Wexford County Council

Mission / Aims

Wexford County Council’s Arts Department aims to improve the quality of life for the citizens of County Wexford, building vibrant healthy communities, by enabling people to engage in high quality arts experiences and by stimulating and supporting standards of excellence among artists in their practice. With reference to arts and health it will:
Empower artists, arts organisations and communities to contribute to the artistic fibre of County Wexford and beyond.
• Provide opportunities for people to engage in high quality arts experiences.
• Stimulate and support standards of excellence by promoting models of best practice and providing quality professional development and networking opportunities.
• Develop partnerships, policies and programmes working strategically with individuals, groups and organisations from the voluntary, amateur and professional sectors.
• Support the making and presenting of work by artists.
Implement programme structures through which professional artists can be paid as professionals to work in a health context facilitating creative expression.

Areas of activities

A broad range of support services have underpinned the arts and health work of Wexford County Council Arts Department including advice, consultation, information dissemination, facilitation and funding. Running since 2003, Arts Ability is a rolling, flexible participative programme facilitated by a team of professional artists, creating a diverse legacy in practice. The programme is underpinned by solid partnerships between Wexford County Council and the HSE to ensure a sustainable infrastructure for long term access and participation to creative art experiences for people who experience long term mental health issues and/or intellectual disabilities and to support their professional development as artists.