Who we are
That’s Life is an award-winning arts and personal development programme of the
Brothers of Charity Services, Galway.
People with intellectual disability have opportunities to discover and realise their creative potential through working with established artists,
and participating in a wide range of high quality arts programs.
That’s Life art makers create inspiring work that contributes to the cultural and artistic life of their communities.
Highlights of 2025
It's another busy year for the That's Life team,
with a full programme of events and workshops
Thats Life Awards
That's Life are extremely proud of all the participants who took part in our visual art, music, theatre, animation and choral programmes in 2024. It was wonderful to see so many happy faces as the individuals received their certificates at our awards ceremony which took place in the Connacht Hotel on January 21st 2025. We'd also like to take the opportunity to say thank you to all the staff who help support all these talented people, plus the financial contribution of our funding partners for each of the programmes, we look forward to doing it all again next year!
Irish National Opera
Open Foyer Series
The That's Life team were back in action on Tuesday 11th February for their first event of the year. Individuals supported from our Creative Writing programme joined forces with the Gamelon group for a joint performance in the foyer of the Town Hall Theatre Galway. Inspired by the Irish National Orchestra's production of Johann Strauss' Die Fledermaus, the ensemble were taking part in the INO Open Foyer Series. This is an initiative by the Irish National Opera to collaborate with local communities during their national tours. For the tour of Johann Strauss' Die Fledermaus, local music ensembles from around the country have been chosen to perform music connected to the opera in the foyer, for audiences members to enjoy before seeing the show.
Social Care Ireland - Annual Conference
The team at That's Life gave a keynote presentation at the Social Care Ireland Annual Conference at the Fairway's Hotel in Dundalk.
This year's theme:
‘Creativity, Innovation and play in Social Care – The Power of Possibility in an era of regulation’
The finale of the presentation was a performance by our house band Electric Dreams, who wowed the crowd with three of their most catchy tunes!
Whistleblast Quartet - Strong Together
The cast of our acclaimed opera 'Mr. President', supported by in-house band Electric Dreams, were delighted to perform two songs at 'Strong Together', an evening of music curated by the wonderful WhistleBlast Quartet at the Townhall Theatre on Monday 26th of May.
'Mr. President' was written as part of the That's Life music programme, in collaboration with the Whistleblast Quartet, and staged at the Townhall Theatre in June last year.
Club Tropicana
We had a wonderful turnout for our annual extravaganza, Club Tropicana, an evening of music, dance, and creativity proudly hosted by That’s Life. This years took place on Thursday 19th on June, in the Black Box Theatre, Galway. The theme was comic book super heroes, and for the first time we asked everyone to dress up on the night, in their best super hero outfits. And we were so impressed with how many of our people supported embraced the challenge, and how smart they looked. Prizes were awarded, and a very memorable evening was had by all!
The highlight of our social calendar, Club Tropicana is truly unique event with an atmosphere of pure celebration. Designed for adults with intellectual disabilities and their friends, Club Tropicana offers a welcoming and inclusive space to enjoy live music and dancing.
One important aspect of Club Tropicana is the art which is created to decorate the space for the event. That’s Life run a series of making workshops in the lead up to the event involving various groups of adults with ID over the course of eight weeks. In this way we can bring together aspects of our visual art programme to coincide with the production and installation for Club Tropicana. In these making workshops we engage with adults of different levels of ability and find this format of working together of a theme to be most inclusive. In this model of working we are able to create tasks for people which are well matched with their level of ability, and yet everyone is working toward a shared goal. Workshops are supported by GRETB, Galway and Roscommon Educational Training Board.
The Sound Nest
A welcome return of 'The Sound Nest' at the O'Donoghue Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance, University of Galway. The installation was presented at the Galway International Arts Festival in June and the Barbaro Festival in October.
'The Sound Nest' is an interactive music-making experience set within a canvas of stunning synchronised visual projections, created by That's Life in collaboration with artist Jane Cassidy
Designed for inclusivity, the project allows groups to create harmonious music together performing on color-coded instruments called sound nests, in response to an animated musical score. The music and visuals were co-created over a year with participants with intellectual disabilities (ID). We are very grateful for support and funding from The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon.
National Advocacy Conference
The Brothers of Charity National Advocacy Conference - The Power of Choice - took place in the Shearwater Hotel, Ballinasloe on the 16th of October. Hosted by the Galway Advocacy Council, the conference was an truly inspiring and uplifting experience. That's Life were delighted to meet conference members at their stall, while Electric Dreams and the That's Life choir entertained the delegates during the afternoon session.
We'd like to thank our funders and partners for their continued support
