Arts and Dementia Warwickshire is an arts programme for people living with dementia and their carers living in Warwickshire in the community, in In Patient wards and also in care homes. It has been commissioned by Warwickshire County Council. It is a varied programme for 2 years including singing, performance poetry, arts and crafts, dance/movement, storytelling and reminiscence therapy. Alongside this there is some training for care staff as well.
The arts are proven to improve well-being, cognitive mental health and reduce isolation and loneliness. See our Impact studies on the Impact page. You do not need a diagnosis of dementia to attend. if you have any access needs please do let us know and we can see how we can help. The commissioned service is finishing in July 2023 and we are now not taking anymore referrals, but we are busily fundraising currently to continue our workshops so watch this space.
Helen Fountain delivered Reminiscence with nostalgic objects from the 40s to the 70s with WRAP (Warwickshire Reminiscence Action Project)
Download the reminiscence activity resource to do at home HERE
Transport information
If you do not drive or can’t get public transport then contact VASA the community transport organisation for Warwickshire and they can help. Or if you live in Nuneaton and Bedworth district then also try Volunteer Friends
Funded by The National Lottery Community Fund Inside Stories 3 is a series of 6 weeks arts workshops for people with mental health issues (anxiety, depression, low mood etc.) such as Script-Writing for Well Being, Well Being Choir, Song-Writing and Storytelling.
For more information contact Jenny Davis, Arts Uplift 07946 585978 jenny@artsuplift.co.uk
Participant feedback “Good mix of activities, and very inclusive. Better than traditional counselling session” “I’m so glad I came out, I haven’t been out for ages, its done me the world of good!”
ONLINE Storytelling for Well Being Thursdays 13,20,27 January 3,10,17 February 2022 7-8.30pm In this short online course Holly will talk about the significance of stories in our society, before learning simple techniques for weaving our own tales. We will look at how we can use storytelling to reframe life events, build confidence, process our emotions around past life events and to connect with others. Slowly through the weeks we will build on our stories, developing new skills as we go. By the end of the course each participant will have learnt how to tell a compelling story that draws in an audience, as well as exploring ways we can perform our stories to others.
Arts Uplift CIC have been commissioned by Warwickshire County Council to deliver 3 exhibitions and related engagement activities from 3 artists with different approaches and disciplines that will tell stories of the pandemic, so far, from the point of view of new mothers, NHS frontline staff, those who shielded, older people, neighbourhood communities & ethnically diverse communities from across Warwickshire, displayed in 6 Towns. Arts Uplift will reach out to participants from the wider Warwickshire community across all age groups & generations. Each strand will be structured by the artist and infilled organically by participants, enabling the final exhibitions to be relevant, give a sense of place & community, and a visual display of shared experiences & emotions. The commissioned artists are Julia Snowdin, Creative Solutions and Michelle Flint.
If you would like to know more about the project then contact Jenny@artsuplift.co.uk 07946 585978
Also like our social media pages Instagram @Warwickshire_Art_Stories and Facebook WarwickshireArtStories
Exhibition for Leamington and Rugby commissioned artists Creative Solutions, Jacqui and David Grange
The interviews David interviewed people from NHS frontline staff, people that were shielding, older people and people from Black or Asian communities. They brought in an object that represents the pandemic for them that will stimulated conversation. These conversations were filmed and he took a studio photo of the person as well as audio recordings. These will be archived for the Warwickshire museums collections. The Interviews took place in July and August 2021.
The exhibition Jacqui will then use those stories gathered and interpret them in to a 3d art installation approximately 75cm wide. The installation will use text & images based on the stories gathered along with sound. The final artwork will be based on the stories gathered, and is likely to include powerful text statements from people’s testimonies and a combination of drawn and photographed elements, in 3D format. The artists will print onto diebond/transparent signwriters vinyl onto transparent polycarbonate – to create high quality professional/non fade images.
The Exhibition piece will likely be an immersive, colourful experience for audiences, reflecting the powerful image from lockdown of the “Rainbow”, displayed at Warwick Tourist Information Centre and Rugby Library, with audiences able to comment on the exhibition through a Comment Book & Social Media Channels.
The installation will be shown in Warwick from 9th November 2021 to mid January 2022 and then in Rugby from mid January 2022 to end of March 2022. Click HERE to see a short video of it.
Exhibitions for Atherstone and Bedworth commissioned artist Julia Snowdin
The workshops The workshops took place with community groups that engage with new mums. Julia ran two workshops, one in Atherstone and one in Bedworth to engage with different communities. This was to see if the experience differed for different groups. In the workshops the mums were invited to freely chat about their experience, Julia facilitated this and was able emphasise with them as she had her own baby in January 2021. The conservations were recorded with the help of Warwickshire museum staff and she is writing blogs about the process. To create a relaxed atmosphere, she led some simple circular drawing and painting activities. For the activity she asked the mums to think about themselves as a circle and the ‘village’ they have or haven’t had supporting them over the last year and how this felt. These paintings and drawings have influenced how the circular forms are laid out in the installation. The paintings and drawings will be added to the museum archive.
The workshops took place during July and August 2021 with TotsClubHouse in Atherstone and Bedworth Children’s Centre in groups of up to 10 to make them as safe as possible. She provided each participant with their own equipment to work with to stop cross contamination.
‘It takes a village to raise a baby’. During the pandemic women have being having babies on their own without a village to support them. There are some positives to this, in the first few weeks families have been able to bond on their own without a flurry of visitors. There are definitely negatives too, when it gets too much friends and family can’t come into your home to help. Julia wants to explore the experience of having a baby during Covid-19 and really focusing on the saying ‘it takes a village to raise a baby’ and how this has affected families both positively and negativing and then make an artwork in response to this.
