As part of the Coventry and Warwickshire Creative Health Alliance, Warwickshire County Council Public Health commissioned...
As part of the Coventry and Warwickshire Creative Health Alliance, Warwickshire County Council Public Health commissioned creative health organisation Escape Arts to deliver a community arts project in response to COVID-19. The successful implementation of the project led to a large collage of the artwork being displayed in Warwick Hospital and George Eliot Hospital.
The arts can offer practical and innovative ways to nurture health and wellbeing by improving quality of life, supporting personal development and enhancing social cohesion. Escape Arts’ ONE: Be Creative project was set-up in response to COVID-19 as many people were facing personal hardships and having to shield due to the pandemic. Escape Arts wanted to provide a physical resource to give those facing social isolation an opportunity to creatively express themselves in order to support their mental health and wellbeing.
Over 10,000 creative packs for the project were delivered by Escape Arts across Warwickshire to those who have no internet access or were in shielding communities, and to staff and patients throughout Warwick Hospital and George Eliot Hospital. The packs featured activities such a creating ‘Pandemic Postcards’ as a positive outlet to give thanks to our NHS staff and offer messages of hope for the future.
The engagement in the community arts project was so successful that each individual artwork created was combined to create a larger 1 x 3 metre collage of work for public display. The final larger artwork features nearly 200 images designed by people from a range of ages, abilities and backgrounds, and displays a subtle translucent message over the top that reads 'We ❤️ our NHS' as a reflection of what the artwork represents.
Karen Williams, Chief Executive Officer at Escape Arts, said:
“The capturing of each person’s COVID-19 experience through this project has been beyond anything we ever expected, and the impact continues to grow. Seeing all of the individual artworks joined together as one piece in each hospital has created such a powerful piece of work. It’s quite emotional seeing it and reading all the messages, and I think the impact on both hospital staff teams and patients that view it is very emotive.
For those unable to view the artwork in person in the hospitals, there is still a great opportunity to view each individual piece of artwork through our online gallery, which is available on Escape Arts’ website.”
Glen Burley, Chief Executive at South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust (SWFT) and George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust, said:
“I am so pleased we have been involved in this project, every time I look at it I see something different. The artwork captures many emotions and memories of the past year. Some really sad things happened and at times our staff and patients were scared. But a very strong team spirit and overwhelming community support helped us to get through, all of which is beautifully captured in the artwork. What I love about it is that, like our response to the pandemic, so many different people have contributed to it. Thank you to everyone that has been involved and especially to Escape Arts for facilitating such a great project.”
Emily Van der Venter, Associate Director of Public Health for Warwickshire County Council, said:
"It's delightful to see the collective outputs from everyone involved in the ONE: Be Creative project, you can really feel the sense of connection this project created at a time when we were kept apart (physically). Having all the work pulled together into an online gallery is a great way to share the lovely work and hopefully bring a smile to more people who weren't directly involved but can enjoy the creations of others.
Thank you to all those who took part, and to Escape Arts for leading the project, truly something to be proud of."
Visit Escape Arts’ online gallery for the project here: www.escapearts.org.uk/covid-19-project-one-be-creative/
To find out more about our commissioned arts projects, watch the YouTube video here www.youtube.com/watch?v=8o7SAvvMmYs
For information and guidance about reducing the spread COVID-19 in Warwickshire, visit https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/information-coronavirus