Mullingar girl’s art showcased in ‘Creativity Unlimited’ show

A Mullingar girl’s artwork is being showcased in a nationwide exhibition.

Eight-year-old Aisling Savage, a second-class student at Holy Family Primary School, is among a group of talented young artists from across the country whose work is featured in the ‘Creativity Unlimited’ exhibition, curated by the Mullingar-based arts and health charity, Helium Arts.

All of the artists in the exhibition, who each live with a lifelong health condition, have participated in Helium’s Distance Creates online art programme. The exhibition, which opened at the Limerick Gallery of Art on October 19, will also have pop-up shows in Galway, Dublin, and Cork over the next month.

The aim of the exhibition series is to highlight the positive impact of the Helium Arts Distance Creates online art programme on the wellbeing, confidence, and social connectedness of young people living with conditions such as diabetes, epilepsy, heart conditions, spina bifida, and juvenile arthritis.

Aisling’s father, David, says his daughter has gained new friends – and much more from participating in the programme.

“It’s really given her great confidence. She loves doing it, and it provides an outlet for her to let her creative juices flow, so to speak.

“But it’s not just that. It has also established a little community for them. Aisling has epilepsy, and you don’t want her to feel stigmatised because of it.

“She’s meeting lots of other children with similar issues – not necessarily the same, but similar enough – so she knows she’s not the only one.

“It gives them a little community of creative people who understand each other’s challenges. Another thing is that she’s not well-suited to very active pursuits, which is the case for some kids with epilepsy or diabetes. So this gives her a lovely way to pursue her interests in a safe environment with other like-minded people.”

Distance Creates is the online component of the broader Helium Arts creative health programme, which also offers in-person, artist-led, medically supported creative workshops in hospital paediatric outpatient clinics and community settings.

In 2023, 114 children and young people from 22 counties in Ireland, including Westmeath, participated in Distance Creates. Those children, living with lifelong physical health conditions such as epilepsy, diabetes, spina bifida, cerebral palsy, hydrocephalus, and cystic fibrosis, took part in the programme’s online art sessions.

Feedback collected by Helium Arts through surveys and consultations with the young participants, their parents, and programme coordinators revealed that the creative process was not only joyful and calming, but it also boosted participants’ confidence and sense of identity. It fostered new friendships and connections, especially for children who often feel socially isolated.

Helen Hugel, CEO of Helium Arts and a Mullingar resident, said the Distance Creates online programme “has allowed us to widen our reach and bring the benefits of art and creativity to more children and young people living with the effects of illness or disability every day, including in Westmeath”.

“Distance Creates allows participants to take part from anywhere in Ireland, whether from the comfort of their home, during a hospital stay, or within a community setting.

I’m very grateful to Limerick City Gallery of Art and the Connected Hubs network for providing space for the exhibition series, which recognises the talent and achievements of our young artists while connecting them with a new and wider circle of social support online.”