News
Image shown: Arts Ability: 'From the Hill of the Wild Berries' book & CD and 'Climbing Mountains in our Minds' book
European Arts Ability Weekend will take place in Wexford Arts Centre from 22-24 March 2013 as part of Culture Connects, the Arts Council programme marking Ireland’s EU Presidency. The Arts Ability project is led by the Arts Department of Wexford County Council and Wexford Arts Centre in co-operation with the Arts Council and partners from Sweden and Wales.
Arts Ability is an inclusive, participatory arts programme that celebrates the artistic and creative imagination of people who experience mental health problems and/or intellectual, physical or sensory disabilities. Initiated in 2003, the programme has included music, drama, literature, dance and visual art in a variety of venues throughout County Wexford.
The European Arts Ability Weekend is an opportunity for the Arts Ability Project Group (County Wexford), Studieframjandet (Sweden) and representatives from Disability Arts Cymru (Wales) to meet and share learning experiences through workshops, talks, performances and exhibitions. Experiences will be shared on a cross-culture project which took place in July 2012, where a sub-group of Wexford’s Arts Ability project brought a visual art exhibition to Picton Castle, Wales.
The weekend will also be an opportunity for facilitators to exchange experiences and facilitate further development on partnership opportunities for EU Culture programme grant applications.
The project forms a strand of the Arts Council’s Culture Connects programme called Local Arts Europe which encompasses 23 partnership projects led by Local Authority Arts Offices and Ealaín na Gaeltachta that invest in artistic and professional relationships between Ireland and other places in Europe.
The European Arts Ability Weekend is led by the Arts Department of Wexford County Council and Wexford Arts Centre, in association with the Arts Council, Studieframjandet and Disability Arts Cymru.
The Arts Council participation in the Cultural Programme to mark Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union is supported by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.
Arts Ability recently featured as a case study on artsandhealth.ie.
