Artists – The Model, Sligo.

The Healing Arts: A Creative Companion

Maja Moser — Fri, 25 Sep 2026 16:00:24 +0000

The Model initiated a unique Arts & Health project at Sligo University Hospital’s new offsite ward at St John’s in 2026, creating opportunities for patients and staff to engage with an artist during their hospital stay.

The project began when The Model reached out to the hospital to explore how the significant arts and health work already undertaken across nursing homes in Sligo could be extended into a busy clinical environment.

For patients spending long periods in hospital, time can be repetitive and isolating. Through simple, accessible creative activities, the project offered an opportunity to step outside the routine of care and treatment, engage the imagination, and make space for curiosity and creativity.

Artist Andy Parsons led the project, drawing on his extensive experience working in Arts and Health contexts. Responding to the practical realities of an acute hospital environment, including limited space and infection-control requirements, the artist developed flexible activities using watercolour, collage, pencil and clay. There was no expectation of a finished artwork or outcome; the emphasis was on participation, curiosity and individual expression.

Shauna Horan, Clinical Nurse Manager at the Medical Offsite Ward, said:

“Despite some obstacles, including outbreaks and reduced staffing, we feel the project was very successful and thoroughly enjoyed by both patients and staff. It was lovely to see some of the artwork displayed on the ward, and some of our patients who are here for an extended period participated multiple times in the classes. It was so lovely to have an activity for them to do in the evenings, as it can be a long day in here for some of our patients.”

Reflecting on the project, artist Andy Parsons said:

“Small pockets of time spent away from the ward undertaking art-based activities can change the tone of a patient’s day, and improve their whole experience of staying in hospital. The potential of this transformative work is enormous, and demands as much energy and focus as artists and institutions can give to it.”

Even a small artistic intervention can meaningfully shift the experience of a hospital environment, creating moments of creativity, connection and agency through simple acts of making. The St John’s project demonstrated the value of bringing artists into places where art has to negotiate its space, offering meaningful encounters and creative possibilities for both patients and staff in the midst of a long hospital day.

In relation to his own practice, Andy found that the project further confirmed the relational potential of practical art activities and slow looking, while also reaffirming the wider value and potential of arts in health within hospital settings.

This project was generously funded by Sligo County Council and the Creative Ireland Programme 2023–2027. It was developed in partnership with staff at Sligo University Hospital, with support from the hospital’s Research & Education Foundation.

Andy Parsons’ practice combines working in community contexts with making drawing, sculpture and painting. Projects have focused on people and places, and on activities where people work together and help each other. He has worked in a Community Care setting for older people, Mental Health Inpatients, and a community boatbuilding project in the Sligo docks.

Andy Parsons has received several significant awards, including the Pollock Krasner Foundation Award. He has exhibited in exhibitions internationally, with solo shows in London and Tokyo.

Artist Call-Out 2026

Maja Moser — Sun, 25 Jan 2026 09:00:30 +0000

Farewell to The Body Electric

The Model, Sligo. — Mon, 31 May 2021 18:00:18 +0000

Free the Frazzle

It is beyond time
To clear my mind
Of the detritus
Gathered over the years
Wasteful
Weighing me down

Naked
I present myself
Mustering strength
I bend my knee
Straighten my back
To free
My frazzled mind

Boom

I explode
Sunder weight
Of childhood
Rituals and ruination
Self
Forfeited within flock

Flashback
Rumble of rosary
Insidious intemperance
Unloved
Unappreciated
Unnoticed

Boom

I am back
I reclaim my state
Of being
To love
To appreciate
To notice

My self
My place
My frazzled mind

by Bláithín Gallagher

In response to My Mind is Frazzled by Janet Mullarney

The Black Square

Hidden in all of us is the divine,
as is in the essence of Malevich's Art.
Outward stimuli, materialism
distracts the mind.
Suprematism encapsulates the unnecessary noise.
Past memory, an experience, future choices form.
As the painting forms on the canvas.
Awareness of objectivity, differences of seeing,
leads one to stillness.
Leaving room for divinity to sink in.
Remove thy mask, of us and them.
Take the lead, from Malevich's simple painting,
go within.
External is ever changing.
As the paint cracks on the black canvas.

by Geraldine Millar
In response to The Black Square by Kazimir Malevich

The Body Electric; An Interview with writer Jessica Traynor – Part 2

The Model, Sligo. — Sun, 30 May 2021 09:00:02 +0000

A contemporary parable

MLB You come back to the story of The Pied Piper of Hamlyn as a parable that has relevance in these contemporary times. Can you tell me a bit more about that?

