Bes Young's work in Northern Ireland – Arts and Eldercare

Bes Young

Bes Young is a Mitchell Scholar currently studying photography at the University of Ulster. In her own words:

For the past two and a half months, I have had the honor of documenting Arts Care's "Here & Now: The Festival of Arts and Older People" through photography and film. This short film is a final overview of that experience. Arts Care is a unique Arts and Health Charity based in Northern Ireland, which places artists in health and social care settings to make "all forms of art accessible to patients, clients, residents and staff" (www.artscare.co.uk). My driving passion, and the reason I am pursuing an MFA in Photography in Belfast, is the integration of arts and eldercare. I feel blessed to have been welcomed by an organization so in line with my interests and my heart. Through working with Arts Care, I have been able to travel throughout Northern Ireland to over 30 different care and community settings, meeting hundreds of local elders and gaining invaluable perspective on eldercare provided on this island. I have been enlivened and touched by this experience and the joy these artists bring to the lives of so many.

Check out this beautiful short film Bes filmed and edited for Arts Care:

https://vimeo.com/user16686060/review/62730280/d51b8665e2

And here is what Arts Care wrote about Bes on their festival site (www.artscarephanihereandnow.com):

As the festival draws to a close, the time comes for us to evaluate the work that we have delivered and provide information to our funders, the Public Health Agency, to reassure them that their money was spent wisely and effectively. Part of this evaluation will be looking at the film footage and photographs that Bes Young has been collecting throughout the project, to gauge what the response was at any given time or minute.

Bes has been invaluable to us throughout the festival and has been burning the midnight oil most nights to edit her reams of footage into some beautifully constructed films, this most recent one being a case in point. This footage was collected across all five Health and Social Care Trusts over the life of the festival and captures all aspects of what we hope we achieved – opening up older people’s lives with simple creative experience.