Connecting Communities – Tackling Dementia Stigma

School children in Denbighshire recently had the opportunity to work alongside an art group for people living with dementia to create a large scale piece of art that is an imaginative response to questions around involving and including people living with dementia in our society ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Year 6 children from Clawdd Offa Primary School and from Ysgol Gellifor joined group members from Denbighshire County Council Art Service’s ‘Lost in Art’ programme to probe questions on creating inclusive and supportive communities for people living with dementia within our own communities. The children also took part in a Dementia Friends awareness session before the workshop to learn more about the illness. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The group was supported by artist Lisa Carter who has led workshops for people living with dementia in North Wales. The art installation created by the group will be open to the public in studio 6 in Ruthin Craft Centre from the 18th until the 30th April. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Lisa will also create a film of the art work which will be shown as part of a major public event, the Utopia Fair, which will take place in the Edmond J Safra Fountain Court at Somerset House, London, from the evening of 24th June 2016 until 26th June 2016. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The Festival is being undertaken in partnership with The Somerset House Trust as a part of their ‘Utopia 2016: A Year of Imagination and Possibility’. Utopia 2016 is four seasons of activity celebrating the 500th anniversary of the publication of Thomas More’s Utopia. Published in Leuven in December 1516, More’s Utopia presented an imaginative and playful vision of the world as it could be at a time of great change. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

This event is an exciting continuation of the partnership between Dementia and Imagination and DCC Arts Service as part of the Dementia and Imagination research study. This UK wide study, led by Bangor University, is looking to see whether creative activities can help people living with dementia and those who support them. Funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), The Connected Communities Programme aims to build powerful collaborations between researchers and communities to generate distinctive research insights on the changing role of communities in sustaining and enhancing our quality of life and to produce legacies of value for both future research and for communities. The Programme is led by the AHRC in partnership with other Research Councils and a range of other organisations. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

“Denbighshire Arts Service are delighted to be involved in such an interesting and important project and look forward to seeing what kind of dementia friendly ‘utopia’ the pupils and Lost in Art participants come up with,” said Sian Fitzgerald, Denbighshire County Council’s Community Arts Officer. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​