Within the Arts Council, arts and health is the responsibility of the Arts Participation team. Arts participation is a core value across all areas of the Arts Council’s work as reflected in the current Strategy 2016–2025 (PDF, 3.29 MB), which commits to increasing public access, participation and engagement in the arts, as well as assisting artists of all disciplines to make work of excellence. This includes artists who base their practice in the area of arts and health.

Arts and health embraces a range of arts practices occurring primarily in healthcare settings, which bring together the skills and priorities of both arts and health professionals. From an Arts Council perspective, good arts and health practice is characterised by a clear artistic vision, goals and outcomes. It aims to promote health and wellbeing by improving quality of life and cultural access in healthcare settings. Arts and health can involve all artforms, and incorporate a variety of approaches, including conventional arts production and presentation, arts participation and environmental enhancement. The Arts Council makes a distinction between arts and health practice and the arts therapies. In the former, the primary focus is on the experience and production of art, in the latter, the primary goal is clinical. The Arts Council supports practice where artistic outcomes are prioritised as a means of enhancing health and wellbeing and does not support practice where therapy is the primary goal or outcome.

The forest that won't forget is a national public artwork dedicated to the women and families across Ireland affected by the failures of the CervicalCheck programme. This project is a collaboration between artists Fiona Whelan and John Conway and 221+ Patient Support Group, in partnership with Hometree. 

Financial support

The Arts Council offers a wide range of financial supports across artforms and arts practices, including arts and health. Those supports, direct and indirect, that are available are described in detail on our Available Funding page. 

Resources

A number of key agencies, funded by the Arts Council have a central role in supporting this area of work and one such organisation is Réalta 

The national arts and health website www.artsandhealth.ie provides a resource and focal point for the dynamic field of arts and health in Ireland. The website includes resource documents, case studies, a directory of contacts, perspectives on a range of issues and current news. 

As the development agency for the arts, the Arts Council has commissioned, assisted or published reports and studies outlining how the Council will seek to enrich provision and practice in all the arts, including arts and health. These can be accessed by clicking on research and publications.