Well Festival of Arts & Wellbeing
WHAT, in partnership with Garter Lane Arts Centre and Waterford City and County Libraries, presents the annual Well Festival of Arts & Wellbeing, celebrating all the ways the arts make us feel good. The next Well Festival takes place 13-18 Feb 2023. Click image for 2023 festival programme.
Art at the Kitchen Table
Developed by Waterford Healing Arts Trust to support older people in Waterford city and county to make art in their own homes. Click through for details
Art Kart
The WHAT Art Kart is a brightly-coloured converted medicine trolley containing art materials which our artist brings to patients in the Paediatric, Renal Dialysis and Psychiatric units of University Hospital Waterford.
Healing Sounds
WHAT provides live music experiences in healthcare settings in many ways, including through Healing Sounds in the Ward, a monthly programme of live music engagement which aims to soften the clinical environment and reduce anxiety for patients of all ages.
Arts Programme in Renal Dialysis Unit
Our Arts Programme in the Renal Dialysis Unit at UHW offers patients the opportunity to engage in visual art, creative writing and poetry, and to enjoy music during their lengthy periods on dialysis. Supported by two professional artists, patients have created beautiful artworks, poetry collections and memoirs.
WHAT & Mental Health
WHAT partners with the Waterford Wexford Mental Health Services in the delivery of Iontas, a multi-artform participatory arts and mental health programme, in a number of healthcare settings in the community.
Open Gallery
Open Gallery invites people - some of whom are living with dementia or other conditions, along with their family members/carers – to look at, discuss and enjoy paintings from the UHW Art Collection in a safe and welcoming space, supported by professional artists.
Art Collection
WHAT curates and manages the Art Collection of University Hospital Waterford, which consists of over 600 artworks. These splashes of colour and creativity help to soften the clinical environment, transforming the hospital building from a bare, sterile, institution into a more human space.
Arts and Health Leadership
WHAT leads the development of arts and health nationally by providing information, resources, training and advice, and managing the resource website artsandhealth.ie, developed with Create and funded by the Arts Council.
Surviving or Thriving?
We were pleased to partner with the Arts Council on this online series to support the wellbeing of arts professionals in Ireland. Click through for podcasts of each of the public panel exchanges and our bank of recommended resources.

News

New Exhib Launches at UHW

Coast is a collection of landscape images by photographer Tom Quilty, depicting the natural beauty of the Waterford coastline from Brownstown Head to Tankardstown on the Copper Coast.

We haven’t had an earthquake lately…

Fri 17 Feb, 6pm, The Book Centre

Talks at GOMA for I brought the dream of flying

Tues 7 & Thurs 9 February

Good Vibrations: Well Festival Workshop

Music in mental health settings workshop with Jane O’Brien Moran

Why Arts? Well Festival Keynote

Dr Chris Fitzpatrick in conversation with Jennifer O’Connell

Home

Waterford Healing Arts Trust (WHAT) is Ireland’s leading arts and health organisation. Established in 1993, we bring arts experiences to the bedsides of patients at University Hospital Waterford and other healthcare settings. We believe that the arts contribute to the wellbeing and vitality of society and that engaging with the arts stimulates our sense of identity and creativity.

WHAT supports the development of arts and health in Ireland and manages the national resource website www.artsandhealth.ie

WHAT is core funded by the Arts Council

WHAT Video

Take 5 mins to view a snapshot of Waterford Healing Arts Trust and the breadth of our work.
(Filmed in 2015)

Get involved, become a member

read more about Open Gallery

Open Gallery

Open Gallery is an art project which invites people living with dementia – and their family members/carers – to look at, discuss and enjoy paintings from the UHW Art Collection in a safe and welcoming space, supported by professional artists.

read more about Art Collection

Art Collection

‘While struggling with illness and medication, I found the art in the corridors was a healing influence and these dashes of creativity supported me.’ – Former patient

read more about Iontas arts and mental health programme

Iontas arts and mental...

‘Art gets to the core and heart of the artist and the observer, and is like our fingerprints. Each person is unique and different.’ – Client of Waterford Wexford Mental Health Services