Policy

Create staff were part of the steering group on Participatory Arts; Arts Council Arts and Health – Policy and Strategy Working Group and the Cultural Diversity research management process, outlined below.

Arts and Health

Create has supported the development of policy in relation to Arts and Health in a number of initiatives and in partnership with key arts and health organisations.

Development of ArtsandHealth.ie in partnership with Waterford Healing Arts Trust

In 2010-11 Create teamed with Waterford Healing Arts Trust (WHAT), to jointly develop a new independent national Arts and Health website.

The new website ArtsandHealth.ie, launched on October 5 at Dublin Dental Hospital, is the first national independent Arts and Health website in Ireland. The development phase of the site was funded by the Arts Council as part of its ongoing commitment to Arts and Health. It is a single and independent resource to meet the current and evolving needs of those involved in Arts and Health.

The development phase of artsandhealth.ie was assisted by an Editorial Working Group. The Editorial Working Group members were: Aidan Warner, Principal Community Worker, HSE South; Jo O’Rourke, Senior Health Promotion Officer, HSE ; Nicola Dunne, Arts and Health specialist, Kildare County Arts office; Lucina Russell, Arts Officer, Kildare County Arts Office; Ciara McMahon, artist; Claire Meaney, Assistant Arts Director, WHAT; Mary Grehan , director WHAT; Sarah Tuck, director Create; Katrina Goldstone, Communications, Create.

Arts and Health Policy Working Group

Sarah Tuck, then director of Create, was a member of the Arts Council Arts and Health – Policy and Strategy Working Group led by Ann O Connor, Arts and Health Advisor, Arts Council. Other members included Denis Roche, Helene Hugel; Lucina Russell; Margaret Flannery; Margaret Feeney; Deirdre Walsh; Mary Grehan; Justine Foster.

Professional Development Course for Artists Working in Healthcare Settings

This course programme was designed by Create, The Adelaide and Meath Hospital, incorporating the National Children’s Hospital, Dublin, and the Institute of Art, Design and Technology – IADT. It was directly funded by the Arts Council. The course was developed for artists, across all art form disciplines, who planned to work in healthcare settings. The successful applicants to the course were: Jenny Walsh-Bassett (radio drama); Jennie Moran (visual arts) ; Sharon Barker (visual arts); Deirdre O’Neill (dance); Tricia McCarthy (visual arts); Anne Walsh (visual arts); Sarah Ruttle (visual arts); Mary O’Brien (literature); Roisin Ni Maoilearca (curator); Kathy Marsh (visual arts) ;Sarah Fuller (visual arts); Dawn Freeborn (visual arts); Sally-Anne Duffy (film); Emily Boylan (visual arts). The course ran from September 6 to October 31, 2008.

Arts and Disability

The Arts & Health / Arts & Disability Enquiry

Create, the Arts Council, Arts & Disability Ireland and Waterford Healing Arts Trust have convened the Arts & Health / Arts & Disability Enquiry. The aim is to explore the points of intersection, divergence, synergy and tension that exist between Arts & Health and Arts & Disability practice in order to inform, enhance and shape thinking and collaborative practice within and between these sectors.

As a consequence of discussions between the partners–informed by a series of key readings and documents related to arts and health and to arts and disability, it was agreed that a number of areas of overlap warranted further exploration, and that artists with experience of one or both of these areas of practice should be invited to become part of the Arts & Health Arts & Disability Enquiry. The Enquiry partners developed two Artist Action Research Project Award opportunities for artists with a track record in the field of Arts & Health and/or Arts & Disability. The timeframe for the action research was between January and June 2014, with a financial award of €5,000. George Higgs and Aideen Barry received Action Research Project Awards as part of the Arts and Health/Arts and Disability Enquiry. The focus of the award is action research through quality arts practice. One award was dedicated to Arts & Disability practice and one to Arts & Health practice.
We work in partnership with a range of organisations to provide continuing professional development workshops in arts and disability and provide advisory services to artists to support the realisation of contemporary collaborative practice in the field of arts and disability.

Research and Consultancy for Cultural Diversity and the Arts

On 23 September, 2010 , the Arts Council published the findings of the research and consultancy – Cultural Diversity and the Arts conducted by Create. The Arts Council launched a pamphlet Cultural Diversity and the Arts: Language and Meanings based on the research findings. The work undertaken by Create will inform the Arts Council over the coming years and it is hoped that the pamphlet will be a resource to support the sector in developing its thinking and practice in this area.

The in depth research and consultation process was managed by Create, commissioned by the Arts Council, funded by the Department of Justice for Equality, and Law Reform under the Government’s National Action Plan against Racism.

About the research

The Arts Council and the National Action Plan against Racism (NPAR) entered into a partnership to carry out research designed to develop a cultural diversity policy for the arts. An action plan, informed by this research, was developed in order to support cultural diversity practice into the future.

The Arts Council engaged Create, the national development agency for collaborative arts, to manage this extensive research and consultation.

The process

The research took place throughout 2008 and 2009, combining national and international desk research, extensive consultation, analysis and completion of a report and recommendations.

The people involved

Create managed a team of researchers, each focusing on a specific element of the research:
International research was undertaken by researchers from the Change Institute (Jagtar Singh, Lakhbir Bandal and Will Hammonds) while national research was conducted by Drs. Suzanna Chan and Daniel Jewesbury (University of Ulster) with Project Director Sarah Tuck, then Director of Create.

The consultation process with national agencies and resource organisations was conducted by Rustom Bharucha (writer, dramaturge and cultural diversity consultant) while regional consultation with different stakeholders and minority ethnic and cultural groups also conducted By Dr Daniel Jewesbury. A research advisory team was established, including Dr. Ronit Lentin ( Head Department of Sociology, Trinity); Piaras MacÉinrí (Migration Studies, NUI Cork) and Dr. Alice Feldman (Migration and Citizenship Research Initiative, UCD).

The research was overseen by a steering group made up of: Dr. Aileen Pearson Evans (Chair, DCU); Janet Lacey (Dept of Justice, Equality and Law Reform); Orla Moloney (Arts Council); Sabina O’Donnell (Dept. of Arts, Sport and Tourism); Dominic Campbell (artist/ consultant); Chinedu Onyejelem (Publisher, Metro Eireann); Shalini Sinha (Independent media producer); Deirdre Figueiredo (Chair of Arts Council England Cultural Diversity Advisory and Monitoring Panel); Ruairí Ó Cuív (Chair of Create/independent arts consultant); Katrina Goldstone (Create ;in independent capacity); Kataryzna Mejger, independent advisor).

Arts and Prisons

Create has facilitated the establishment of an Arts and Prison Network for artists working in prisons across all artforms, with a programme curated by artist Aideen McDonald. The inaugural network meeting took place on December 10, 2010.

In order to promote principles of practice in the context of arts and prisons, the Network have scheduled two events (as of July 2011) including Transformed by Dance.