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Arts

Call for expressions of interest to participate in prime platform for actors and theatre makers aged 50+

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Irish Theatre Institute (ITI)’s prime in partnership with Age & Opportunity offers actors aged 50 years + opportunities to engage in professional development programmes to build their skills, develop their ideas and grow their networks towards a continued successful career.

For prime 2019, ITI calls for Expressions of Interest from professional actors/theatre makers who are interested in pitching their new project or show an excerpt of existing work to an audience of invited artistic directors, programmers, agents, casting directors and funding organisations to ignite conversations and encourage discussion around the future presentation of new work.

prime Platform, now in its second year, will take place in Bewley’s Café Theatre during the week commencing 18th November.

For full details on the call, submission and the application process please see the Word Documents below:

Completed expressions of interest must be received no later than Midnight, Friday 25th October.

For more information contact Irish Theatre Institute: (01) 6704906 or Leigh Hussey, Programme Co-ordinator, lhussey@irishtheatreinstitute.ie.

Age & Opportunity and the Irish Theatre Institute are funded by The Arts Council and prime Platform is supported by Dublin City Arts Office. 

prime platform 2018 project participants
L-R, clockwise: Mary Ryan, Michael O’Sullivan, Daniel Reardon, Guy Carleton, Pom Boyd, Carol Moore and PJ Brady at prime Platform 2018

Artist Residencies to bring the benefits of arts participation to over 250 older people in care settings

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Age & Opportunity is pleased to announce the six artists and care settings who will participate in their 2019 Artist(s) in Residence in a Care Setting initiative. 2019 marks the third year of this project which aims to improve access to rich arts experiences for older people in care settings, many of whom are living with Dementia.

Research shows that people who engage with the arts benefit from a significant boost to their self-esteem and overall quality of life and that there is tremendous potential for participatory art to improve the quality of life for older people in general, as well as those older people who are most excluded including those with dementia . However, older people are not targeted as beneficiaries as much as they should be. As life expectancy improves so does the incidence of dementia. Presently there are over 55,000 people in Ireland living with the disease and another half a million people (mainly family members) who are directly affected by it.

These six residencies will bring the benefits of arts participation to up to 250 older people who either live in or visit care facilities and will also positively impact on over 500 people, when we include all those involved – residents, staff, families, artists, and the wider community.

Artists and Age & Opportunity and MISA representative photographed in the lobby of MISA, St
Image by Anthony Edwards, courtesy of St. James’s Hospital. Image taken at workshop held in MISA (Mercer’s Institute of Successful Ageing) photo location MISA Lobby. (L-R) Róisín Nevin, Creative Life Coordinator, MISA, Matthew Gibb, Director of Dementia Services Information and Development Centre, Aoife Barrett, artist, Ciara Rodgers, artist, Brian Cooney, artist, Cliona Ní Laoi, artist, Andy Parsons, artist, Marie Brett, artist and mentor on the AIR initiative, Tara Byrne, Arts Programme Manager, Age & Opportunity, Bridget Deevy, Assistant Arts Programme Manager, Age & Opportunity, (not pictured – John Conway, artist)

Printmaker Aoife Barrett will invite residents at Raheen Community Hospital to participate in a series of conversations, bookmaking and printmaking activities to promote creativity, storytelling and the exchange of knowledge.

Visual artist John Conway aims to engage the service users of the Naas Day Care Centre over a cup of tea and simple art exercises. In doing so Conway aims to draw out the stories of their life experiences and document them for posterity as part of their project.

Photographer Brian Cooney aims to draw on the existing photography of the residents of St John’s Community Hospital in Sligo to help weave their personal stories. He will also make a new body of work that will be his personal response to his time in the care facility.

Based in the Clonskeagh Community Hospital in Dublin multimedia artist Cliona Ni Laoi will use projections to create immersive visual collages using light and sound. In turn this art project will feed into Cliona’s research about the therapeutic benefits of audiovisual installations in dementia care setting.

Multimedia artist Andy Parsons will be based in the Killybegs Community Hospital. Andy’s project will take as its starting point the wealth of craft skills of the people of Donegal. His project aims to record the hands of these people, capturing the ingenuity, resourcefulness and creativity of our older generation.

