Local care home residents have turned their hands to modern art to help create a new piece of public art.
The bronze sculpture, entitled Positive Touch, has recently been placed in the Isis House Residential Care Centre garden, Cornwallis Road, Oxford.
Derived from residents’ drawings of their hands, the sculpture looks like the abstract curves of clasped hands and from some angles, like a feather.
Oxfordshire artists Wesley and Helen Jacobs created the artwork as an abstract response to art sessions held at the care home.
Residents took part in a number of high quality art processes including painting, glass printing and plaster modeling and casting over 10 weeks.
“Positive Touch represents the theme of hands creating and caring which emerged during the sessions,” Helen explained. “We noticed that the carers expressed compassion and care for the residents through the therapeutic touch of hands on hands and the residents’ hands were positively engaged in the act of creating during the workshops.”
Residents made plaster casts of their hands and put them together in different combinations as maquette ideas. Wesley and Helen used these to come up with three final designs and the residents selected what was to become the final sculpture.
“It has been a real privilege for us to work with the residents, to see them expressing themselves creatively with some new and unknown art forms and help to create and enjoy this final piece of art,” said Helen.
Nick Hill, Isis House Manager said, “The residents involvement in the arts sessions and helping to create this wonderful piece of public art are great examples of the wide range of activities that the Trust creates for residents, with the help of our dedicated activity coordinators.
“By focusing on what residents can do, rather than what they cannot do, we’ve seen that our residents are increasingly finding more pleasure and variety in their lives within all of our homes.”
Positive Touch is 1.5 metres in height and made of bronze on a stainless steel plinth. Its surface is patinated to blend with its surroundings and suggest a sense of permanence as well as looking organic and textural.
ENDS
Issued on behalf of The Orders of St John Care Trust by Lava. For further information contact Louise or Becky at Lava on 01522 842 800 / louise@lavapr.co.uk or becky@lavapr.co.uk
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Notes for Editors
The ‘Public Art’ for the Donnington site was included within the Section 106 Agreement between The Oxfordshire Care Partnership, The Oxford City Council and The Oxfordshire County Council. (Section 106 Agreements are ‘legal agreements’ between local authorities and developers, which are linked to a planning permission).
The following clauses within the Section 106 Agreement confirm the following:-
• 2.21 “The Public Art Sum” means the sum of £10,800 to be applied towards the creation of a piece of public art in a form and location to be agreed between the City Council and the Applicant
• The Applicant above refers to The Oxfordshire Care Partnership. This wording was agreed to allow OSJCT to be involved in the whole consultation process for a piece of public art to allow OSJCT to have an influential voice on the outcome.
• 9.5 The City Council covenants with the Owner (Oxfordshire County Council) and the Applicant (for the benefit of the Applicant and the RSL) to use the Public Art Sum towards the costs of the provision of a piece of public work of art on or in the vicinity of the land.
The Orders of St John Care Trust (OSJCT) was established in 1991. It is a not for profit charity sponsored by the Sovereign Order of Malta and the Venerable Order of St John. These two historic Orders have a long tradition of offering care and service and today provide the Trustees for OSJCT.
OSJCT’s core activity is providing care for older people of any background, irrespective of race or religion. Having started in Lincolnshire, running 16 former local authority care homes, the Trust now operates 74 homes, across four counties (16 in Lincolnshire, 20 in Wiltshire, 17 in Oxfordshire and 21 in Gloucestershire) and cares for some 3,250 residents.
The Trust is dedicated to delivering the highest quality, person centered care. Our broad range of services includes residential, nursing and dementia care. We also provide intermediate, respite and day care. Our ethos of care, which underpins all our activities, is based on our belief that all older people living in our care homes, should be given care, both material and spiritual, that suits their individual needs. We also believe that our residents and day care visitors should enjoy life in an atmosphere of warmth, harmony and understanding, being cared for by people who appreciate their need for privacy and who will respect their dignity and freedom of choice.
To that end, OSJCT is currently involved in an extensive development programme, working in partnership with local authorities and other stakeholders to ensure that our residents and staff can live and work in a modern environment and can benefit from the latest care aids, equipment and technology. We are also committed to providing the best possible training opportunities for our staff in terms of their career progression and personal development.
www.osjct.co.uk
The Artists
Wesley and Helen Jacobs are freelance artists, based in Oxfordshire.
www.wezjacobs.com, www.helen-jacobs.com
