Resonate Arts
With Resonate Arts I did training as a creative dementia practitioner, and worked on a number of projects in day centres, in community settings and with individuals in their own homes, and on outings to parks and galleries.
My work with Domencia Moscato became the subject of two film portraits, the second of which is Le Peregrinazioni (The Wanderings). Domenica grew up on a farm in Italy and came to live in Soho in the Sixties and worked in the textiles and clothing industry. Since the death of her husband in 2011, and with advancing dementia, she started to produce huge numbers of abstract drawings and paintings.
The “memory cushions” below were made in collboration with older people, some with dementia, and their carers as part of the Remembering Together project managed by Resonate Arts. The aim was to have fun as a group (meeting over six weekly sessions) and also produce an object that would provide memory prompts for each individual and be a guide for their carers in the future. The cushions were displayed at the SW1 Gallery and also in Kassell and Barcelona as part of the European Reminiscence Network touring exhibition.
Transitions Essex
I was one of four artists-in-residence at care homes in Essex as part of the Transitions programme, collaborating with care staff and combining expertise to plan, deliver and evaluate activities for older people including those with dementia. Together we made an activity resource; I also enabled the making of a short film documenting arts engagements in my host setting.
Activity resource book: TransEssexFinalProof2min
Transitions short film (Evelyn May House, Laindon): https://vimeo.com/672068331