Using the mid-century buildings of Castleisland as a starting point visual artist Ciara Rodgers will engage the attendees of Castleisland Day Care Centre in a conversation about the history of the buildings in their area for a project in charcoal drawing.

Through funding provided by the Creative Ireland Programme’s National Creativity Fund, HSE National Lottery Funding (CHO areas 4 & 7), and the Arts Council, we have developed this initiative which aims to make arts intrinsic to life-in-care settings for older people, particularly those who live outside major urban areas.

Creativity and cultural participation are key contributors to wellbeing in older age.  This project seeks to increase the awareness among policy makers, health and social care providers and the general public (including older people themselves) of the potential of participatory art to influence on the quality of life of older people in residential care, with positive impacts on health, psychological well-being and autonomy.

The residency initiative, creates an opportunity for the staff and older people living in or attending publicly-funded care settings to engage creatively with an artist in a nurturing and inclusive environment.  It showcases the value of creative activity to the staff and broadens the base of skilled artists working in the area of arts and health.

Josepha Madigan: Minister of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht

I am delighted that Creative Ireland through its National Creativity Fund can support an important project like this which will actively improve the lives of some of our communities most vulnerable people.  

Commenting on the residency programme, Tara Byrne, Arts Programme Manager with Age & Opportunity said:

Although access to the arts and creativity underpin this residency initiative, we know that the arts has a profoundly beneficial influence on our general quality of life and psychological well-being. The person-centred characteristics of the arts in particular, can take on a critical role in enhancing our sense of identity as we grow older, and possibly experience feelings of marginalization or invisibility arising from our age, health or social status.

Age & Opportunity gratefully acknowledges the support of our Arts programme funders, the Arts Council, the Creative Ireland Programme’s National Creativity Fund, and the HSE.

The artist residency initiative is also supported by the Waterford Healing Arts Trust (WHAT), Creative Life, Mercer’s Institute for Successful Ageing (MISA) and the Dementia Services Information and Development Centre (DSIDC) both based in MISA, St. James’s Hospital.  These partner organisations will offer their expert perspective on the artist residency steering group and provide mentoring and support during the programme.

First Group of Kerry Graduates from Course Designed to Enrich Lives of Older People Through Creativity

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  • 20 Kerry-based Creative Exchanges activities coordinators graduate today
  • Creative Exchanges is a QQI accredited course for anyone leading creative activities with older people in care settings, and for those interested in working with older people
  • For the first time community volunteers also participated in the course

Twenty new activities coordinators today graduate from a training programme called Creative Exchanges. The Kerry-based participants took part in the training course which was organised by Age & Opportunity and commissioned by Cork Kerry Community Healthcare.

Creative Exchanges is a QQI accredited course for anyone leading creative activities with older people in care settings, and for those interested in working with older people. Participants develop the skills and confidence needed to plan and facilitate arts activities for older people in either residential or day care settings.

This is the first time that the training was offered in Kerry and the first time that community volunteers took part as well as those employed in care settings, helping us to enrich the lives of more older people through creative practice.  This was made possible through funding from the Department of Health and Pobal and the HSE, as part of Kerry’s involvement in the Healthy Ireland plan.

During the programme, the graduates participated in practical workshops with artists working in care settings through music, dance, the visual arts or drama. Forty people completed the training, and the group included care workers, community volunteers, HSE staff and those interested in working with older people in care settings and community groups.  The award is a QQI component award at Level 6 on the National Framework of Qualifications.

Speaking at the presentation of Certificates in Manor West Hotel, Tralee, Ciarán McKinney, Age & Opportunity commented:

It is so important that those organising activities for older people are skilled and confident in being able to deliver interesting, varied, person-centred activities. These activities can have a direct impact on the quality of life of an older person in care, and in the community.  We are delighted that through this collaborative partnership with Cork Kerry Community Healthcare, we now have a network of skilled coordinators in Kerry and that through the involvement of community volunteers we are now reaching new communities. This collaboration with Cork Kerry Community Healthcare is a wonderful example of how partnerships among the public and voluntary sectors can make a vital difference to supporting older people’s lives and we hope this will lead to further collaboration in the region.