JT Folk tales are wonderful fodder for poets, because on the surface they are simple, but beneath the surface lies wonderful, rich, human truth. They speak of archetypal hopes and fears. The Pied Piper appeals to me as it’s a dark parable of loss and hopelessness and I see it reflected in our own world today. The fear of the loss of children is universal, hardwired into our psyches, even if we are not parents ourselves. I find this folk tale a useful reminder of shared humanity. In the poem Calais from The Quick I use it to interrogate the idea of which children are valued, and which children aren’t. This concept comes to mind again with the massacre that’s occurring in Gaza at the moment.

Other voices

MLB You are interested in migrant issues, having collaborated with Stephen Rea on Correspondences, an anthology written in 2019, which called for the end of Direct Provision. What compelled you to collaborate with other creatives and asylum seekers on this work?

JT In a nutshell, myself and Stephen wanted to do something to help raise awareness around the injustice of the current direct provision system in Ireland and spent some time discussing what we, as an actor and a writer, might be able to offer.

MLB What was the aim of the anthology?

JT The aim of the anthology was to raise money for MASI, an organisation run by and for people who have experienced direct provision, so that they could decide where best the money was spent. We didn’t want to speak for anyone, or make decisions on anyone’s behalf. It was also important to us that the writers and artists featured in the book who have experienced direct provision were treated as writers and artists first and foremost, and asylum seekers second – this second thing should not define them, and the reason is does is because of the Irish State’s failure to treat them correctly.

MLB Was their collaboration amongst the contributors?

JT We offered the option for the writers and artists to pair with Irish writers for either mentorship, or for a dialogue on the work with the Irish writer writing a response to the contributor’s work. This was not mandatory, as some of our contributors didn’t have the time or inclination, but the intention was to work against direct provision’s tendency to isolate applicants for international protection from Irish society at large. We didn’t want to ghettoise our contributors further. Finally, we asked MASI to contribute the introduction to the book as we felt that was most appropriate.

MLB What was the process like?

JT It was, of course, an imperfect process, but we’re glad to say that the book raised €15,000 for MASI and facilitated some new friendships which have outlasted the lifespan of the anthology itself.

We would like to thank Jessica Traynor for this insightful interview and look forward to future collaborations.

To find out more about MASI, go to https://www.masi.ie/

https://www.jessicatraynor.com/

The Body Electric; An Interview with writer Jessica Traynor – Part 1

The Model, Sligo. — Sat, 29 May 2021 09:00:54 +0000

The Body Electric; An Interview with writer Jessica Traynor – Part 1
by Marie-Louise Blaney.

Marie-Louise Blaney is the Education Curator at The Model, Sligo.

Jessica Traynor is an award-winning poet, creative writing teacher and dramaturg from Dublin. Her debut collection Liffey Swim (Dedalus Press, 2014), was shortlisted for the Strong/Shine Award and her second collection, The Quick, was an Irish Times poetry choice of 2019. She was invited to contribute to The Body Electric. Today I catch up with Jessica on the art of writing.

The process of crafting poetry

MLB How do you define the craft of poetry writing?

JT I suppose it’s a little like lepidopterology. An idea appears, something striking that’s teasing the edges of your consciousness, something you want to capture and examine more closely. Often, it’s an idea or impulse you don’t quite understand. Even when you pin it to the paper, you may not understand it.

MLB Looking at the form poems can take, have you any particular preference?

JT I enjoy the short lyric form for its intensity. I admire long poems greatly, but often don’t have the stamina to read or write them well. The short lyric is flexible and open to deconstruction in interesting ways. And the challenge of brevity is to create something clear and jewel-like – I think those are challenges every writer should set themselves, whatever form they choose.

MLB You have worked as a dramaturg and in theatre/museum contexts. Do you use theatrical or visual art techniques to craft your work?

JT Theatre has been a huge influence in my writing in terms of voice. I like to try and write in a way that is clear and unaffected, in a way you might hear a person speak. In playwriting, the writer has to tackle big, complex themes using language that sounds natural. I try to bear the importance of that naturalism in mind when writing poetry, to prevent the work from becoming too archaic or self-consciously ‘poetic’.

MLB The Body Electric concentrates on ekphrastic writing. Is there a thread of ekphrasis as a technique running through your poetry collections?

JT While I’m often inspired by art, straightforward ekphrasis where I write something directly relating to an artwork is not something I often do. With Dorothy Cross’s Stiletto, which I responded to for The Body Electric, the fact that these wonderful, slightly nightmarish shoes are a physical object rather than a painting sparked my interest. They seemed to me to function as poetic symbol made manifest in the world. And they spoke to one of my current preoccupations – subverting traditional ideas of motherhood.

