‘A Wave of Change’ exhibition and auction (2nd July – 2nd August 2024)
On his first official engagement, new Mayor of Tralee Cllr Mikey Sheehy opened ‘A Wave of Change’ art exhibition on Tuesday 2nd July at Siamsa Tíre. The exhibition explores the connections between the human experience and nature through a range of multi-media paintings, sculptures, photography and video. Over 70 pieces have been kindly donated by artists from across Ireland and you can bid for your favourite piece online. All funds raised go towards improving access to adventure therapy, supporting early intervention for young people and their families through New Wave Wild Project.
New Wave Wild Project is a non-profit clinical adventure therapy service based in Camp, Co. Kerry. The Wave of Change initiative aims to remove barriers of access to great therapy in the outdoors for young people and families by increasing awareness about adventure therapy, the effectiveness of the approach, and raising funds for early intervention adventure therapy.
While traditional talk therapy can work well for many people, there are many reasons why young people find it hard to engage. Taking therapy outdoors and building creativity into adventures on each session supports a whole new perspective about therapy.
Their initiative, ‘A Wave of Change’, aims to find creative ways to remove those barriers and this art exhibition and auction is one of the exciting events to support this work. The pieces are a creative expression of powerful feelings, emotional responses, and processing thoughts as we observe and interact with natural blue and green spaces around us mirroring the purposeful therapeutic capacity of adventure therapy.
Speakers at the opening included sea swimmer and mental health advocate June Curtin from Co. Clare (well known on Instagram as @SnamhaiSasta for her community sea swim events and charity fundraising) and Aia Leu-Allin, a Kenmare-based painter who created a painting, ‘Path to Healing’, especially for A Wave of Change. The painting signifies Aia’s personal journey through therapy and represents the journey to healing.
Artists that donated their works for auction include: Daire Lynch, Lisa McGill, Kate Plum, Holger Baehr, Lillian Ecock, Aia Leu-Allin, Donna McGee, Paula Fee, Madeleine Fadden, Bettina Norton, Sean Curtin, Andrea Power, Radek Mara, Tim Bingham, Isabelle Gaborit, Janine Claase, Jane Hilliard, Deirdre Cichosz, Madeleine Fadden, Alva Gallagher, Alison Barry, Paula Richards Hynes, Gina Lynch and many more!
For more information on this nature based alternative to talk therapy visit www.newwavewildproject.ie
