Location: Wexford County Council, Carricklawn, Wexford
Exhibition Dates: 26 August – 27 September, 2024
Opening Launch: Wednesday 28 August at 12pm
Guest Speaker, Curator Mary Grehan
Featuring a performance by musicians from K.T.A.C, led by Emily Redmond.
The Centre of Everything celebrates the creative work of over fifty artists who participate in Arts Ability. It also marks the twentieth anniversary since the establishment of the programme.
Arts Ability engages people who experience long term mental health issues and/or intellectual disabilities in a range of creative experiences and supports their development as artists. It operates in spaces across the county including KTAC (Killagoley Training & Activation Centre) in Enniscorthy, CUMAS in New Ross, and WRIDS (Wexford Residential and Intellectual Disability Service) in Enniscorthy as well as a variety of day and residential centres county wide. It is facilitated by visual artists, Oonagh Latchford, Declan Kennedy and Jeni Roddy, storyteller and writer, Joe Brennan and musician Emily Redmond with the support of the HSE staff in each centre.
The exhibition was curated by Mary Grehan who says: ‘What was exciting for me when I encountered the artwork produced through the Arts Ability programme was the consistency of choices made by the artists. It took little exposure to the work to recognise the individual signature of the various artists. What was equally fascinating was the choreography involved in the making process, the sequence of moves some artists apply to making work or the way others produced certain images again and again leading to a pattern when their work is seen as a whole. The final exhibition is brimming with colour, texture, wit, pattern, story, and the sheer joy in the act of creating.’
The visual art, writing and music compositions on display in The Centre of Everything are not only an expression of the artists who created them, but also testament to a successful partnership between the Arts Department of Wexford County Council, the HSE, and Wexford Mental Health Association. They also reflect the commitment of the staff and facilitating artists who provide a creative space in the various centres for the Arts Ability artists on a year-round basis.
Mary Grehan is a writer, curator and arts manager who specialises in working in healthcare settings. She commissions artworks for the new children’s hospital in Dublin. She is former Director of the Waterford Healing Arts Trust and her debut novel was published by Penguin Ireland.
Arts Ability is an arts and health initiative led by the Arts Department of Wexford County Council in partnership with the Arts Council, the HSE, and Wexford Mental Health Association.
The Centre of Everything will run in Wexford County Council, Carricklawn until Friday 27th September 2024.
Opening hours are Monday to Friday, 9am – 5pm.
For further information please contact Úna Cahill, Assistant Arts Officer, Arts Department, Wexford County Council on 053-9196409 or una.cahill@wexfordcoco.ie.
