital about their perceptions of the project.
But that's not all... whilst we were in Ireland a follow-up publication, titled between colours , was launched. This is also very beautiful, and describes the subsequent phase of the project whereby Deirdre Walsh supports a further five artists in starting out in similar work in other settings for older people (both day and residential services). In between colours there is again detailed discussion of the process, including how the new artists were introduced to the work and the ongoing support arrangements , which included a mentoring programme and networking arrangements.
The final part of this book deals with the lessons from the project as a whole, and looks beyond to the implications of how such work can become established on a wider scale. As if that weren't enough the book is accompanied by a DVD which contains a huge number of reproductions of the work , together with a 55 minute documentary featuring the participants and artists at work, and reflections by the artists.
These are tremendous resources, both inspiring and practical, and whilst copies remain, they are available free from:
Arts Office,
Mayo County Council,
The Mall,
Castlebar
County Mayo
Ireland
tel: 00 3 53 94 90 47560
e-mail: artsstaf@mayococo.ie
The work in Co. Mayo is run in association with Age & Opportunity. Age & Opportunity also has a project which concentrates on equipping care staff to engage older people using services in creative work (Arts in Care).
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