Helium Arts bring Creativity Unlimited showcase to Limerick City Gallery of Art until October, 25, 2024

Helium Arts brings Creativity Unlimited exhibition to the Limerick City Gallery of Art from Wednesday, October 16.

Helium Arts’ Creativity Unlimited exhibition shows how online creativity is connecting young people with lifelong health conditions and disability

A nationwide art exhibition series, Creativity Unlimited, will open at Limerick City Gallery of Art on 16th October to highlight the benefits being brought to the wellbeing, confidence and social connectivity of young people across Ireland living with lifelong physical health conditions by Helium Arts’ Distance Creates online art programme.

Helium Arts is a national charity supporting children in Ireland with lifelong physical health conditions such as diabetes, epilepsy, heart conditions, spina bifida, juvenile arthritis and rare conditions, among others. The charity runs a range of art programmes dedicated to improving the wellbeing of these children and young people, including through its Creative Health Hub in the Mid-West serving people in Limerick city and county.

Distance Creates is the online component of Helium Arts’ wider creative health programme, which also delivers in-person, artist-led, medically supported creative workshops in hospital paediatric outpatient clinics and community settings, including in locations in Limerick and the Mid West.

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Supported by Helium Arts Mid-West Creative Health Hub, Creativity Unlimited will display creative works by young people aged between six and 16 from across Ireland who have been participating in Helium Arts’ Distance Creates online programme. The theme ‘About Me’ celebrates the creative stories of the online participants presented through zines exploring identity, and the children and young people’s journey through the online programme.

In 2023, 114 children and young people from across 22 counties in Ireland, including Limerick, living with lifelong physical health conditions such as epilepsy, diabetes, spina bifida, cerebral palsy, hydrocephalus and cystic fibrosis participated in Distance Creates online.

Feedback conducted by Helium Arts through surveys and consultations with the young people, parents and programme coordinators involved in the online programme showed how the process of being creative was a joyful and calming experience, that it promoted confidence and a sense of self, and fostered new friendships and connections between participants, who can often feel socially isolated.

Announcing Creativity Unlimited, CEO of Helium Arts, Helene Hugel, said, “Our online programme has allowed us to widen our reach and bring the benefits of art and creativity to more children and young people living with the effects of illness or disability every day, including in Limerick city and county.

“Distance Creates facilitates them to take part from anywhere in Ireland, whether that is in the comfort of their own home, during a stay in hospital, or within a community context. I’m very grateful to Limerick City Gallery of Art for providing space for the exhibition series as a way of recognising the talent and accomplishment of our young artists in the heart of their own communities, while connecting with a new, wider circle of social support online.”

Looking forward to the opening exhibition in Limerick City Gallery of Art, Ann Marie Keaveney from Tipperary Arts Office who is managing the Mid-West Creative Ireland Creative Health and Wellbeing project on behalf of Limerick, Tipperary and Clare Arts Offices said they are “excited to join forces with Helium Arts on this incredible project”.

They said, “The backing of the Creative Ireland Creative Health and Wellbeing programme has been instrumental in bringing this initiative to life throughout 2024 and 2025. We can’t wait to celebrate the unique artworks created by these young people and hear firsthand how this programme has positively impacted their wellbeing and that of their families.”

The Distance Creates programme offers a blend of online and offline creative activities. Upon signing up, children and young people receive an ‘art box’ in the post, curated by Helium Arts, containing all the necessary art materials. Participants then receive creative activities, demonstrations, and tips from a professional artist via email, allowing them to complete projects and get creative at their own pace. Additionally, there are opportunities to connect with others through Zoom sessions and ‘post pal’, where you are connected with another participant around the country to exchange artwork by post.

Distance Creates is open to young people aged between six and sixteen, and like all Helium Arts programmes, it’s free of charge.

All are welcome to Helium Arts’ Creativity Unlimited art showcase opening on 16th October in Limerick City Gallery of Art running until 25th October, with a family day involving special events and activities taking place on Saturday, 19th October.

Follow-on exhibitions will be taking place in several Connected Hubs’ locations across the country, including in Cork, Galway and Dublin during November.

The exhibitions and associated events are open to the public free of charge.