What Kind of Shoe Are You?
A Playful Long-Term Care Special Project. April & Sandra.
Sharing a project from the LTC art therapy archives this week. I thought it would be fun to showcase this story related to Seniors’ Month and Pride Celebrations in June.
Creative Collaboration.
What happens when you collect old leather shoes for an art group project, bring in a cart full of decorative items, provide the question” ‘What kind of shoe are you?” and add in the single creative prompt “Have fun!”?
The pictures say it all!
And, once you inject an energetic, willing, and amused group of participants, the possibilities are endless, the creative play flourishes, the laughs and stories flow, and the shoes transform into beautiful, whimsical, and maybe a little over-the-top treasures!
Even the most reserved participant found joy in colour, ornamentation and lots of glitter and ‘bling’ for their shoe! It was wonderful to witness!! And so so many giggles when I would continually pose the question to the group “Who needs more bling"?”
“There is no such thing as too much bling.”
Scented-Art Program. SAP.
The decorative shoes were created in the ‘Scented Art Program’ (SAP), a long-term care group co-facilitated by Sandra Ruhl (Complementary Care) and myself that became a rich and fruitful creative collaboration.
art therapy + complementary care + resident-artists + volunteers
During this weekly group held in the Wellness Room, Sandra and I found ways to incorporate and alternate expressive art-making, crafts, aromatherapy, music, and various other tactile and sensory experiences.
Inspiration.
We often took cues from seasonal and monthly celebrations to inspire our group projects. We also held creative brainstorming sessions with the residents for ideas around future projects (accompanied by a cup of tea in the wellness room, of course). At times, our art-with-a-purpose projects supplemented other centre-wide arts initiatives throughout the LTC home.
Community Art and Wellbeing.
This was not an art therapy group but an open drop-in arts and wellness group, promoted on the main events calendar of the LTC home to invite all those interested. These 'SAP' groups became a wonderful way to reach and connect with more residents through creativity and art-making, accessibility and inclusion, and bring visibility to the value of various art experiences that support active living, socialization, creativity, and overall health and wellbeing.
As art therapy hours in the home were limited, my main focus, outside of the work in the group, was the provision of 1:1 art therapy services. Co-facilitating this group with Sandra (and sharing responsibilities and the needed preparation) enabled me to vary the types of creative experiences I provided residents during my seven years at that LTC home, and to engage with (and get to know), more residents overall.
‘What Kind of Shoe Are You?” became part of the home’s Pride month initiatives alongside other recreation activities such as rainbow decorations and banners for the Pride parade and other Seniors Month LTC events.
Showcasing Creativity.
The decorative shoes created by the residents were viewed and enjoyed by many as they became playful centrepieces for the LGBTQ 'True Colours Social Club Variety Show’, were provided as fun images for developing LGTBQ long-term care resources, and later became part of a permanent art installation in the home’s main hall display cabinet for all residents, staff, volunteers and guests to enjoy!
“Everyone deserves to shine, smile and sparkle”
More about the Scented Art Program and our creative collaboration will be shared in future posts.
Thank You.
In addition to Sandra and I sourcing materials for repurposing with our aim to offer a bountiful assortment of items for the participants to engage with through their creative play, we also had to be mindful of costs and were lucky for the generosity of those listed below who donated items.
• Nizar Hooda • for the endless supply of bead strands and decorative accessories
• Linda Marabini • for coloured netting and ribbon
• Jean Penny • for scarves and necklaces
• Mikah • Mikah Styles • for rhinestones
• Betty Shin • Avenue Flowers • glitter shards
• and Tracey Penny • for silk flowers and decorative twigs
