May - West Cork Arts Centre

This exhibition includes work produced
this year through WCAC’s Programme
for Older People. The five programmes
featured are Arts for An Active Mind,
Music for an Active Mind,Mise agus
Oileán Chléire: Stitching Together, Arts
for Health and Talking Lips Carnival.
On exhibition will the most recent
explorative work by the participants
on Arts for an Active Mind (AFAM)
programme. The AFAM Evening group
explored self portraiture inspired by
the pop art movement. The AFAM
Morning group painted a large scale
collaborative still life which centres
around objects of meaning to them as
individuals.
Arts for Health artists’ team; Sarah
Ruttle, Sharon Dipity and Sheila
Kelleher worked with participants
to develop individual artworks and
collaborative projects. Residents of
St. Joseph’s Ward, Bantry General
Hospital sculpted Spring Bonnets with
pupils from St. Goban’s Second Level
school. Dunmanway Community
Hospital worked on a commemorative
banner for the ward and residents from
Skibbereen, Castletownbere, Schull
and Clonakilty Hospitals will exhibit
a selection of their paintings produced
through the Arts for Health Programme.
The Active Retirement Association on
Cape Clear Island spearheaded an
exciting and challenging project, Mise
agus Oileán Chléire: Stitching Together
this Spring. They worked with artist
Bernadette Cotter to explore individual
relationships with the island to produce
a conceptual quilt that reflects life
on Cape Clear. All residents on the
island were invited to participate and
artists living and working on the Island,
Catherine Ryan, Nell Kruger and Marie
O’Neill worked closely with Bernadette
to realise the ideas.
Age and Opportunity co-ordinates
Bealtaine, a nationwide celebration of
creativity in older age held annually
in May, in partnership with hundreds
of groups across Ireland. As part of
their role they organise a number of
inspirational programmes, produce a
brochure of events and maintain an
informative web-site - www.bealtaine.
com. West Cork Arts Centre has been
a partner in this event for many years
and this exhibition forms part of this
important national celebration.
Image above: Arts For Health, Spring Bonnets, St. Joseph’s Ward, Bantry General Hospital and St. Gobans College;
Below l-r:: Arts for an Active Mind, Special Items; Mise agus Oileán Chléire: Stitching Together. (detail), Bealtaine Project,
2009