Curated by Andy Parsons, the Caring for Creativity exhibition, now open to the public at Roscommon Arts Centre, brings together works by artists who have been Artists in Residence in Care settings in Roscommon over the past year.
The artists have been facilitating creative sessions in Sacred Heart Hospital & Care Home Roscommon, Plunkett Community Nursing Unit, Boyle and Aras Mathair Pol Community Nursing Unit Castlerea. The exhibition explores what is given by the artists - and what they receive in return. This idea of reciprocity, an exchange of inspiration and ideas, is the theme that connects the varied work in the exhibition.
The artists in this exhibition, Marian Balfe, Emma Brennan, Catherine Donnelly, Sarah Ellen Lundy, Veronica O’Connor and Andy Parsons share an openness to the profound experience of working in care settings. They have shared their creativity with many people and these interactions have informed their creative process, which is thoughtful, experimental and at times playful.
Some work is directly inspired by the artist’s experiences in the care settings. These visual recollections focus on the colour, textures and forms they have seen. Some artists have chosen to foreground materiality and the act of making, demonstrating an enjoyment of and immersion in the sensory and haptic qualities of the materials and processes they have developed.
Another strategy used by artists has been to take the resources and procedures they have developed to facilitate residents’ creativity as a starting point. By doing this they have distilled the creativity from their workshops and brought it into the gallery to share with the viewer.
Other artists have developed narrative or conceptual responses that meditate on profound themes such as ageing. In each instance the works in the show stem from the unique encounter with residents and staff in care settings and the stories and experiences they have shared.
Andy Parsons practice combines working in community contexts with making drawing, sculpture and painting. Projects have focused on people and places, and on activities where people work together and help each other. Andy has received several significant awards, including the Pollock Krasner Foundation Award. He has exhibited in exhibitions internationally, with solo shows in London and Tokyo.
Taking the dual role of artist and curator, Andy presents new works in this exhibition, which was inspired by conversations with residents in Plunkett Home in Boyle about their relationship with animals, alongside work from the first iteration of the exhibition which took place at King House in Boyle in 2023.