This initiative will bring a whole new level of creativity into the lives of people in nursing homes and community groups in Kerry by providing the learning and development in relation to guiding creative activities in care settings. Mixing theory, regulations and practical creative work, participants will be able to bring their learning back to their own nursing home or community group, so that people can feel the benefits straight away.

Mairéad Hanlon, one of today’s graduates said:

Creative Exchanges enlightened me in relation to the stigma attached to ageing – just because you reach a certain age doesn’t mean you are written off.  I think all health care workers – doctors and nurses as well as care assistants – should do a course like this.

Speaking at the graduation Hilary Scanlan, Community Work Manager Cork Kerry Healthcare, HSE commented:

The feedback from participants has been very positive, they have gained the skills and knowledge to enable them to deliver varied, innovative and creative programmes in their care settings and communities.  Through this network of skilled coordinators in Kerry, we hope to support varied and stimulating programmes for older people’s groups and encourage active engagement in the community, promoting the vision of Healthy Ireland in the county.

Creative Exchanges was developed in 2013 by Age & Opportunity, the national organisation that inspires people aged 50+ to live a life in which they are more active, more visible, more creative and more connected. The need for such a programme was borne out of research which showed significant benefits for older people in care who have access to the arts.

The next course is scheduled to take place in the Autumn, in IMMA.  For more details and information on how to apply click here.

Bealtaine Tour 2020 – Open Call

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After a successful call out for 2019, Age & Opportunity once again invites applications from performing artists and theatre producers for an award for work which will tour, during May 2020, as part of the Bealtaine Festival.

Age & Opportunity will provide a platform (through the Bealtaine Festival) and additional financial support to a tour which chimes with the mission and aims of the organisation, and the Bealtaine Festival, prioritising work which fulfils the assessment criteria and is radical, challenging, humorous or irreverent.

Full details are available in the guidelines document below. Deadline extended to Thursday 26th September 2019.

Bealtaine Open Call Touring Award Application 2020

Bealtaine Flagship Choir 2020 – Open Call

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Age & Opportunity invites applications from choirs to fill the role of Bealtaine Festival Flagship Choir for the Dawn and Dusk Chorus events, in 2020, Bealtaine’s 25th anniversary year.  Following the success of the inaugural flagship choir in 2019, Age & Opportunity once again invites choirs to apply to be the Bealtaine Festival choir for 2020.

For these flagship events the Bealtaine Festival wishes to showcase a choir that celebrates the Bealtaine spirit in some way – it may be that they are intergenerational or that they are championing creativity as we age or that they have been staging their own Dawn Chorus events for the past number of years.

For full details, download the application guidelines and application form below. Deadline extended to Thursday 26th September 2019.

Bealtaine Flagship Choir 2020 – Guidelines (PDF)

Bealtaine Flagship Choir 2020 – Application form (PDF)

Artist in Residence in a Care Setting – Call for Artists of all art forms – Deadline Extended to 16th August

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Age & Opportunity has created an opportunity for care settings and older people living in or attending those settings to engage creatively with an artist over the course of a number of months. Age & Opportunity also wishes to offer an opportunity for an artist to develop their specific skills in relation to working in arts and health settings. In 2019, six artist residencies of this kind will be offered. The application process is two-part: care settings have applied and been selected for this unique opportunity based on an open competition and artists are now invited to apply for a residency in one of these specific care settings.

Please read the guidelines below carefully before completing the application form.

PLEASE NOTE:  THE DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO FRIDAY 16th AUGUST 2019.

Care Residencies ARTIST Guidelines 2019 (PDF)

Download the application form here:

http://bealtaine.ie/page/opportunities

Application Deadline 28th June 2019 – Artist in Residence in a Care Setting

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This initiative aims to make arts and creativity intrinsic to life-in-care settings for older people, particularly those who live outside major urban areas and in hard-to-reach places.  Applications are invited from publicly funded and not for profit care settings including day care, residential care and hospice care.

Please note that the deadline for CARE SETTINGS to apply for our Artist in Residence initiative is 28th June 2019.

Funding provided by the Creative Ireland Programme’s National Creativity Fund, HSE National Lottery Funding (CHO areas 4 & 7), and the Arts Council.

