Paper Birch Presentation

Paper birch crea%vity companionship communica%on

Laura Venables

Our Aim: To provide creativity and companionship in care environments.

‘850,000 people live with dementia in the UK’ Alzheimer’s Society, www.alzheimers.org.uk, 2015

Who We Are We are two Masters students studying Textile design at the Royal College of Art. We met over a cup of tea and instantly connected over our views of using creativity as a means of expression.

We both came to realise how much we personally benefit, emotionally and physically from our own artistic practice.

We found we had a common passion for sharing our enthusiasm, therefore the planning and delivery of our own bespoke workshops came naturally. Having both worked creatively within the community we saw the need for this type of carefully curated stimulation, within our communities.

Like many others, we have both experienced the impact dementia has on people’s lives so this seemed the appropriate area for us to work in.

We believe bringing creativity into care environments encourages positive diversion and engagement. We aim to provide an opportunity for participants to respond to sensory stimuli, enjoy the exploration of materials and encourage memories and thoughts.

During our workshops we strive to create a warm friendly environment, where companionship can grow. We will ensure that activities are inspiring and sensitively tailored towards each person, giving people the best possible opportunity to enjoy themselves.

Faith Wray Faith is a Tex9le designer studying at the Royal College of Art. She has a background in embroidery, and is crea9vely driven by the explora9on of tac9le materials, colour and placement of ideas.

She loves finding things and especially picking peeling paint off walls and window frames when no ones looking.

She works with a variety of mixed media disciplines, including plaster, ceramics, materials, embroidery, paint and whatever she can find when rummaging through scrap stores.

Faith has run numerous community workshops, working with a broad range of society, and is par9cularly interested in how crea9vity can create social change.

Her main aim is to share her experience for tac9le and visual experiences through crea9vity, and to give others the opportunity to enjoy this process for themselves.

faithjanewray.tumblr.com Faith.wray@network.rca.ac.uk

Laura Venables Laura is passionate about people and making. Her prac9ce explores the rela9onships people have with the objects that they own and in par9cular how these objects trigger memories.

She visualises this using large scale mark-­‐making and pain9ng, alongside producing sculptures based on these objects and thoughts.

Before coming to the RCA, Laura's background was a degree in human geography which s9ll fuels her thinking and making today. During and aOer her degree, she designed and ins9gated a variety of workshops from making paper sculptures to micro-­‐finance. She feels that playing and crea9ng is intrinsic to living well with demen9a and hopes that these workshops will make this happen.

laura.venables@network.rca.ac.uk

Workshop Options We bring diversity to our workshops by providing a series of options and creative techniques for participants and carers to choose from.

Within each workshop we cater for different interests and abilities, making this flexibility the key to our service.

Currently our workshop options are: • Sculpture • Fine Art • Print making

Workshop Materials/Our Kit All workshops will be supported by the use of sensory objects, including materials, scents, photography and workshop appropriate visual aids to create a more atmospheric experience.

• Mood boards • A welcome Pack • S9ll Life • Photography books • Colour PaleTes • Sensory Cards • Making Materials

Publica9on We aim to document out findings and outcomes of these workshops in a

publica9on to help further increase the knowledge of making on wellbeing for people with demen9a.

We will do this through an ethnographic approach, and will provide a list of our ethical guidelines.

We will be looking at how people respond to the materials provided, the process of making and how they communicate as group whilst engaging in the workshops.

Social Media/Contact Details

TwiTer : @paperbirch_ Instagram : paperbirchworkshops Email : paperbirchworkshops@gmail.com

Research ATended • Westminster Health Forum – ‘improving outcomes in demen9a care’ 25/11/14 • Westminster Health Forum – ‘the future for social care in England’ 22/01/15 • Arts4Demen9a – Early stage demen9a awareness training workshop for arts organisa9ons – 06/02/15 • Demen9a Friends workshop – 04/12/14

Networking • Sarah Desmarais – Pyscologist, Farlmouth University (Phd) • Neil Parkinson – Colour Research Library manager (RCA) • Vanessa Rolf – Out Reach RCA coordinator • HeTy Dupays – Art at the Heart Director • Diane Samways – Marke9ng and Development Manager (RUH, Art and the Heart) • Edwina Bridgeman – Art Sparks (RUH) • David Savill – Ar9s9c Director, Age exchange • Robert Mar9n – Anchor Trust, Director • Claire Pajaczkowska – Head of Research (RCA)