Arts Care

Who are we?

Arts Care is an arts, health and well-being charity whose aim is “to enable people in health and social care, community, corporate and other settings to benefit from the recuperative, healing, and positive mental health effects of engagement with the creative arts”.

Initiated in 1991, uniquely by the then Department of Health, Arts Care delivers a wide range of innovative and impactful participatory arts projects, events, performances, and exhibitions across Northern Ireland. Arts Care also provides enabling support to the health and care system via environmental transformations, staff wellbeing services and training and education for healthcare professionals and medical students.

How do we do it?

Arts Care deliver its activities and services through its long-standing system of Artists-in-Residence and Clown Doctors programmes and specific commissioned projects including the “Here & Now” Older People’s Arts and Health Festival and “Twilight Zone” Project for young people. Arts Care engages a highly skilled workforce of professional artists from different art disciplines and clown doctors. These teams of arts professionals deliver arts projects, performances and art exhibitions into multiple health, social care and community settings across Northern Ireland.

In addition, through our social enterprise, any organisation or business can avail of our bespoke arts programmes designed to enhance workplace wellbeing and creativity.

Mission

• Mission -  ‘improving personal health and wellbeing through the Arts’. 

We aim to enable people in health and social care, community, corporate and other settings to benefit from the recuperative, healing, and positive mental health effects of engagement with the creative arts.

Our Vision

Our Vision -  is that everyone throughout Northern Ireland has an opportunity to experience the positive health and wellbeing effects of engagement with creative arts.

Core Values

• Inclusive
  we are open to all, bringing people and communities together and making high-quality arts and culture accessible

• Transformational
  we encourage positive transformation through participation in the arts

• Transparent and open
  we foster an environment of honesty, openness, integrity and individuality

• Collaborative
  we believe in the power of teamwork, working together to achieve our goals, and encouraging co-design and co-production

• Creative
  we are committed to using creative, often outside of the box approaches, to improve health and wellbeing

• Respectful
  we embrace empowerment and self-efficacy and understand that everyone should be treated with respect and dignity