Further information can be found here: Artist Residency Guidelines for Care Settings (Doc)

Application form can be found here:   Artist Residency Application Form for Care Settings (PDF)

Sing out loud with Bealtaine and the St. Patrick’s Festival

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St. Patrick’s Festival and the Bealtaine Festival are delighted to announce its first ever joint event centring around a number of fun choral pop ups for all to get involved with this weekend.

On Saturday, take to the streets for Sing Out Loud, an inclusive, celebratory programme in partnership with Tesco finest*, with a choral trail featuring older persons and inter-generational choirs including The Forget Me Nots and Forever Young choirs, performing at Dublin’s most iconic landmarks sharing their stories though song. Click here for full details of the choirs performing.

Age & Opportunity’s Bealtaine Festival has been celebrating choral singing through its Dawn Chorus events since 2009, where choirs around the country are invited to sing outdoors, at a scenic location, on a morning in May. In 2019, for the first time, a Bealtaine Festival Choir will represent the festival at a number of events. This choir was selected by Age & Opportunity and Sing Ireland and embodies the spirit of the Bealtaine Festival and will preview their Dawn Chorus performance along with other favourites at this very special national St. Patrick’s Festival event.

Join the choral trail on Saturday for a fun pop up sing-a-long – bring the kids, the grandkids and Sing Out Loud with us! Or come along to the national Festival Parade on Sunday to get a flavour of the Dawn Chorus which promises to be an uplifting and joyful performance by the Bealtaine Festival Choir.

The Bealtaine Festival Dawn Chorus will take place in Co. Carlow, by the River Barrow in the town park on Sunday 5th of May at 6am – if you are in the area, come and join us to herald the day with song!

Artist in Residence in Care Setting to provide increased access to the arts for older people.

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  • 5 new residencies to take place across the country in 2019
  • Initiative will reach up to 250 older people who don’t have easy access to arts
  • Research shows significant benefits for older people in care with access to the arts

Age & Opportunity, the national development organisation for active and engaged ageing today announced the expansion of their Artist(s) in Residence in a Care Setting, with five additional residencies to take place across the country during 2019.

Through funding provided by the Creative Ireland National Creativity Fund, Age & Opportunity will develop a programme of nationwide artists’ residencies in care settings, one in each province.  These aim to make arts and creativity intrinsic to life-in-care settings for older people, particularly those who live outside major urban areas and in hard-to-reach areas.  Each residency has approximately 30- 50 residents so it’s estimated that the expansion of this initiative will result in increased arts participation for up to 250 older people in care settings.  

Creativity and cultural participation are key contributors to wellbeing in older age.  Research has shown that arts programmes have a profound influence on the quality of life of older people in residential care, with positive impacts on health, psychological well-being and autonomy. 

The Age & Opportunity Artist(s) in Residence in a Care Setting initiative, now in its third year, creates an opportunity for the staff and residents of a publicly-funded care setting to engage creatively with an artist, allowing them to realise their full creative potential in a nurturing and inclusive environment.  The residency places an artist in a care setting for a sustained period of time allowing for a deep engagement between the artist and older residents to take place.   It showcases the value of creative activity to the staff and broadens the base of skilled artists working in the area of arts and health.

Commenting on the launch Dr. Tara Byrne, Manager of Age & Opportunity ARTS & Bealtaine Festival Director said: “Through the residency initiative we hope to foster an understanding of the value of creative activity, particularly in a care setting, and demonstrate and celebrate the positive impact of ageing creatively.  Through our mentoring and support we will facilitate both care staff and the artists to gain more confidence and acquire new skills in the area of arts and health, and to share and practice them with residents. We also hope to push the boundaries in relation to opportunities for activity, creativity and visibility of older people in Ireland, a key objective in Age & Opportunity’s new Strategic Plan 2018-2020.”

Karen Smyth, CEO of Age & Opportunity said: “The presence of an artist in a care home setting is an invaluable addition to the quality of life of the residents and gives those older people the opportunity to access arts activities as their independent peers do.  This represents another first for Age & Opportunity’s arts programme, and builds on our ongoing programme of engagement with care settings.  We know from our work in this area that arts activities can have a direct impact on the quality of life of an older person in care, and in the community. We are delighted that Age & Opportunity will reach new groups through the funding provided by the Creative Ireland creativity fund, particularly those in hard-to-reach areas.”

