Evaluation of the Waterford Healing Arts Trust Call for ... - Arts & Health

Evaluation of the Waterford Healing Arts
Trust
Call for Expressions of Interest
Context
The Waterford Healing Arts Trust (WHAT) is one of Ireland’s leading arts and
health organisations. Based in Waterford Regional Hospital, WHAT aims: -
• To facilitate access to and participation in the arts
• To reduce anxiety and stress for patients, visitors, and staff through
integrating art into healthcare environments
• To forge closer relationships between hospital professionals and
between the hospital and the wider community through the arts.
• To create professional development opportunities for artists to produce
new work and engage new audiences within healthcare and community
contexts
• To take the lead in the field of Arts and Health in the Republic of Ireland
through education, research and professional development
Our programme comprises contemporary art exhibitions, live music
performances in wards and outpatient clinics, artist-in-residence programmes,
art and music making workshops for health service users via a mobile Art Kart,
Artist on Call service, Music in Mental Health Settings and other programmes.
We have built up a large collection of contemporary art which is on view
throughout Waterford Regional Hospital and we commission artworks for
specific sites within the hospital. We also connect with the wider community
through our weekly Open Studio and outreach programmes. See
www.waterfordhealingarts.com for more information.
We take a national lead in the development of arts and health practice in
Ireland through our library, professional development programme and
advice clinics. In 2011, in partnership with Create, the national agency for
the development of collaborative arts in social contexts, we developed the
first national arts and health website artsandhealth.ie which provides
information, news, resources and opinion for and by artists, arts
organisations, health service users, carers, healthcare professionals and
others interested in the dynamic area of arts and health in Ireland. We also
created a dedicated Centre for Arts and Health in the grounds of Waterford
Regional Hospital, the first of its kind in Ireland, which opened in 2009.
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In 2008 WHAT developed a three year strategy with the following objectives:
• To consolidate and build on existing programme and services.
• To integrate the work of WHAT into HSE operations and the Health
Service
• To create professional development opportunities for artists to
produce new work and engage new audiences within healthcare
contexts
• To consolidate WHAT’s role as a National Resource Organisation in
the field of Arts and Health
• To develop a Centre for Arts and Health with a recognisable identity
and adequate resources.
• To develop WHAT’S programme and services in line with the plans for
the Centre for Arts and Health
• To ensure best practice in strategic policy and planning.
The last independent evaluation of WHAT was carried out by Ruairi O’Cuiv in
1990. WHAT is now at a stage whereby it needs to refocus its work in line with
its capacity for its next strategy spanning 2013 – 2018 and position the
organisation in the growing portfolio of national arts and health practice.
Consultancy Brief
WHAT wishes to commission an independent evaluation of its work since 2008
with a view to informing its next strategy 2013 - 2018.
The evaluation will:
• Assess the capacity of WHAT to sustain its current output and its potential to
grow going forward
• Review progress made on the delivery of the Strategy 2008 - 2010
• Make recommendations for the priorities and focus of the next Strategy 2013
– 2018
WHAT will provide:
• Access to collected quantitative and qualitative data as available
• Access to partners and stakeholders including healthcare staff, health
service users (where appropriate), artists, committee members etc
• Support of the Waterford Healing Arts Trust staff
• A working base in the WHAT Centre for Arts and Health if required
Completion date: December 2012
Fee: €3000 incl VAT, travel costs etc
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Expressions of Interest
Applicants are required to include the following when submitting a tender:
• An outline of how the evaluation will be carried including methodologies
• Evidence of skills and knowledge relevant to the arts and health sector
• Evidence of high quality report writing and ability to analyse complex
information
Short-listed candidates will be interviewed.
Please submit an expression of interest by hard copy no later than 27 th July
2012 at 4pm.
for the attention of Mary Grehan, Director, Waterford Healing Arts Trust,
Waterford Regional Hospital, Dunmore Road, Waterford.
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