Sweeter the Tune was a programme for older artists and older peoples groups in Leitrim.

Description

Following a 2020 review of Leitrim County Council’s Age Friendly Policy, one recommendation put forward was to ensure that older professional artists are supported so that they may continue to make new work and continue to pursue and advance their careers throughout their lives.
Sweeter the Tune was a programme with older artists and older people’s groups developed by Leitrim County Council and Leitrim Development Company as part of Leitrim County Council’s Creative Ireland Programme. It was funded by Creative Ireland as part of their ‘Creativity in Older Age’ Programme.

The ‘Sweeter the Tune Project’ was a unique opportunity to demonstrate that the quality and depth of an artist’s work can be enhanced with age whilst offering groups of older people the opportunity to explore their own creativity in a process led by older Artists.

The partners in the project – Leitrim Development Company and Leitrim County Council – commissioned three older professional artists from the region – Cathy Carmen, Charlie McGettigan and John McDwyer to work with three older peoples’ groups affiliated to the Leitrim Older Person’s Council. As part of the process, each artist would make new work of their own whilst also developing a collaborative project with their group. As well as supporting older professional artists to make new work, giving members of each group an insight into their artist’s practice and how they make work, gave the group members and insight and confidence to pursue their own collaborative project by the group.

Cathy Carmen worked with the Drumkeerin Friendship Club. The project that Cathy and the group developed centred on the idea of hands as a symbol of friendship, a helping hand, and the handing on of knowledge. Cathy cast each of the members hands in bronze, placed along a wall sculpture that depicted the symbol of a river.

Playwright John McDwyer worked with members of Annaduff Active Age Group as a sounding board for his new play ‘The Pension Plan’ while at the same time working with individual members to write their own stories based on their own lives, published as ‘Looking Back – Winter Writings by Annaduff ICA Guild’.

Charlie McGettigan worked with Mohill Active Age Group on memory and story, making a film of the process with Johnny Gogan of Bandit Films. As part of his work, he wrote a number of new songs, which he hopes to release in the near future, one of which ‘Sweeter the Tune’ is informed entirely from his interaction with the members of Mohill Active Age Group.
The project was well documented, and a thorough evaluation process put in place so that we could better learn about the impact that work like this can have on older people.

The benefits for older people engaging in the arts are well documented and the beneficial impact of participatory art in terms of mental and physical wellbeing is evident at the individual, community and societal levels. The evidence suggests that there is tremendous potential for participatory art to improve the quality of life of older people in general.
The outcomes of the project were presented and celebrated at a gala event in The Dock Arts Centre in May 2023. This free event was open to all age groups to attend and was warmly received by all who attended.

Aim of Initiative

The arts, for the most part, are one of the few professions that have no retirement age. That said, the public, as much as publishers and producers, constantly look for the next bright young thing, and as artists get older, the sustainability of their livelihoods becomes more precarious. A survey of professional artists developed by Leitrim County Council found that only 9% are currently making pension contributions, only 25% of respondents hold private health insurance, well below the 45% national average, and that for all older artists, how they will continue to make a living is a constant cause of anxiety.

At a community level, the benefits for older people engaging in the arts is well documented and the beneficial impact of participatory art in terms of mental and physical wellbeing is evident at the individual, community and societal levels. The evidence suggests that there is tremendous potential for participatory art to improve the quality of life of older people in general as well as those older people who are most excluded including those with dementia and those who are socially and economically disadvantaged.

For many older people, particularly older men whose self-esteem is often strongly linked to work, retirement can be a debilitating life change. That this project was led by older professional artists from the region that have maintained a successful national and international practice is key to allowing other older adults embrace new and positive aspects to their identity and life role and the project has significant potential to contribute towards challenging the stigmas of being older that exist in society.

Who is it aimed at

Older artists and older people’s groups.

3 Steps critical to success

1. Working collaboratively with Leitrim Development Company and Creative Ireland was key to developing a project that brought together all the expertise required in terms of older people’s needs and creative practice.

   Previous projects undertaken by the partners and the experience and expertise gained from those, enabled the partners to put in place the steps required to ensure the project’s success, including a thorough evaluation process that doubled as a project management tool.

   Receiving funding from Creative Ireland from a special funding call ‘Creativity in Older Age’ was vital to enable a project of this scale and detail with sufficient management support and budgets for evaluation, documentation and artists fees.

2. Giving older peoples groups the information they needed about what a project like this might have to offer, was key for them to put themselves forward and wanting to be involved.

   Finding suitable professional older artists that understood the project and were enthusiastic to be working with older people’s groups was absolutely essential. Leitrim Development used their network of older people’s groups to ascertain interest and support groups to apply and select the artist that suited them best.

3. The creative process that took place between each artist and the groups they were working with. The creative process was the most important component of the project. The relationship between the group and the artists. The sharing of ideas, knowledge and skills to produce something meaningful and worthwhile.

3 Challenges in Planning / Delivery

1. Explaining the process and the benefits of engaging in a creative project and overcoming preconceptions. Some of the older artists had negative preconceptions about the nature of older people’s groups. There was initial concern that the groups may not be interested in engaging in projects that went beyond conventional skills-based workshops, or that the groups mightn’t be that interested in working with them.
2. Some of the group members were anxious and initially unwilling to take part. However, with support and encouragement they overcame their fears and enjoyed the experience. The project was designed to allow sufficient time for the group and artist to get to know each other, to build confidence, and to get excited about making something special together.
3. Having built confidence and ambition, keeping expectations realistic in terms of the outcomes that would be achieved during the lifetime of the project was also a challenge. There are always opportunities to pursue further projects, or to bring previous projects to new levels.

3 Outcomes / Benefits

1. Positive engagement with professional older artists and the participating older age groups. An increased interest in the arts led to people getting the opportunity, some for the first time, to explore their own creativity and create a piece of art.
2. Social engagement for the groups and increased confidence. Members of the groups who took part were initially unsure at first as they did not know what to expect, but they really enjoyed the process, gained new skills and felt more confident to try new things. At the gala launch of the project, many of the members who read or performed the work they produced, would never have ever performed in public before in their entire lives.
3. Enhanced capacity to work in a community setting for older artists. The older artists were supported to work with groups, but also financially supported to create an independent piece of art, including a number of visual art pieces which have been publicly exhibited, new music which will be released in the near future, and a play, which has already toured nationally.