The Centre of Everything
An exhibition of works by artists participating in Arts Ability.
Arts Ability is an arts and health initiative of Wexford County Council, the HSE, and Wexford Mental Health Association.
Curated by Mary Grehan
Wexford County Council, Carricklawn, Wexford
26 August – 27 September, 2024
Opening Launch: Wednesday 28 August at 12pm
Guest Speaker, Curator Mary Grehan
Featuring a performance by participants from the Music Exploration Programme
All welcome. Refreshments and food served.
Wexford County Council Arts Department in partnership with Wexford Arts Centre are pleased to present The Centre of Everything, a group exhibition featuring work by artists participating in Arts Ability, an arts and health initiative of Wexford County Council, the HSE, and Wexford Mental Health Association. The exhibition will run in at Wexford County Council, Carricklawn, Wexford, from Monday 26 August to Friday 27 September, 2024.
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 and/or intellectual disabilities in a range of creative experiences and support their development as artists. The programme is led by the Arts Department of Wexford County Council in partnership with the HSE and Wexford Mental Health Association. It operates in centres 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 especially exciting for me when I encountered the artwork produced through the Arts Ability programme for the first time was the consistency of choices made by the artists. It took little exposure to the work to recognize the individual signature of the various artists. What was doubly fascinating was the choreography involved in the making process, the consistent sequence of moves some artists apply to making work or the way others produced certain images again and again leading to a sort of repeat pattern when their work is seen as a whole, and this is something we played with in presenting it. The final exhibition is brimming with colour, texture, wit, pattern, story, and the sheer joy in the act of creating.’
The paintings, drawings, sculpture, writings and music on display in The Centre of Everything are not only an expression of the artists who created them, but also testament to a successful long-term partnership between the Arts Department of Wexford County Council, the HSE, and Wexford Mental Health Association. It is also a testimony to the commitment of the staff and facilitating artists who work at providing and protecting 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 is responsible for commissioning artworks by Remco de Fouw, Vera Klute and others 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.
Image Credits:
Left: Anne Crowe, Mountjoy Prison – Dublin, acrylic on paper, 84 x 60cm
Right: Alan Ryan, Alan on the New Ross Board Walk, pencil and ink on paper, 39 x 33cm
Arts Ability is and arts and health initiative led by the Arts Department of Wexford County Council in partnership with the HSE, and Wexford Mental Health Association.
The Centre of Everything will run in Wexford County Council, Carricklawn, from Monday 26 August to Friday 27 September 2024.
Opening hours are 9am – 5pm, Monday to Friday. Tour of the exhibition are available upon request. To book a tour email arts@wexfordcoco,.ie.
For further information on the exhibition or Arts Ability please contact Úna Cahill, Assistant Arts Officer, Arts Department, Wexford County Council on 053 9196409 or una.cahill@wexfordcoco.ie.
