hi there everyone!
Welcome to my blog tracking an 8 week project at York hospital running creative art sessions on ward 37 (dementia ward).
I've joined the project as a creative media arts student at York college and im currently working on my final major project. I have chosen to take on a live project for my fmp because I really enjoy working with people and creating something for a real client. When I finish college I hope to go straight into work and come back to university in the future if I want to. Because of this, Im keen to gain workplace experience and meet people in all industries.
I worked with Griselda (Art and Design Development Manager on York hospitals arts team) on a previous project at York art gallery and I really enjoyed working as a team and gaining more experience and mostly developing my skills. Me and Griselda got on really well so when my project at the gallery ended, I asked if there were any further opportunities like that one that I could get involved in for my final project, hence this!
So, we are working on York hospitals dementia ward where people of all stages of dementia will come to be treated if they are unwell. That means each week there are different people on the ward for different reasons. Hospitals aren't fun at the bests of time but they can be particularly distressing for those with dementia as its a different environment and it can be very confusing. The creative arts have been proven to be really beneficial and have positive results with lots of people but especially those with dementia. For this reason, the staff at the hospital have employed a fantastic artist (Sharon) to come in every Monday for 8 weeks to run a 2 hour art session with the people on the ward. When working with people suffering from any form of dementia, finding ways to link in memories is really helpful so Sharon came up with the idea of focusing on clothing.
She has created a canvas with two characters for patients to dress, the idea being that with the support from me and Sharon, they can paint clothing for the characters that maybe reflects their wardrobe or that was fashionable when they were younger, for example the iconic flared trousers of the 70s. These pieces will then be cut out and laminated to protect the art but also so they can be kept clean which is really important on the ward. Then we will ad velcro to the backs of each piece so it can be stuck on the canvas. Its a really nice idea as they are creating an activity that can be left up in the ward once the project has finished.
As part of my fmp, I will be assisting sharon in these workshops and documenting each session via this blog so if you are interested in the arts or maybe know someone living with dementia, this will be a great platform to learn more about the disease and ways the arts can be used to help and support people suffering from it.
The sessions are every Monday for so my posts will probably be uploaded Tuesday mornings.
If you want to get in touch, just email me:)
thats all for now!
holly x