Supportive Hands. A Connecting and Creative Legacy Project.
The hand is our signature, our symbol and our legacy. It is easily accessible to use as creative inspiration and for personal mark-making. In this post I am sharing snapshots of nine of these supportive-hands projects that I have facilitated over the years in various long-term care and retirement settings. An additional and very special story and supportive hands collaborative painting will be shared in a future post. So many of us as artists, art therapists or teachers use the hand image in our art-making!
Intentions.
These projects were guided by intentions around belonging, connection, co-creation, and community. I attempted to capture hand-tracings of everyone who participated in my art groups (or who I connected with creatively at some level) as a fun and dynamic visual reminder of each participant’s value, uniqueness and belonging within these small creative communities. The colours and decorative elements on each connecting circle showcased and celebrated this wonderful and diverse community of participants.
When the first project began, each participant in my art group, received an individual wood circle to create a personal healing Mandala*, and added their painted hand to the community circles featured above.
At a centre-wide art exhibition and creativity showcase, both the community circles and individual creations were on display. Within our “Made with Care” group a remembering circle was created to honour those group members who had passed.
When I was part of the InnerArt team of long-term care art therapists, we would gather in community for team meetings, supervision and wonderful art experientials lead by my friend and art therapist Dr. Sharona Bookbinder. Sharing above the supportive-hands flower directive I facilitated with our small team on one of these occasions.
Here I am with my dear friend and fellow art therapist, Meghan, who co-facilitated this supportive hands mural project alongside me in 2015. Three large 4’x4’ panels showcased over 200 hands from participating residents.
I will always appreciate the enthusiasm and care from my manager Linda, and the Resident Services Team at this LTC Home. The RS staff worked independently with residents on each floor tracing hands to reach as many folks as possible, to align with our intentions (allowing this to become a truly centre-wide and inclusive project).
In this rustic space I was able to showcase the hands on a tree branch, using varying lengths of twisted copper wire to create an interesting permanent display of cascading circles.
These colourful and embellished hands were painted by a wonderful group of volunteers who supported my evening art group. I still have so much gratitude for their support over the years.
In another long-term care space I was able to hang the circles with ribbon from bamboo rods, so residents could regularly enjoy their creations in the recreation room on their floor. Some residents would point out their hands each time they entered the space. What a wonderful visual cue to reinforce their sense of community belonging!
In 2022 I was excited to begin co-creating another supportive-hands project with residents and activation staff in my Hamilton LTC Home, where my manager Tracy and the team enthusiastically support engaging their residents in ongoing and meaningful creative experiences.
In 2022 I was also invited to facilitate a short term open art studio group for creativity and well-being at a nearby retirement home. I appreciate the staff’s interest in providing new creative and supportive psychosocial experiences for their residents (who were understandably feeling the isolating impact of ongoing and lengthy pandemic restrictions and lock-downs in 2020 and 2021).
In 2023, I was invited to facilitate an art group and share an art therapy overview to celebrate ‘International Women’s Day’ at Amica where my mother lives. I was honoured to be part of their focus on women lead events. As one of the painting experiential components of my art for well-being workshop, I began another supportive hands floral community art piece.
A heartfelt thank you to all those who participated in these projects.
Life snapshots and meaningful stories or reflections were often woven into those quick moments when I traced participants’ hands.
And, as I share these photo memories with my creative community here, I am feeling such gratitude for Jim Dunlop who generously donated all of the wood needed for this decorate and donate special art project, as well as volunteering his time to cut a large quantity of wood circles so that the project could flourish in varied capacities and at different settings right up to present day as you can see from the projects shared above in this post!!
✿ Connecting Hands 〰 reflections on art therapy and older adults with dementia AP BLOG
✿ ‘Supportive Hands’... The Origin Story. 〰 sharing a community project with my LTC colleagues AP BLOG
✿ Connecting Hands & Creating Legacy. Moments. Meg. 〰 sharing a reflection story about legacy art-hand casting AP BLOG
✿ Creative Prompt Link • Hold Onto & Let Go of 〰 from creativityintherapy web blog • Carolyn Mehlomakulu
✿ Creative Prompt • Hands Past and Present 〰 from Michelle Morgan Create Your LIfe website archive
✿ ARTICLE • Mandala History * it is incredibly important to honour and reference the cultural origins of the images and approaches we use
✿ TEMPLATES • Mandala Colouring Page Designs • JustColour • Faber-Castell