The voice

MLB You have spoken before about connecting the voice on the page to the voice in the body. Can you tell us a bit more about that?

JT As with the last question, I find that we can often engage a self-consciously ‘poetic’ voice when writing poetry which doesn’t reflect the actual sound of our own voices, our own idiom, our personalities. Too much workshopping of poems can also file off these interesting edges, making the poem a little flat and predictable. Our voices and ways of speaking (again here I mean literal voice, rather than the conceptual ‘writing voice’) are often the things that make us individual and interesting. Try to work that individuality onto the page.

MLB When you are about to write a poem, how does it reveal itself to you?

JT Generally a concept or idea will have been floating around in my head and I’ll find a line emerging that expresses some part of it. At that point I try to examine and record any accompanying images and ideas. Much like recording a waking dream that I can then unpack. Images to accompany the concept are hugely important, as without them the poem becomes chopped up prose at best and cod philosophy at worst.

MLB The Waiting Table from your collection The Quick, is very visually rich and for that reason it’s one of my favourite. Do you have a favourite poem?

JT I think most writers spend much more time agonising over the poems that haven’t quite worked out, and I’m no exception! There are poems where I feel I’ve managed to sneak my own, real voice out into the world though, and that makes me happy on some level. From The Quick, I suppose the Witches sequence and Snow Ghost, alongside the Modest Proposal poems are the ones where I felt like I’ve succeeded in communicating myself most clearly.

Tomorrow we hear from Jessica on her work with actor Stephen Rea and the relevance of fairy tales to contemporary human rights issues.

The Body Electric; An Interview with artist Suzanne Walsh – Part 4

The Model, Sligo. — Fri, 28 May 2021 18:00:51 +0000

MLB Suzanne, I am curious to know how important titles are in your work?

SW Very. I worry over them, and take a long time to pick them, sometimes it feels as long as the work takes. Often I just have to pick something I’m relatively happy with and let it go if I’m out of time (for a deadline). Other times I’m so happy when I hit the right combination. For example, I wrote an essay on East Wall years ago for Fallowmedia. And the Luas that goes towards East Wall, (to the Point), always makes this announcement ‘This tram serves all stops to the Point’. So the essay was called ‘All Stops to the Point’. It makes reference to a local thing, but also has a nice abstract quality if you don’t know that, and somehow suggests spatiality. That’s my favourite kind of title. But it doesn’t always happen.

ML Do you time travel when you create work?

SW I’m told time comes up in my work a lot so I’d say yes? I love engaging with layers of history in an area, and thinking about how time is not linear, so that we’re living sometimes all time together. As I mentioned earlier, I’ve been writing about the area I live in recently, Phibsboro, and I did all this research on the local history and folklore there, and sometimes it makes walking around extra dreamlike. I also like the idea that time is circular, or nonlinear, I find it helpful, especially when thinking of the dead.

ML Are you interested in deep time? Do you have a yearning for alternative realities?

SW I’ve always been interested in deep time, early life forms, our pre-human ancestors. It feels unimaginable to think of time in that way, or to imagine what it was like before humans came along. If I was told to think of an imagined space to help relax, instead of the beach or something like that, I would imagine this time.

I think though the yearning in my work is also for elements of that wildness and diversity that could exist in the present day. Both literal and symbolic wildness, I’m in favour of rewilding for biodiversity etc., reintroduction of species, giving over land to wildlife. But also I desire more potential for other ways of living in general in the world. At the moment it feels like, in Ireland, that we’re all supposed to want to get married, have children, buy a house, have a certain kind of job. And this isn’t even achievable for the people who want it, financially etc. But I would like to see equal value and possibility for creating different kinds of communities, for those that fall outside of these desires. In terms of yearning for alternative realities of the less physical kind, of course, I think this is about a shift in valuing other kinds of thinking, being. This can happen anytime, any day. It already does.

MLB Thanks Suzanne. Is there anything you would like to leave us with, from this world or others?

SW On a practical level, there’s a great opportunity to engage with inequality in this country presently, in terms of housing, how we treat refugees, also with the recent fires in Killarney and reports on loss of bird life. We can be a lot more progressive, also for LGBT people as well as other minorities. I think a lot of organisations are doing their best to raise awareness and push back against these things. CATU, The Irish Wildlife Trust, Wildlife Rescue Ireland, MASI, TENI to name a few, it’s good to get informed even a little. Regarding the otherworlds, stay open!