Arts and Early Years Seminar and Workshop in the Midlands
In March 2012, Helium will host a 2-day professional development programme in the area of arts and early years (arts for babies/toddlers and their parents), a very exciting and growing area of work in Ireland. On the Friday, Helium will host a morning of workshops for parents and very young children. These workshops will be given by professional artists from the UK and Ireland who have a developing arts practice in early years. There will be opportunities for healthcare staff and participating artists to observe these workshops, so as to provide a springboard for the afternoon forum. In the afternoon, there will be a seminar for artists, healthcare workers and early childhood professionals interested in arts, health, and early years, in which the role of the arts for very young children within primary and community healthcare will be discussed. During this seminar, Helium will showcase the evolvement of its Infant Imaginings primary care project.
On the Saturday there will be a professional development day for artists of any discipline who want to develop their skills in arts and early years practice. The application of this practice to working with parents and health and early intervention contexts will provide the focus here. The day will include presentations and training workshops by invited artists from the UK and Ireland with a professional arts practice in working with very young children and their parents. Invited artists will provide perspectives from across artistic disciplines, including theatre, dance, music and the visual arts.
UPDATE:
Fri, March 30 – Seminar 1:30pm-4:30pm with Catherine Maguire, president of the Irish Infant Mental Health Association and Ruth Churchill Dwyer from Earlyarts UK.
Sat, March 31st – All day workshop for artists across disciplines (music/drama/dance/visual arts), 10am-5:30pm – facilitated by artists from the UK/Germany/Ireland
All will take place in Mullingar.
Also, artists participating in the Saturday workshop are invited to observe one workshop given by the facilitating artists with Parents/Babies/Toddlers on Friday morning, either 10-11 or 11-12.
Cost of the workshop on the Saturday is €35 euro, which includes the seminar and observation opportunity on the Friday morning.
We will have the full details and application process finalised shortly.
Early interest can be registered at info@old.helium.ie
This professional development programme is supported by the Arts Council and Westmeath County Council Arts Office.