Summary
Room for Art was a series of mainly online visual arts workshops facilitated by an artist on a weekly basis for unpaid carers in Edinburgh and Midlothian with the aim of improving health and wellbeing. We also held in-person sessions at VOCAL premises and at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.
What Room for Art : Workshops for Adult Carers did
We provided 28 online art workshops throughout the year exploring different artworks, techniques and materials and art packs were sent out. We also held an in-person taster session at the Vocal premises in Leith and a ‘reunion’ event at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in September. Participants worked with a professional artist and explored collage, painting – exploring watercolour and acrylic, 3D work, photography, gold leaf, sketchbooks, drawing, weaving and textile work, book making, assemblage to name a few.
37 people took part – VOCAL managed the participant list on a first come first serve basis and all were unpaid carers accessing Vocal services. Some carers have come for one block while others have returned multiple times.
Our partnership with VOCAL has been really successful and essential to have them present in the sessions to provide further support to participants and manage bookings. Online sessions were very well attended proving demand for the work. There was a lovely combination of quiet times when people were in the moment and reaching a state of flow, alongside sharing, and commenting on everyone's art. There was also real and meaningful dialogue between carers sharing information and advice about services available. The in -person reunion day at the Portrait Gallery was very well attended and was a big success with people enjoying meeting up after working together on Zoom and others from previous groups feeling like they were remembered.
We decided from feedback from Carers that we would keep most of the sessions online. As the start of the year Covid was still rife, people were still shielding so this format worked out more convenient. Our in-person taster session at VOCAL had quite low attendance so we felt the move to a more online model was the correct one. This along with not starting the workshops until January (due to VOCAL’s programme) meant we had an underspend come September but managed to get an extension to run until the end of the year.
Our project addressed the following Creative Breaks priority areas - Mutual Benefit, Personalisation, Targeted Support, Adding Value, Developing Knowledge and Understanding.
What Art in Healthcare has learned
• Project planning and budgeting
The budgeting has been managed well in partnership. Project planning has also been successful in the past, allowing enough time to get the resources and materials to the carers where the sessions are run online.
• Reaching out to and engaging with new carers
To attract new carers to the Room for Art events, we created a taster session for carers to come along and try out the activity, before they committed to a 6-week block of activities. This idea arose from the fact that we felt we were not seeing enough new carers coming along to the events and from feedback from carers about feeling nervous to commit to a longer block of sessions. We would like to do this again
• Developing new short breaks activities
For carers, attending the Room for Art sessions means that they can get a short break from their caring roles, and carers prioritise this time for themselves. One big lesson over the last year was that by making these sessions online, more people can access the sessions more easily. The other lesson was to make the blocks of activities run for 6 weeks rather than 8 as it is a slightly smaller commitment for people to make. Prior to attending the Room for art sessions, carers receive a package of materials, which is always well received, and this in itself feels like an ‘event’. After the success of the in-person event, at a gallery, this will be an element we will add at the end of all online session blocks. Some people feel more ready to meet in person than others so it is good to have this option. Showing the carers free gallery spaces they can visit with their cared for person also feels important.
How Art in Healthcare has benefitted from the funding
We have been able to further develop our partnership with VOCAL and expand on our knowledge of working with carers. This learning has influenced other programmes of our work. We were able to test out in-person sessions again and develop partnerships with other arts organisations in the city.
Project Outcomes
Outcome
Relationships/ friendships established in the group/ Peer support network/ Carers more relaxed after each session
Results
The Room for Art sessions allows carers to take a breather so that when they do go back to the caring role they are able to do so with more headspace and therefore this improves wellbeing for both the carers and the people they care for. This outcome was achieved as carers reported an improvement in wellbeing after the sessions and this was echoed from staff observations. Engaging in making artwork relaxes the group into a place of trust and support and a community was built up, connection made even online and the Carers talk about a ‘safe space’ being established. Many comments from feedback reference an improved mood with one describing them as ‘stress relieving, calming, encouraging’.
