The Centre of Everything: An exhibition celebrating 20 years of Arts Ability

The Centre of Everything celebrates the creative work of over fifty artists who participate in Arts Ability, an initiative of Wexford County Council, the HSE, and Wexford Mental Health Association. 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 supports 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.

Arts Ability operates in centres across Wexford 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 countywide.

The programme 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 HSE staff in each centre.

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. The work 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.

The Centre of Everything is curated by Mary Grehan, a writer, curator and arts manager.

‘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.’ – Mary Grehan, Curator

Opening Launch
Wednesday 28 August at 12pm
Guest Speaker: Curator Mary Grehan
Featuring a performance by participants from the Music Exploration Programme.

Mary Grehan
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.

The Centre of Everything will run in Wexford County Council, Carricklawn from 26 August – 27 September 2024. Tours of the exhibition are also available upon request. To book a tour please email arts@wexfordcoco.ie

artsability.ie

Featured image: Ray Boucher, The Little Red House, acrylic on canvas, 25 x 35cm