Lorna Carmen McNeill
Arts Medicine Lab
Arts Medicine Lab received a grant to create and deliver a series of free online, fun, uplifting and interactive workshops involving creating art inspired by dance, through a collaboration between Lorna Carmen McNeill and Luke Brown Dance Company. These workshops took place from April - June 2021 and then a Creative Activity booklet and videos were created to support the project for those who were unable to attend the workshops.
Create to Connect is a project designed to reduce isolation for people aged 55 and over. Hundreds of thousands of older people are lonely and cut off from society in England. The COVID-19 pandemic increased this massively. People of all ages had to remain socially distanced and self-isolated. For older people, who are at greater risk from the disease, this has been an additionally difficult time.
We were one of 12 different artists that City Arts Notts worked with to create a series of resources that older adults could access from the safety of their homes. Through creativity, the project promoted positive mental health and wellbeing. Sessions included teaching of new skills, supporting access to nature and help for participants to be physically and mentally active. They included:
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Live online workshops (our input was a development of 'Moved by Beauty')
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ONLINE CREATIVE ACTIVITY BOOKLET Posted art packs with specially designed activities and materials - these are now available online and below. For a lot of older people, lack of online access made it hard to take part in cultural activities during the pandemic. The art packs contained art materials and a specially designed activity booklet. The booklets detail art activities which you can do at home, on your own or in a group. Each promotes creativity as a way to connect with others and the world. They also offer tips to boost wellbeing and mood. Our contribution was on an activity to enable 'Connecting to the Earth'.
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VIDEO TUTORIALS : These include Free video tutorials for mindful art activities you can try at home. They are designed for people who have not done much art before. The activities can be adapted to push your skills a little further, should you wish to.The video tutorials complement the Create to Connect activities booklets. They offer an alternative way to try the activities. The videos were recorded remotely by the twelve artists who led an online workshop programme for older people in Spring 2021.