The artist residency initiative is also supported by the Waterford Healing Arts Trust (WHAT) and Mercer’s Institute for Creative Ageing (MISA), based in St. James’ Hospital.  These partner organisations will offer their expert perspective on the steering group and provide mentoring and support during the programme.

Age & Opportunity are now inviting care settings to apply for this exciting opportunity, with submissions due by 28th June 2019.   This will be followed by a call out for artists later in the year. 

Age & Opportunity gratefully acknowledges the support of our arts programme funders, the Arts Council, the Creative Ireland National Creativity Fund, and the HSE.

A Cup of Creativi-TEA

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Age & Opportunity are delighted to announce the Fairland Collective as the newly appointed Age & Opportunity Artist(s) in Residence in a Care Setting for 2018.

Fairland Collective is a group of visual artists who collaborate together on socially-engaged art projects. They produce work that recognises and prompts creativity in daily life, often using cooking and meals to engage networks of people and communities. Through art and action, their work facilitates encounters that imagine and create new common ways of working and living together.

The Age & Opportunity Artist(s) in Residence in a Care Setting initiative, now in its second year, creates an opportunity for the staff and residents of a care setting to engage creatively with a visual artist, allowing them to realise their full creative potential in a nurturing and inclusive environment.  It showcases the value of creative activity to the care setting staff, residents and their families, and broadens the base of skilled artists working in the area of arts and health.

Commencing in November 2018, over the course of three months the Fairland Collective will work with the staff and residents of St Joseph’s Day Care Centre in Shankhill Dublin, a care setting specialising in Dementia care. The duration of the residency ensures that the artist spends a significant amount of time in the care setting to build up a relationship with the residents and the staff. People with dementia were selected as a group who would greatly benefit from an artist’s sustained engagement, and a group often ignored in relation to arts provision.

As part of the residency Fairland Collective will create Tea House – a multi-sensory space for drinking tea, which will be developed collaboratively with the residents of St Joseph’s. The intention is for Tea House to be full of colour and rich in smells, but also familiar – celebrating the everyday ritual of drinking tea. To realise this the artists and residents will work to create a variety of objects – including ceramics, hand-printed linens, and flower arrangements – through workshops, conversations and many shared pots of tea.

Commenting on the residency, the Fairland Collective said:

We are excited to have this fantastic opportunity to collaborate with the staff and residents of St. Joseph’s Day Care Centre.   We envisage Tea House as a warm and uniquely personalised space, which celebrates the imperfection of handmade things. Drawing on the ‘Butterfly Model of Care’ offered by St Joseph’s, Tea House will provide space and time for moments of enchantment and creativity in everyday life, for residents, staff and visitors.

Creativity and cultural participation are key contributors to wellbeing in older age.  Research shows that arts programmes involving music, visual arts and drama, among other activities, have a profound influence on the quality of life of older people in residential care, with positive impacts on health, psychological well-being, confidence and autonomy.

Dr. Tara Byrne, Age & Opportunity Arts Manager & Bealtaine Festival Director commented:

“Through the residency initiative we hope to foster an understanding of the value of the arts and creative activity, particularly in a care setting, and demonstrate and celebrate the positive impact of ageing creatively.  Through our mentoring and support we will facilitate the artists to work more confidently in this sensitive environment and support the care staff to consider more creative ways of approaching their work. We also hope to explore and push the boundaries in relation to opportunities for activity, creativity and visibility of older people in Ireland, a key objective in Age & Opportunity’s new Strategic Plan 2018-2020.”

Age & Opportunity is also pleased to announce a series of additional residencies in care settings to take place nationwide in 2019. Through funding provided by the Creative Ireland National Creativity Fund we will develop a number of artists’ residencies in care settings in each province.  These aim to make arts and creativity intrinsic to life-in-care settings for older people, particularly those who live outside major urban areas and in hard-to-reach situations, so that they can realise their full creative potential.

Age & Opportunity and the Bealtaine Festival gratefully acknowledges the support of our arts programme funders, the Arts Council and the HSE and the Creative Ireland National Creativity Fund.

Principal Funders:

Link to HSE websiteLink to Sport Ireland websiteLink to Arts Council website

Our Principal Funders:

Link to HSE websiteLink to Sport Ireland websiteLink to Arts Council website