The artwork will be a hanging light installation that will be showed in empty shops, in the town centres of Atherstone and Bedworth. The installation will be made from circular forms to represent the mums and their new families. The circles will be connected to further circular forms, the amount each circle is attached to will differ depending on the amount of connections that the mum has had. The colours of each form will be either a positive coloured light (yellow) to depict a positive experience or a negative coloured (red) to show a negative experience.
During the winter months the installation will create a playful, warming visual in the town centre’s for visitors to admire and to think about the experience that new mothers have had during the pandemic. The installation will be shown in the town centre’s that the workshops took place. It will be installed in empty shops so it can be viewed with social distancing.
The installation will be at Bedworth Civic Hall from 25 November 2021 to 20 January 2022 and then in an empty shop in Atherstone until the end of March. Click HERE to see a short video of the installation.
Exhibitions for Stratford Upon Avon and Nuneaton commissioned artist Michelle Flint
The Workshops Michelle has delivered 6 x 2hr workshops (3 in Stratford and 3 in the Nuneaton area) for communities that have been shielding, children and young people, volunteers and also from culturally diverse communities . Participants in the workshops have been asked to share their experiences and stories of lockdown and through the pandemic and express those on to paper through embroidery, mono printing, painting and collage. These artworks haven then been photographed and incorporated into the design. The original artwork will be created into a concertina type book. Participants were also asked to bring along an object which represented the pandemic to them. Workshops took place in July and August 2021 with Escape Arts Stratford and Nuneaton, Graham Adams Centre, Linking Futures Project and Nuneaton Mosque elders group.
The exhibition In response to the discussions and works created during workshops, 1 exhibition of a large embroidered textile wall hanging 3m x 1.5m will be displayed in the windows of vacant retail units in Stratford-upon-Avon & Nuneaton. The artwork will feature a scene from the towns where the activities are based, themes discussed in the workshops will create artworks which will be incorporated throughout the design with fabric pockets designed for letters or artefacts (or photos of them) placed in them.
The original artwork will also be printed onto two vinyl banners, to preserve the art work for an Outdoor Display. The exhibition will be displayed November 2021 to 5 January 2022 in the old H & M shop near Debenhams at Bell Court, Stratford Upon Avon and mid January 2022 to end of March 2022 in a Nuneaton empty shop. Click HERE to see a short video about it.
Love Music is our monthly music sessions running on the third Tuesday of the month from 2pm-3.15pm thanks to funding from Arts Council England, Bromsgrove District Council, Bromsgrove Lions and Baron Davenport Charity. It’s suitable for older people including people living with dementia. It runs from Bromsgrove Methodist Church and is £5 per couple. Carers are welcome also.
We have a variety of musicians that deliver the hour sessions from jazz, folk, drumming, classical and rock n’ roll. They are all professional musicians and perform regularly. The music will be mostly familiar to participants but sometimes it is also nice to hear a new piece of music.
The sessions are fun and relaxed and sometimes requests can also be taken. You can see some of the artists that regularly perform on the Love Music Lock Down Videos project tab on this website.
For more information about the dates and artists the leaflet is HERE
To book contact Jenny 07946 585978 jenny@artsuplift.co.uk.
A new project for Arts Uplift CIC using film-making with adults that are unemployed or economically inactive from across Warwickshire. The brilliant EGO Performance Company will be delivering it who are very experienced and are great fun to work with too! No experience of film-making is necessary. The aim is to support people’s well-being who are out of work and not in education or training to work together to create a new short film. The course aims to improve people’s confidence and skills so that they can be supported in to employment, education or training after the course finishes.
The POINT offers the highest quality tailored training program that supports unemployed people to support themselves. Investing in them and encouraging them to take responsibility for their own future and direction. Through performance skills and production arts we offer opportunities to build confidence and self esteem, helping individuals to recognise their strengths, abilities and talent, to aim higher, set goals, and move forward into further training, education or employment. The project allows individuals to choose a pathway in the arts or non-arts sectors, it gives experience of working together, in smaller teams and individually to achieve the goal of producing a short film.
As well as gaining new skills and exploring their personal qualities the project offers individual mentoring. The activities and tasks ensure individuals will:
• Identify and break the personal barriers to getting back ‘on track’
• aim higher, explore their potential and set goals.
• improve listening and speaking skills.
• improve work ethic, punctuality and professionalism.
• improve understanding of what employers want.
• improve team work skills.
• discover talent and strengths, as well as area’s that would benefit from improvement.
• rekindle hope, drive and ambition.
This project is funded by the European Social Fund and the Education and Skills Funding Agency, and supported by the Local Enterprise Partnership.
The first course starts on 8 January on Fridays from 2.30-4.30pm at Brunswick Healthy Living Centre, Leamington Spa (Currently online due to Covid-19). Travel costs can be covered for the participants.
Course 2 will start on Friday 26th February from 2.30pm-4.30pm on Zoom
Course 3 will start on Friday 23 April from 2.30pm to 4.30pm in person (Promotional video here)
To book and more information contact Jenny Davis Project Manager 07946 585978 jenny@artsuplift.co.uk
Thanks to funding from Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust we will be delivering more workshops with CGL (Change Grow Live) from Coventry and Warwickshire with adults that are recovering from alcohol and drug addiction and with mental health issues. Deborah Rose will be delivering some song writing workshops online through Zoom from November 2020 and the group will create their own song that will be professionally recorded. Gavin Young will then follow on next year and will deliver creative writing to the group where they will create their own story or poem.
Click HERE to listen to the songs produced by the group- Rushed Flight of Night, Cycling in the Wilderness, A Kick in the Head, Better Way to Fight and Zoom.
Click HERE to read the stories and writing that the participants wrote whilst on the course!
Click HERE to see some feedback from some of the participants
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