Hope Squared. Part 1. Shara.
Shara and I met in 2018 through the Toronto Art Therapy Institute and continue to remain connected. We share an interest in supporting individuals in their creative journeys within the lived experience of final chapters. We are both passionate about the role of legacy art and the value and need for developing therapeutic arts programming within the hospice and palliative framework. Shara’s creative ability to generate ideas for new therapeutic art projects and the creative lens that informs her practice is inspiring. Thanks for sharing Shara!
Photo Credit: Grimbsy Public Art Gallery + Hope Squared Logo Design by Sharon Porter.
Multiplying Hope through Art. Part 1.
Additional thanks to Shara and her encouraging nudge recently to make some art. Inspired by the theme of hope, and a community invitation from the Grimsby Public Art Gallery, we both transformed small 8x8 wood squares into visual messages of ‘Hope’. Part 1 shares Shara’s beautiful and powerful contribution below. The Hope Squared Slideshow-Video showcasing 85 pieces of art can be seen on the Grimbsy Art Gallery’s Youtube Channel. Note: Shara’s art can be viewed at the 4:16-4:24 point of the video.
Slide from Video: “GPAG: HOPE Squared Community Creativity Project 2021”
Name of Artist: Shara McLaren BFA, DTATI (Cand.) • Art Therapist • McNally House Hospice
Title of art work: #findinghopeincommunity
Materials: Birch wood panel, rice papers, dried flowers, ink on mylar, t pins, ceramic beads, flocking
Shara’s Artist Statement. Finding Hope in Community.
#findinghopeincommunity is a collection of items sourced throughout the Pandemic from McNally House Hospice. Each material is representative of the community’s support; the donation of PPE from local businesses and residents, the organization and mobilization of the army of volunteers who sewed homemade masks and PPE, the donation of flowers and hand drawn cards and pictures for the residents to the home cooked meals. This was all done to support our front-line staff who went to work everyday and cared for our residents and their families.
#findinghopeincommunity is process based art-making. It is a series of moments, a reflective visually expressive narrative of my Pandemic journey and the Legacy created from the everyday gems of joy, comfort and the community support of the lived experience.
The art-making process for this piece has been a year long journey. The hospice logo was the starting point; soft flocking atop matte mylar surrounded by every single social media hashtag from the declaration of lockdown and the first utterance of the word Pandemic until the day my art-making process began.
Each item is a moment of the past year frozen in time, a glimpse of the gems to be found in the everyday. Each of the mixed media assemblage materials; the bits and pieces, the small moments were collected over the course of the Pandemic from my workplace, McNally House Hospice.
The dimensionality and variety of materials within #findinghopeincommunity is a visual representation of the many unique layers, aspects and experiences by which the Pandemic has altered our lives. Flowers from the outside gardens and from residents’ bouquets alike were saved and dried as was the tissue paper from the wrappings of these bouquets.
The ceramic beads are from a personally handmade necklace accidentally broken by a resident, and their observation of the beauty of the colour and how it reminds them of the sea.
Each is a small piece of my experience, my ability to look for hope within the McNally House Hospice community in the time of Pandemic.
Hope Squared. The Grimsby Public Art Gallery.
“Thank you to each of you that submitted a work of art to this special creative community connection project. Families, friends, and individuals extended their power of imagination to create a shareable image of hope that now welcomes all who enter our building. This exhibition is opening alongside the nation-wide vaccination roll-out, just one year after the lockdown. There is a lot of HOPE being shared here at the gallery and in all our hearts.”
• Youtube Video. GPAG: HOPE Squared Community Creativity Project 2021
• Gallery Info. The Grimsby Public Art Gallery, GALLERY WEST • 18 Carnegie Lane, Grimsby, ON L3M 1Y1
• Show Dates. March 17 to May 31, 2021
• GPAG Hours.
Tuesday 1 - 5 p.m.
Wednesday 1 - 5 p.m.
Thursday 1 - 7 p.m.
Friday 1 - 5 p.m.
Saturday 1 - 5 p.m.