Roscommon County Council, as lead partner collaborating with Mayo County Council, was successfully awarded funding under the Creative Health and Wellbeing pillar of the Creative Ireland Programme in 2024. This two‑year investment of €140,000 was put to excellent use as the Creative Ireland, Healthy Ireland and Arts Office teams in Roscommon and Mayo worked together to identify artists and creatives who would take part in the project. These artists delivered creative sessions in healthcare settings including nursing homes, private homes, hospitals and hospice units.

To ensure that participating artists were equipped to work in environments that often required adaptive skills, sensitivity, emotional resilience, and the ability to engage in difficult conversations around death, dying and grief, we enlisted the Irish Hospice Foundation’s Arts and Cultural Engagement professionals to provide capacity‑building training over the two years.

Project Coordinator Breda Mayock with her wealth of knowledge and experience was a jewel in the crown of the team and came on board in late 2024 to help with the multifaceted delivery stages of the project.

Artists who were new to these settings also received mentoring before working independently, and the experienced artists who supported them were invaluable to the project’s success.

Thirteen artists developed new skills and formed a community of practice—a safe and supportive peer group that shared stories, experiences, challenges, and solutions during the many in‑person and online meetings held throughout the project. This peer support became a significant added value, greatly strengthening artists’ confidence. Several duos emerged as artists chose to work together to deliver sessions, a model that proved particularly effective in hospice and hospital environments.

As time went on, connections, trust and lasting relationships were built between the administrative teams, the artists and the healthcare settings. This strengthened the project’s ability to deliver meaningful, consistent and, above all, enjoyable sessions. Over 2,300 engagements were logged during the course of the project. That’s 2,300 moments of creativity, 2,300 opportunities to try something new, 2,300 escapes from the mundane—2,300 chances for joy.

Interim evaluations revealed that some artists were working with participants living with dementia and other cognitive challenges. In response, specialised training was organised to support artists in adapting their sessions to meet these needs.

The main evaluation process began in mid‑2025 when Meehan Tully and Associates Ltd undertook a comprehensive review. Engaging with artists, healthcare partners and the teams at Roscommon and Mayo County Councils, they produced a detailed evaluation that reflected all perspectives of the project. They also commissioned Mary Branley and Sarah O’Keefe to create a creative evaluative response, resulting in the publication of Just Dip It in Blue.