Taking Risks: Arts + Health Check Up Check In 2020 is moving online

Artsandhealth.ie announces that due to Covid-19 Level 5 restrictions, Arts + Health Check Up Check In 2020 is moving online and will take place over three mornings from Monday 23 to Wednesday 25 November.  

Themed Taking Risks, this leading national arts and health event will feature a keynote address by artistic director, contemporary dance choreographer and healthcare professional Dr Jenny Elliott, and presentations by some of the most innovative and creative practitioners working in arts and health in Ireland today. Check Up Check In 2020 is open to healthcare professionals, arts practitioners and anyone interested in learning more about this exciting field. 

Check Up Check In 2020 is organised by artsandhealth.ie / Waterford Healing Arts Trust (WHAT) and Create, the national development agency for collaborative arts, with local partner Fingal County Council Arts Office, and is funded by the Arts Council and the HSE. 

The programme will include the ever popular Sticking Points, with artists and healthcare professionals sharing challenges they have faced in their work, an inspiring case study from artist John Conway and a number of online workshops.

Further details and booking information will follow shortly on artsandhealth.ie.

There will be a nominal fee of €5.00 to attend all three mornings.

Announcing the change of plans, Claire Meaney, Director of Waterford Healing Arts Trust, which manages artsandhealth.ie, said: ‘Unfortunately, due to the Covid-19 Level 5 restrictions, we are unable to present Arts + Health: Check Up Check In 2020 in person at Draíocht, as we had planned to do. However, rather than postponing the event for a second time, we are really keen to gather everyone together, so we are planning to present Check Up Check In online over three mornings. We are thrilled that so many of our speakers from our original programme can still join us and we’re really looking forward to sharing our experiences and practice in what we hope will be a refreshing, inspiring few days. Our heartfelt thanks to our event partner, Create, our local partner Fingal County Council Arts Office and our funders the Arts Council and the HSE, for their ongoing support.’

Check Up Check In promotes solidarity among arts and health practitioners. This national event provides opportunities for participants to share their experiences, exchange ideas and support and inspire each other in their practice through a range of themed presentations. Arts and health programmes comprise a range of arts experiences, presented in healthcare settings, for the benefit of health service users, healthcare staff and artists. This expanding field of work fosters creativity, wellbeing and access to the arts and is based on partnership between the artists, arts organisations and those working in healthcare and/or the wider community.

Further information about all aspects of arts and health work, including case studies, is available on www.artsandhealth.ie