Offering talking points beyond the medical setting
The Waterford Healing Arts exhibition programme at University Hospital Waterford (UHW) is a means of engaging the hospital community of staff, patients and visitors in contemporary art and arts practices, while also being an opportunity for artists to showcase their work within an atypical exhibition space. The exhibition programme aims to bring some wonder and magic to the hospital, to soften the clinical environment and humanise the space. Exhibitions are chosen for their aesthetic quality and for their positive impact within a hospital setting.
The audiences for such exhibitions far exceed what any gallery or arts centre could hope to attract and the exhibitions offer talking points beyond the medical context.
Exhibitions typically run for eight weeks, with scope to engage the hospital community in collaborative/ participatory arts experiences in tandem with the exhibition.
2026:
Later this year, we’re looking forward to:
- An exhibition by staff from UHW who have been studying drawing with artist Philip Cullen, as part of our Arts Programme for HSE Staff.
- A multi-arts exhibition celebrating 20 years of our Arts Programme in Renal Dialysis. This exhibition will feature artworks created by patients since the beginning of the programme, right up to the present day.
Staff Art Wall
The Staff Art Wall is a series of bi-monthly exhibitions by staff members based at UHW. This programme celebrates the creativity of hospital staff by providing an opportunity to display their work. Our current Staff Art Wall exhibition is Returning Home, the final Staff Art Wall exhibition by Marley Irish, who will be retiring from UHW this summer. Marley has been a nurse at UHW for 43 years. Returning Home is an atmospheric collection of paintings depicting rural farming scenes. The show is dedicated to Marley’s husband PJ, who has been farming as long as Marley has been nursing, and will remain on display until 01 July 2026.
Find out more:
UHW staff members interested in exhibiting their work on the Staff Art Wall should contact Réalta/Waterford Healing Arts at info@realta.ie / 051 842664.