Dementia & Creativity: Artist in Residence

I did a second day on my Dementia & Creativity project recently. Once again, it was a presentation and discussion day, rather than one working with actual sufferers. The team were thinking through ideas ready for putting in bids for large projects. I was there, as last time, both as Artist in Residence and as an active part of the team, giving a creative's perspective.

Participants had gone away after our initial session and put together presentations on various possibilities to explore further. I tried to capture what I could of each presentation, though the ideas were many and complex, so I was up against it and only scratched the surface.

In the afternoon, we had group discussions on the presentations, to generate yet more ideas and avenues to think about. I drew some of the time and pitched in part of the time. It was hard to wear both hats, as it's hard to listen properly and concentrate on the sketching. Your focus goes in and out, so you miss bits.

During the final part of the day, people paired up to begin writing up the first drafts of bids. Since I was no use whatsoever at this point, I happily reverted to being just the artist and sketched them at it.

It has been really interesting following the methodology for creating the ideas and substance of research bids. I don't know if this is a standard way of doing things, but it certainly got people buzzing.