Phase 2: Bridging. 2024

In 2024, we began Phase 2 of Creative Places Tuam – a bridging programme, committing to embedding the work more firmly in the community.

We were delighted to welcome Christopher Bailey, Arts and Health Lead for the WHO, to Tuam as part of Creative Brain week. Collectively, we shared songs, poems and stories that helped to highlight the incredible difference that engagement with arts and culture makes to the health and wellbeing of a whole community.

In March, our programme coordinator Carolann Courtney was awarded an AMDAF Women Intercultural EPIC Award. AMDAF is an African women’s group in Tuam & Galway County, established to promote and protect value, justice, and development of women of African descent and their families.

To mark the end of the Creative Places Tuam Pilot, we were thrilled to share just a taste of the journey we have undergone together as a community in The Gathering.

Over two days in May 2024, we shared and built the archive together, and formally handed over the Creative Places Tuam Pilot archive to the library. We also launched an exhibition in the library featuring photos and video captured during the programme. Not to mention the sing song with Tome Chanters, the fabulous music from Junior Comhaltas members, and the stunning rendition of Nettle Horse by Tuam local Little John Nee, which served to close out the two day event.

The success of Creative Places Tuam is a direct result of the dedication and hard work of everyone involved—local artists, community leaders, volunteers, and residents who have generously shared their talents, time, and ideas. Together, we have demonstrated the power of the arts in fostering connection and pride within our town.

This second phase of the programme has involved research, conversations and slow planning, and we look forward to seeing this work continue as we move into Phase 3.