AIC Scheme Information Session, Waterford

Twice yearly, the Arts Council offers Artist in the Community Scheme grants to enable artists and communities of place/or interest to work together on projects. The scheme is managed by Create, the national development agency for collaborative arts.

The scheme is open to artists from any of the following artform disciplines: architecture, circus, street art and spectacle, dance, film, literature (Irish and English language), music, opera, theatre, visual arts and traditional arts. The projects can take place in a diverse range of social and community contexts eg arts and health; arts in prisons; arts and older people; arts and cultural diversity. The aim of the scheme is to encourage meaningful collaboration between communities of place and/or interest and artists.

Create is pleased to announce we will host an information session on applying to the Artist in the Community (AIC) Scheme in Waterford, at Garter Lane Arts Centre. This information session coincides with Check Up Check In 2019: Promoting Autonomy.

Áine Crowley, AIC Coordinator with previous AIC award recipient John Conway

The AIC information session is about answering any questions you might have about making an application to the Scheme. It’s also about sharing experience of developing and delivering a collaborative project through the Scheme. If you are an artist or a community organisation interested in the Artist in the Community Scheme but don’t know where to start, come talk to us. If you are an artist interested in developing a collaborative project with a community organisation or in a community situation this event is for you. If you are an artist who has applied before and would like to access further detail on the application process, please join us.

For further information on the scheme and how to apply, visit the Artist in the Community Scheme section on our website.

John Conway

John Conway is a visual artist and cultural producer working extensively in community and arts and health settings. Through his practice he considers the role and capacity of visual art, and the artist, in non-traditional settings. This occurs through solo work and collaborative projects that engage participants in discursive processes to explore the potential and value of visual arts in relation to their specific circumstances. His work also occurs through research and project production. His interest in arts and health began with his Artist Residency in University Hospital Waterford in 2014/15.

John is the curator and director of Other People’s Practices (OPP). OPP is a long term research and artist residency program taking place in the NFMHS. It serves as an extension of John’s research interests and supports other professional artists to collaborate, produce work, and respond to the complex forensic mental health care setting. OPP is funded by Creative Ireland and is a partnership with NCAD, the NFMHS and Waterford Healing Arts Trust.

John is a 2019 Dublin City Council Culture Company Engage the City Artist in partnership with Arts and Health Curatorial team of Children’s Health Ireland. He is being supported to research the art collections of Temple Street, Crumlin and Tallaght Children’s Hospitals with the staff communities who experience them in the acute medical setting. This research takes place in the context of the amalgamation of the art collections and hospital histories for the new National Children’s Hospital’s.

Recent awards include Creative Ireland’s National Creativity Fund 2018, the 2018 Arts Act Grant from Kildare County Council Arts Service, the 2018 Artist in the Community Research and Development Scheme managed by Create, and the National Youth Council of Ireland Project Realisation Award 2018.