Case study
One Carer attended classes before lockdown and then began one on Zoom but left feeling quite upset after three sessions as things were particularly hard for her at that time. She came to the reunion with renewed energy and signed up and attended every session of the next block. Despite being extremely underconfident about her abilities she noticably increased in confidence, spoke out more and developed her own technique which she shared in one of the classes. This was a big breakthrough that took time and empathy and would not have been possible without the continuity provided by continuing classes.
She recognises how much of an impact the course has had on her health and wellbeing, especially after the online session has finished she said “I just feel the most relaxed I have in ages!”. Being able to solely focus on something fun like art for the hour and half gives her that much needed rest and relaxation without having to think about her daughters, her work, the housework etc.
Outcome
20 carers to have the space to take some time from their caring role to be creative and each week to have two bustling art groups happily producing an array of work.
Results
This outcome was achieved as 37 carers in took part in the workshops, engaging with an array of materials and techniques and producing lots of art works. All agreed it had given them more opportunities to enjoy life outside their caring role. By attending the Room for Art sessions, carers are able to focus on learning a new skill or trying out something that they may not have tried before. For others, it is about returning to a hobby that they may have done before their caring role, and this is an opportunity for them to engage with their hobbies again. Carers often say how they prioritise this time in their calendar to make space for themselves. They talk about the sessions giving them time and being able to take time out, that it gives them the chance to explore their own creativity. “Its lovely to do something just for me for a change”. "It's nice to be cared for instead of always being the carer".
Case study
One carer has a love and appreciation of art but has never felt confident enough in her art skills and ability to attend an art course before. She attended the in person ‘taster ‘session and really enjoyed it and thought it was interesting. Heather (the artist) explained the format of the longer course and what you get and how it was done and with this knowledge she went right home and signed up for the course!! Due to her caring role and the fact she works she is not often able to sign up to long courses during the day but she felt she really wanted to invest the time and energy into this. She also recognised a few other carers from the taster session who attended the longer online course so she felt it was nice to recognise a few faces.
The carer really appreciated the time she has spent on the course, it has been dedicated time for herself to focus on her love of art. She really appreciated that the course was not directive but very open and was able to focus on enjoying the experience of it. She thought the structure of the course was great as it was open but able to focus on using different parts of the kit and how to use with great hints and ideas. She particularly enjoyed the peer element and sharing of work produced. She didn’t feel pressured to do this but was motivated and inspired by her peers. She really thought the artist Heather did a great job of managing the online group with time dedicated to work and chat “it was very natural”. Having this time away from her busy work and caring role allowed her to remember to focus on herself and she has been dedicating time outside the course to do some art work, she said “I would never have done this without attending the course”.
Outcome
Relationships/ friendships established in the group/ Peer support network/ Creating a space for creativity and open discussion to share experience.
Results
This outcome was achieved as all carers questioned agreed that the sessions had given them more strength to cope with their caring role and to the ‘ups and downs’ of everyday life - “it was a lifeline for me”. Feedback references a lot of connection with others and in the sessions there was also real and meaningful dialogue between carers sharing information and advice about services available - “so friendly – meet old and new friends” For carers, taking a break from their caring responsibilities, while chatting to others who might be in similar situations, is often the reason they are able to sustain their caring role. The time they spend with their peers, doing something creative, allows them to recharge for the tasks they must carry out in their caring role. There is also evidence of the Cared for person benefitting from the sessions – “I can share what I did with my mum and talk about the artwork.”
Case study
A motivation for one carer to join the course is that her daughter (who is autistic and who she cares for) is very artistic and she wanted to be able to spend more time with her doing art projects, which she hoped would help them to bond. As a result of the course she has improved her confidence to do this and has given her more ideas of what they can do together. It has inspired them to spend more time together doing arty/craft projects. Her daughters have seen some of the work she has been doing on the course so she feels they see her more as just ‘mum’ and that she has hobbies for herself.