Trained facilitators create a warm atmosphere that encourages
conversation, where each person gets to enjoy the engagement at their
own pace and in their own way. Participants can expect a seated tour of
the gallery with time given to experiencing a selection of work from the
exhibition. The tour ends with a cup of tea or coffee in our café, MUSE coffee + food, situated just beside our main gallery.
Butler Gallery Accessibility information
The Azure Project: Some Background
Exploring greater inclusion of people with dementia in museums and galleries in Ireland
The
Azure project, based on a collaboration between Age & Opportunity,
The Alzheimer Society of Ireland, the Butler Gallery Kilkenny, and the
Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA), is exploring how greater inclusion
for people with dementia could be made possible in an Irish cultural
context.
The project is inspired by the ‘Meet me at MoMA’ programme making art
accessible to people with dementia, which is based at New York’s Museum
of Modern Art. Azure sought to practically explore the application of
the ‘Meet Me’ model in Ireland through piloting guided visits of art
works in the Butler Gallery collection for people with dementia and
their family, friends and carers. Based on this practical research, an
evaluation report was produced.
Azure Evaluation Report
Building on the interest in this work Butler Gallery worked with the
project partners to host training in May 2015 for staff working in
museums and galleries across Ireland. Input was provided by various
representatives from the partnership, the 'Meet Me at MoMA' programme in
New York and a person living with dementia. The aim of the training was
to build the capacity of staff from museums and galleries to be more
dementia friendly and to provide them with the skills and knowledge
needed to facilitate dementia-inclusive arts events.