Azure

Dementia Friendly Tours of Cultural Institutions

Everyone is entitled to be an active cultural participant at all stages of life. Our aim is to make art galleries and museums around Ireland dementia-friendly spaces.

What is Azure ?

Azure improves access for people with dementia-related conditions to Ireland’s galleries and museums and enhances their experience of these cultural institutions.

How does it work?

Azure tours give people living with dementia and those close to them the opportunity to visit museums and galleries together. While there, they can join others to share an experience facilitated by trained museum and gallery staff.

Azure originated through collaboration between Age & Opportunity; The Alzheimer Society of Ireland; the Butler Gallery, Kilkenny; and IMMA (Irish Museum of Modern Art). We work with these partners to train museum and gallery staff with the skills needed to deliver arts participation experiences for persons living with dementia.

The Azure network has now expanded to numerous arts venues nationwide.

How can I get involved?

There are two ways to get involved with Azure – as a curator in an arts venue or by participating in an Azure tour.

Age & Opportunity focuses on training curators and volunteers in cultural institutions to lead Azure tours. Please get in touch with us to find out more and book your place.

If you are interested in taking an Azure tour please contact one of our participating arts venues:

Arts & Disability Forum, Northern Ireland
Butler Gallery, Kilkenny
Chester Beatty Library, Dublin
Crawford Art Gallery, Cork
DLR Lexicon, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council Arts Office
Galway Art Centre, Galway
The Highlanes Gallery, Drogheda
The Hunt Museum, Limerick
Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA), Dublin
The LAB, Dublin City Arts Office
The Luan Gallery, Athlone
The National Gallery of Art, Dublin
West Cork Art Centre, Co. Cork

Contact

For information contact Fiona in our Engage Team via e-mail engage@ageandopportunity.ie or call 01 805 7798

01 805 7798
engage@ageandopportunity.ie

What do people say about Azure?

Azure is about trying to create moments where, at least during the programme, people stop being ‘the person with dementia and their carer’ and, in some ways, go back to being husband and wife, mother and son, father and daughter, sister and brother. Programmes like this allow for that moment, and that is a real privilege to see.

Bairbre-Ann Harkin

Art & Ageing Fellow

IMMA

Engage Initiatives:

Changing Gears

A five week course for people in mid-career or anticipating retirement. Changing Gears is about building resilience, taking stock, making changes, bouncing back and moving on in life. Find out more here.

AgeWise Workshops

Professionally facilitated workshops that raise awareness of positive ageing. Suitable for older persons’ groups; community, parish or library groups; and organisations and employers. Find out more here.

Ageing with Confidence

A five week course of two-hour sessions run weekly. Ageing with Confidence is for older people in local communities who wish to increase confidence, encourage reflection and share experiences. Find out more here.

Get Engaged

A training course for people aged 50+ that is designed to help make a difference within local organisations. It includes skills training on lobbying, research and working with the media and consists of two-hour sessions run weekly over four to six weeks. Find out more here.

Azure

Azure explores how people with dementia-related conditions and the people who care for them can have a deeper involvement in cultural institutions and can participate in cultural activities. Find out more here.

Spirituality

Our five week, online Spirituality course invites participants to explore spirituality from the perspective of their life experience using art, music, poetry and story. Find out more here.

Bespoke Training

Bespoke training, advice and mentoring in the areas of arts, physical activity, active citizenship and lifelong learning. We can adapt and tailor one or more of our existing initiatives to suit your group or organisation’s needs. Find out more here.