A WINDOW of opportunity for creativity at St Joseph’s Hospital was created as part of the recently held National Arts in Nursing Homes Day.
Clare based artist Rachel Macmanus visited the Ennis hospital and painted an artwork inspired by the stained glass windows of St Joseph’s church to the delight of residents.
The project was one of a number of nationwide events for National Arts in Nursing Homes Day, held as part of Age & Opportunity’s Bealtaine Festival.
Rachel, who has been a part of other creative projects at the hospital pre-Covid 19, tells us she was happy to be able to return to St Joseph’s.
Drawing upon the stained glass windows of St Joseph’s Church as inspiration, Rachel painted her own version of the windows directly onto the windows of the hospital’s Sun Room, a congregational gathering space for the residents of the hospital.
“The windows of St Joseph’s Church are very beautiful and tranquil and my idea was to bring some of that tranquillity into another part of the hospital by painting my own version.
“I was allowed to use the windows of the Sun Room, a space where the residents like to sit and read the paper or chat. Having participated in creative projects in St Joseph’s pre-Covid, it was lovely to be able to visit again and meet some of my old friends.”
While she painted in the Sun Room the residents of St Joseph’s watched her work and interacted with her, while also singing songs and chatting with Eleanor Feely, Artistic Director of St Joseph’s, and Caitriona Crotty, activities manager.
Established in 1995, Bealtaine is one of Ireland’s largest co-operative festival and the world’s first national celebration of creativity in older age. Bealtaine takes place each May for the entire month.
The festival is run by Age & Opportunity, the leading national development organisation working to enable the best possible quality of life for us all as we age.
The festival brings together people from all over Ireland to foster and inspire creativity among older people and to promote the skills, experiences and exposure that can lead to a rich creative life for all older people.