MADE

MADE

‘MADE’ helped people discover the value of simple traditional ‘making’ activities with paper; re-engaging older members of the communities with familiar techniques and inspiring new generations. Funded by The Arts Council, the project aimed to enrich the local community through inter-generational shared practices using traditional arts techniques, enhancing health and well-being and helping older people to benefit from improved memory, manual mobility and social interaction. It also aimed to benefit children with cognitive, hand eye coordination and manipulative skills.

Qube worked with artists Ryan Hall, Mary Crabb, Clare Pentlow and Yoshiko Ruff to produce a series of 4 week workshops over a 12 month period. Over 30 participants took part in the workshops, including a core group that attended all sessions. Those that took part were staff and volunteers or organisations working with older people – for example, Connect for Life, The Alzheimer’s Society, Age UK and Chalk – or with young people in schools and local children’s centres.

Two exhibitions were held to run alongside the project. The first, Wycinanki: The art of Polish Papercuts, was a touring exhibition from the Horniman museum and was accompanied by a community workshop for Polish families, attended by 23 people. The final MADE exhibition featured works by all four artists and participants. More than 30 people attended the opening event, which had demonstrations by the artists. A resource pack was created for all participants to use with their clients and service users.

Since the project finished, 75% of participants have fed back that they have used their new skills. Three have since taught workshops at Qube to those struggling with social isolation.

We’ve created a resource pack featuring some of the activities. You can download it for free here…