Calling quiz buffs!  It’s time to dust off the dictionaries and brush up on general knowledge in time for the annual Quiz Night in aid of Waterford Healing Arts.  Taking place at The Cove Bar, Dunmore Road on Thursday 23 November, 8pm.  All are welcome and the entry fee is €40 per table of 4, with all proceeds going to the Waterford Healing Arts Art at the Kitchen Table programme.  Tables must be booked in advance. Click here to book. Announcing details of the Quiz Night, Shirley O’Shea, Chairperson of the Fundraising Committee of Waterford Healing Arts, said “We’re delighted to return to The Cove Bar for our annual Quiz Night and our sincere thanks to Tom and all the team for their invaluable support.  This year, the focus of our fundraising is the fantastic Art at the Kitchen Table programme.  Art at the Kitchen Table supports older people living in Waterford City and County, who might not otherwise have access to the arts, to make art in their own homes.  Two of the Waterford Healing Arts artists – Caroline Schofield and Eilis O’Toole – visit people and they create art together: painting, drawing and collage/mixed media.  The person at home doesn’t need to have any experience or art materials, just an interest in making art.  The artist brings everything to them in their home.” Shirley goes on to say “In addition to art making, we hear back from the participants that Art at the Kitchen Table brings them great joy, surprise and new friendships.  They discover a talent they didn’t know they had, or sometimes it re-kindles an...

The programme for Experience 2023: An Introduction to Arts, Health and the Older Person has been announced by Age & Opportunity and Réalta, the National Body for Arts + Health in Ireland.  Taking place on Thursday 7 December at the Réalta/Waterford Healing Arts Centre for Arts + Health, University Hospital Waterford, this is the first time for Experience to take place in person, having been an online learning programme for the last two years.  Designed for arts practitioners interested in this area, over the course of the day, Experience 2023 will aim to outline the essential elements involved in working with older people in an arts and health context, and will feature presentations by some of the most experienced and inspiring practitioners working in this specialised field of practice.  The Keynote Address will be by consultant geriatrician and author of The Book About Getting Older Dr Lucy Pollock.  Further details and booking information from www.ageandopportunity.ie from www.realta.ie or email arts@ageandopportunity.ie  Places are limited to 20 and cost €20.00 each, including lunch.  The deadline for receipt of expressions of interest is Wednesday 15 November. Experience 2023: An Introduction to Arts, Health and the Older Person is funded by the Arts Council and the HSE. This is the third year of Experience, which was devised in 2021 in response to the need for more training and practical orientation for arts practitioners who already have experience of participatory work in a health context, and who are interested in developing their practice to include working with older people.  Participants over the last two years have described the programme as “excellent”, “essential”, “uplifting”, “insightful”,...

Réalta, the National Body for Arts + Health in Ireland, has just announced the programme for Arts + Health: Check Up Check In 2023.  Themed Making Connections, this leading national arts and health event will have a special focus on mental health this year, and will feature a keynote address by visual artist and founder of the London-based Arts & Health Hub Daniel Regan, in addition to presentations by some of the most innovative and creative practitioners working in arts and health in Ireland today.  Check Up Check In 2023 takes place on Wednesday 25 October at the Creative Life Hub at Mercer’s Institute for Successful Ageing (MISA), St James’s Hospital, Dublin 8.  This ‘go to’ event for the arts and health sector is organised by Réalta, in partnership with Creative Life at MISA.  Réalta encompasses the national resource website artsandhealth.ie and Waterford Healing Arts, and is funded by the Arts Council and the HSE. Book tickets for Arts + Health Check Up Check In 2023 here The fee for the full day, including lunch, is €30. Check Up Check In promotes solidarity among artists, healthcare professionals and arts and health practitioners and is open to anyone interested in learning more about this exciting field.  This will be the first time since 2019 for this national gathering of the arts and health sector to be held in person, having taken place online during the pandemic, thus prompting the event theme Making Connections.  Presentations will explore mental health and wellbeing, and the challenge to practitioners of creating innovative, exciting and inspiring work within the healthcare context.  In his keynote address,...

Réalta/Waterford Healing Arts will celebrate Culture Night 2023 by bringing its Healing Sounds live music session to patients in the South East Palliative Care Centre at University Hospital Waterford (UHW) from 6pm. This special acoustic session will see Waterford Healing Arts Healing Sounds musicians Eoin O Meachair and Alan Browne engaging with patients, their families and staff through music, bringing Culture Night in to many who cannot otherwise access this wonderful celebration.  Further details are available from wha@hse.ie or 051 842664. Culture Night is a national moment, celebrating culture, creativity and the arts, and seeks to actively promote the belief that this rich and varied culture is alive, treasured and nurtured in people’s lives today and every day.  It is delivered nationwide in cities, towns, villages and rural locations, and online. Claire Meaney, Director of Réalta/Waterford Healing Arts, is looking forward to Culture Night 2023: “Culture Night is a fantastic initiative, but patients and staff on duty at the South East Palliative Care Centre here at University Hospital Waterford (UHW) miss out because they can’t access all the free events on offer around Waterford and further afield.  For this reason, each year we bring Culture Night in, via our Healing Sounds programme.  Our musicians, who are all trained to work in healthcare settings, bring their beautiful music to patients, family members and staff, who tell us it helps to lift their spirits and brings a little normality to their lives.  Culture Night has become a very special event in our calendar year, so we’re really looking forward to Friday 22 September”. Waterford Healing Arts brings arts experiences – music,...

Arts + Health: Check Up Check In 2023 will now take place on Wednesday 25 October in Dublin, and not Thursday 26 October as previously advertised.  This will be the first time since 2019 that this national gathering of the arts and health sector will be held in person, having taken place online since the onset of COVID.  This year’s event will have a special focus on mental health, and the day will feature presentations by some of the most innovative and creative practitioners working in arts and health today. Arts + Health: Check Up Check In is open to healthcare professionals, arts practitioners and anyone interested in learning more about this exciting field.  The ‘go to’ event for the arts and health sector, Check Up Check In is organised by Réalta, the National Body for Arts + Health in Ireland, which encompasses the national resource website artsandhealth.ie and Waterford Healing Arts, and is funded by the Arts Council and the HSE.  Further details and booking information will follow in due course on www.realta.ie Picture shows artists Caroline Schofield and Jill Bouchier presenting their case study on Open Gallery, an inclusive art viewing project, at Arts and Health: Check Up Check In 2019. Photo by Keith Currams...