Chronic Collective
Chronic Collective is a disabled-led curatorial and artistic collective founded by queer, chronically ill artists Tara Carroll and Áine O’Hara. Their work centres disability culture, care and collective access, creating spaces where sick, disabled, D/deaf, neurodiverse and high-risk artists can participate in art on their own terms.
Through exhibitions, workshops, mentoring programmes and social gatherings, the collective challenges the structural barriers that exclude disabled artists from cultural life. Their projects foreground rest, flexible participation, remote access and community care as essential artistic practices.
Chronic Collective collaborates with organisations including Pallas Projects/Studios, Project Arts Centre, Fire Station Artists' Studios and A4 Sounds. Alongside cultural programming, they engage in disability activism and advocacy, working with networks such as Disability Power Ireland and supporting campaigns for disability rights in Ireland.
Chronic Collective creates projects, events and opportunities that centre accessibility, care and disability culture in the arts. Our work includes:
curating exhibitions featuring sick, disabled, D/deaf, neurodiverse and mad artists
organising accessible talks, discussions and public events
hosting workshops and creative programmes for disabled artists
mentoring and networking initiatives connecting artists with curators and institutions
creating accessible social spaces such as masked events
collaborating with arts orgs to develop more inclusive programming
research and documentation exploring disability and artistic practice
advocating for disability rights and accessibility within the arts sector
supporting campaigns and grassroots organising around disability justice
If you are interested in collaborating, commissioning work, or inviting us to work with your organisation, you can email us at:
chronicartcollective@gmail.com
What We’ve Been Doing
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Chronic Connections
With Firestation Artists Studios
Chronic Connections: Networking for sick and disabled artists since 2023
Disabled and chronically ill artists often cannot network in the same way as their peers. This programme aims to bridge that gap by creating opportunities for disabled artists to connect with curators and programmers.
The programme includes a speed curating event, where artists have 15 minutes with each curator to introduce their work, followed by a one-to-one studio visit or meeting with a matched curator. After the networking event, artists provide feedback and are paired with the curator best suited to their practice.
The initiative aims to build capacity for sick and disabled artists by creating meaningful dialogue and networking opportunities with curators committed to inclusive practice.
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The High Risk Club
with A4 Sounds Studios
The High Risk Club is an accessible visual art, music and performance event created in collaboration with disabled artists and A4 Sounds studio. Developed for high-risk, disabled and chronically ill audiences - and their friends - the project centres care, masking and inclusive design to create a safer shared cultural space. The programme platforms disabled artists across visual art and live performance, responding to the isolation and exclusion many have experienced from traditional arts events, and offering a collaborative, community-led alternative grounded in access and collective joy.
Artists included: Hog and Dice, Alber Saborio, Day Magee, Anna Rg, Aoife Wolf, Mice Hell and more.
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Rethinking Access in the Arts
Chronic Collective delivers talks, workshops and conversations on accessibility, disability culture and care in the arts. Drawing from our lived experience and curatorial practice, we share practical approaches to creating more inclusive exhibitions, events and working environments.
We have presented talks and discussions at venues including Project Arts Centre (Open Day), Rua Red and other arts organisations and artist-run spaces.
Our sessions combine discussion, research and examples from our projects, helping organisations rethink accessibility not as an afterthought but as a creative and collaborative practice.
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Chronic Collective X Pallas
with Pallas Projects
Chronic Collective presented a programme of events exploring art, illness and disability at Pallas Projects/Studios in July and August 2022. The series was created by and for sick and disabled artists, offering accessible spaces to share work, ideas and experiences.
Events included an open forum for sick and disabled artists, access rider workshops, performance and the body workshops, and live events. The programme centred accessibility through flexible pacing, comfortable seating, quiet spaces, and a masked, ventilated environment, with events live-streamed, captioned and supported by ISL interpretation.
The project also functioned as a site of research and learning, gathering feedback from artists to help develop more inclusive practices in the arts sector. It was supported by the Capacity Building Award 2022 from the Arts Council of Ireland.
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Sick Pride Picnic
Chronic Collective organised Sick Pride Picnic, a relaxed outdoor gathering celebrating disabled, chronically ill and high-risk communities. The event created a welcoming space for people who are often excluded from traditional Pride celebrations due to accessibility barriers, offering a slower, more accessible way to connect, rest and celebrate together.
Sick Pride Picnic centred care and collective access, with flexible participation, quiet social space and an emphasis on community rather than high-energy programming. The event highlighted the importance of disabled presence within Pride and broader LGBTQ+ culture.
Sick Pride Picnic was nominated for LGBTQ+ Event of the Year at the GALAS (National LGBT+ Awards).
