Event
Event
Wednesday 30 April 2025
09:00 - 17:00
Esker Arts, Tullamore, Co. Offaly
€30 - ticket includes lunch
Arts + Health: Check Up Check In is a national gathering for the arts and health sector in Ireland, featuring presentations and workshops from some of the most exciting and inspiring practitioners working in the field today.
Organised by Réalta, the national resource organisation for arts and health, this year’s event is taking place on 30 April in Esker Arts, Tullamore. Arts + Health: Check Up Check In is funded by the Arts Council and the HSE, and is supported in 2025 by Offaly County Council Arts Office and Esker Arts.
Dr Tony Bates is this year’s keynote speaker. Dr Bates is a clinical psychologist and Adjunct Professor of Psychology at University College Dublin. He is well known throughout Ireland for his warm and engaging writing and interviews on psychology-related topics. His keynote title will be ‘The Art of Making our Lives Work’.
“We are absolutely delighted to welcome Dr Tony Bates as our Keynote Speaker for Arts + Health: Check Up Check In 2025. His life-long commitment to positive mental health for all, his deep empathy for his fellow human beings and his engaging and compassionate approach make him one of Ireland’s most highly regarded and sought after healthcare professionals and communicators.” – Claire Meaney, Director of Réalta
Who is this event for?
Arts + Health: Check Up Check In is a unique opportunity for arts practitioners, healthcare professionals, researchers and policy makers to connect, learn, and be inspired.
Programme highlights
Sticking Points: What to do when you get stuck – Artists and healthcare professionals share challenges they have faced in their work and look for solutions to overcome them.
Case Study: Mending HeArts – An art project that aims to enhance health and wellbeing for cardiac patients across Galway City and County. This Creative Ireland-funded project is led by Galway City Council in partnership with Galway County Council, Saolta Arts and Croí Heart & Stroke Charity, in collaboration with HSE West North West.
What’s My Practice? – A series of workshops examining methodologies employed in collaborative/ participatory arts and health practice in Ireland, across a range of artforms and healthcare contexts.
Booking information
Tickets for Check Up Check In 2025 cost €30 (including lunch):
https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/arts-health-check-up-check-in-2025-tickets-1308318960229
Places for the What’s My Practice? workshops are limited and must be booked in advance. Workshops are listed on the event booking page. Please select ONE workshop. You will be prompted to select your workshop on the ticket order page.
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Dr Tony Bates by John Howard
Dr Tony Bates was Head of the Department of Psychology for 30 years at St James’s Hospital Dublin. Following psychotherapy training at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Oxford, he established the MSc in Cognitive Psychotherapy at Trinity College Dublin. In 2006, he created Jigsaw, The National Centre for Youth Mental Health. He trained as a mindfulness teacher at the University of Wales, Bangor, in 2001 and is patron of the Mindfulness Teachers Association of Ireland.
His memoir Breaking the Heart Open: The shaping of a psychologist, was published in 2023. Tony lives on a headland in north Sligo, where he writes, consults and looks after a large garden with hens, giant Flemish rabbits, cats and wild birds. He is married to Ursula, and he is father of three and grandfather of five.
Réalta is the national resource organisation dedicated to strengthening and advancing Arts + Health in Ireland. Réalta encompasses artsandhealth.ie, an independent information hub, and the extensive Waterford Healing Arts programme.
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