A series of case studies exploring the role and effectiveness of the creative arts in supporting positive outcomes for people being supported by social services.
This series also includes Creative Bites (Bite-sized chunks of creativity). We invited 40 people to share their thoughts and ideas to inspire creativity and imagination in the social services.
One of the projects I'm involved with at the moment is focused on end of life care and understanding the skills that people have to offer and the skills that they can learn even as they approach the end of their lives.
Listening to one of the projects I was struck by how little I know or understand about different art forms. In particular, how knowing more about how and why people paint pictures in the way that they do can bring a whole new perspective to visiting an art gallery.
This week I started a new project.
Reconstructing Ourselves is an artist in residency project combined with a research strand. It has been funded by Arts Council of Wales. We will be working with women undergoing complex breast reconstruction.
Do we limit the expectations of service users from our own ideas of what they are capable of?
What’s the point of theatre? Who is it for? What difference does it make? Are theatre buildings museums in 21st century? Do we need acting? Do most people care? These are some of the questions that have underlined Fiona’s approach to creating theatre over the last 30 years.
Fiona Miller – Director, Tricky Hat Productions
We learn and grow by making mistakes. By listening, observing and trying out things, then reflecting on them, we figure out what works and what doesn’t. Then we use our assumption about why something did or didn’t work and build on that to continue to improve.
‘Failure is not a cataclysmic event. It doesn’t happen overnight. Instead it is a few errors in judgment, repeated, that occur every day.’ Jim Rohn
Living Voices is a national two-year project that is piloting the use of story, poems and song in care home settings across Scotland. It aims to engage and enliven groups of older people through conversation, creative activity and reminiscence.
