The scene at River Ridge Seniors Community was primarily messy yet joyous last Friday. Dozens of the facility’s residents poured cups of red, yellow and blue acrylic paint over wooden stanchions with wide bases. As the paint dripped down the sides, it pooled at the bottom in kaleidoscopic patterns, much to the delight of all.
The project was designed to further the creative culture at the facility while launching the opening of its newly dedicated art room. The room, formerly in use as an all-purpose activity centre, now will see more paintbrushes than you can shake a stick at, all thanks to a team of artistic professionals working behind the scenes.
Nicole Collyer, the creative expressions co-ordinator, explained that the proof is already in the pudding. Previous activities would normally see attendance of only a handful or two residents whereas this launch saw almost everyone come out.
“You could see the difference. We had almost every staff member and resident down there on Friday, which is much better than just the 12 we had before,” she exclaimed.
River Ridge has always sought ways to get its residents involved in creative pastimes. They have rhythm and drumming circles, trips to art galleries and studios, gardening time and intergenerational programs with a Grade 5 class at Bertha Kennedy Elementary.
Collyer continued that it starts right at the top with the management company.
“United Active Living really gears their philosophy toward Dr. Gene Cohen and how people at any age can be creative. Hiring Jeff Nachtigall was a great first step in breaking down all the boundaries and the barriers that people place on themselves when it comes to what art truly is.”
Nachtigall is the newly stationed artistic director. At the ceremony to launch the room, he issued a prepared statement about his enthusiasm for the work and for the end results.
“I was eager to harness the artistic potential of the residents and immediately set out to engage this often marginalized community in a creative process that would challenge the participants, the staff and the stereotypes surrounding individuals in assisted living communities. I believe that we are inherently creative beings and that art is our first language.”
The paint pouring experiment was just the first step.
“Friday’s workshop was just for everyone to see that it doesn’t have to be a Pollock or a Picasso. Art can be whatever you want it to be,” Collyer said, later adding that so much of the artistic practice is also therapeutic for people like the residents who have suffered the stresses of losing loved ones, losing mental and physical faculties, or just being lonely for the first time. She said that art is great for the spirit and for a person’s quality of life.
“Art is more than pretty pictures on a wall,” Nachtigall continued, reaffirming his colleague’s point. “Art is a vehicle for healing, hope and change.”
Collyer said that artist in residence Carly Greene is preparing to get everyone involved in a multimedia community art piece with 125 masonite panels.
Greene was thrilled to take on the opportunity of encouraging art in seniors.
“This job just sounded a little bit different,” she began. “It’s a little bit challenging but it’s good.”
The art room will have structured activities and workshops but it will move to becoming an open centre for residents to pop in whenever they want to work on projects or experiment, “just to get people active in the process of creating,” Greene said.
In the future, River Ridge intends to open the room up to the community at large for anyone who would like to use the space.
