Event
Nurture, All is Joy

People viewing work at an exhibition

In May we were part of an exhibition at All is Joy in Soho, that showcased work created by staff, artists, facilitators and groups involved with Creative Health Camden. For Engage Here this meant exhibiting monoprints and a hanging mobile created by participants from our workshops at the James Wigg GP Practice.

Colourful monoprints
Monoprints created by our Make Sense group

Creative Health Camden exists to improve mental and physical wellbeing through the use of arts and holistic care. This has resulted in a model which socially prescribes existing patients to programmes like our own Make Sense, as well as other classes such as ‘Dance for Parkinsons’, ‘Breathing for Wellbeing’ and ‘Freedom to Make’. Kentish Town Health Centre has it’s own successful exhibition space, but hosting an event at All is Joy in Soho provided an opportunity to present the model in Central London, as well as showcase the amazing work.

People viewing an art exhibition
Lucy Levene’s photographs and Mod White’s painting on show at the Private View
Sculptures built by participants
Textile pieces from the ‘Freedom to Make’ workshops

Generally our model of delivering workshops has meant not placing too much emphasis on a final outcome, but more with the idea of nurturing an artistic practice that the participants can repeatedly use independently to improve their wellbeing. However seeing events like this one, where participants are able to invite family members and friends to view their work gives participants an opportunity to show they can thrive despite living with something like dementia or mild-cognitive impairment. This has therefore given us the idea to present selected work from our workshops via our Gallery, as well as organising an exhibition of our own for September this year. More to follow.

Franz West sculpture