Front Entrance of Hospital by Sinead Fahey

Oak by Tom Molloy 

LATEST NEWS

The Greeley Chorale

A gala night with the Greeley Chorale from Colorado for the benefit of patients in Waterford Regional Hospital. Read more here

 All Wrapped Up exhibition

The felted artworks created by participants of the All Wrapped Up workshops will be on display in the WHAT Centre of Arts and Health from 21st May - 14th June

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The Waterford Healing Arts Trust (WHAT) is one of Ireland’s leading Arts and Health programmes. Based in Waterford Regional Hospital, Ireland, WHAT supports healthcare environments and the wider community by providing multi-disciplinary arts experiences and services.

WHAT aims: -
• To facilitate access to and participation in the arts
• To create professional development opportunities for artists to produce new work and engage new audiences within healthcare and community contexts
• To reduce anxiety and stress for patients, visitors, and staff through integrating art into healthcare environments
• To forge closer relationships between hospital professionals and between the hospital and the wider community through the arts.
• To take the lead in the field of Arts and Health in the Republic of Ireland through education, research and professional development

WHAT brings the arts beyond conventional boundaries and into new areas whereby art and artists can thrive and excel in environments outside of mainstream arts venues and whereby people who might not ordinarily chose to access the arts can do so.

WHAT is housed in a dedicated Centre for Arts and Health in the grounds of Waterford Regional Hospital. This is the first of its kind in Ireland and enables WHAT to bridge its work between the acute hospital setting and the wider community.

WHAT is also a National Resource Organisation for the development of Arts and Health in Ireland. In 2011, WHAT joined forces with Create, the national development agency for collaborative arts, to devleop a national arts and health website artsandhealth.ie. The website provides a resource and focal point for the arts and health sector, providing information, news, and generating discussion between artists, arts organisations, health service users, carers, healthcare professionals and others interested in the dynamic area of arts and health in Ireland.

In partnership with the Health Service Executive South (Cork) Arts + Health Programme and with financial support from Arts Council Ireland/An Chomhairle Ealaíon, WHAT commissioned the development of Participatory Arts Practice in Healthcare Contexts - Guidelines for Good Practice for artists and health professionals engaged in Arts and Health work from the Centre for Medical Humanities at Durham University.

WHAT is a registered charity and our charity number is CHY13173.