Talking Art – Creativity in Older Age
The Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) and Laois County Council Arts Office join forces to create a programme of arts engagement for older people in Laois
Laois County Council Arts Office in partnership with the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) launched a new professional development initiative earlier this year (2021) for artists and art educators with a visual arts background interested in working with older people and in particular those living with dementia.
Eight artists selected from an open call process (six from Co. Laois and two from Co. Kilkenny) completed the Azure Dementia Inclusive Training course with Age & Opportunity.
The Azure programme advocates for inclusivity and its primary objective is to reduce the barriers experienced by people with dementia and their carers in accessing culture – ensuring that every aspect of their engagement with resources is sensitive to their needs.
From left: Antoinette Breen, Castletown; Muireann Ni Chonaill, Laois Arts Officer; Sarah Delany, The Art House Stradbally; Caroline Schofield, Kilkenny; Sandra McAllister, Bennettsbridge and Angela Delaney, Portlaoise.
Picture: Alf Harvey.
Laois Arts Office and IMMA are now inviting active ageing groups and residential care homes to take part in this arts engagement participate and have developed a Talking Art pack containing five artworks from Laois County Art Collection and five artworks from IMMA’s Collection. The programme will be rolled out online and also hopefully in-person with active ageing groups and older people in residential care.
For more information on this programme and how to register your interest, contact Laois Arts Office at artsoff@laoiscoco.ie or 057 866 4033.
This is an initiative of Laois County Council Arts Office in partnership with the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) and in collaboration with Laois Age Friendly and Healthy Ireland Laois. It is supported by Creative Ireland Laois as part of the Creativity in Older Age fund – Creative Ireland Programme (2017-2022) and in partnership with Laois County Council.
Professional Development Opportunity
Azure Dementia Inclusive Training
For artists and art educators with a visual arts background
Laois County Council Arts Office in partnership with the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) is seeking 8 artists to participate in Azure Dementia Inclusive Training.
This training is aimed at artists and art educators with facilitation experience that are interested in working with person’s living with dementia and their carers/family and provide expert guidance on how to deliver dementia-inclusive art viewing workshops where the person living with dementia and their carer/family can participate. Free of charge to participating artists. All training and assessment will be delivered online.
Selected participants are required to attend all the professional development training dates. If you are unable to commit to the full programme of activities as outlined in the Guidelines, it is recommended that you do not apply for this opportunity.
Azure Dementia Inclusive Training Guidelines Click here to download
Azure Dementia Inclusive Training Application form Click here to download
Applications open: Thursday, April 22
Submission deadline: Wednesday, May 12
Notification of successful participants: Friday, May 14
Start date: Wednesday, May 26, 10.00-13.00
This is an initiative of Laois County Council Arts Office in partnership with the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) and in collaboration with Laois Age Friendly and Healthy Ireland Laois.
Supported by Creative Ireland Laois as part of the Creativity for Older Age fund 2021 – Creative Ireland Programme (2017–2022) and in partnership with Laois County Council.