the north grenville
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TIMES
Vol. 3, No. 33
The Voice of North Grenville
Creativity and therapy at Bayfield Manor
The North Grenville Times is Locally Owned and Operated
Art students Dorothy Joyce, Edith Swail, Mavis Piper and Jean Unruh with volunteer Tammy Keith
by Hilary Thomson If you walked into the living room at Bayfield Manor on a Wednesday morning, you would be met by the silence of artists engrossed in their work, mixed with the fits of laughter of a group of women having fun. The art program at Bayfield Manor has been running for seven years and has become a staple in the lives of many of the residents on both the retirement and nursing side of the home. Dr. Barbara Bagan, a professor of expressive arts therapy at the Ottawa University
in Phoenix, Arizona, writes that recent clinical research has validated what many people who have worked with the elderly have known for years – creating art has significant health benefits, including helping to reduce the anxiety and depression that comes with many chronic diseases and disabilities that affect senior citizens on a daily basis. She also states that other research suggests that the “imagination and creativity of older adults can flourish later in life, helping them to realize unique, unlived potentials.” This is certainly the case for the residents at Bayfield.
If you had the opportunity to sit down with the ladies who participate in the art program, it would be impossible not to see how important it has become in all of their lives. Many of them had never picked up a paintbrush before starting the class, but, with the guidance of their much loved teacher, they have been able to create paintings of everything, from picturesque landscapes, to hummingbirds feeding on beautiful flowers. “You improve with every painting,” says Mavis Piper, who has been participating in the art class since its inception. Jean Unruh, who is almost 97 years old, men-
tioned that it has also given them an opportunity to learn something new about themselves. Each of the women have a style of painting that is unique to them. “I’m a dobber,” she says of her short brush strokes, which are reminiscent of Monet. Many of the women have significant disabilities to work through when it comes to painting. Ruby Leach has very little feeling in her hands; Edith Swail only has one eye; and Dorothy Joyce is legally blind, yet you would never know it by looking at their paintings. Art helps the cont’d on page 2
August 19, 2015