THE oldest resident at Popham Court care home in Wellington will open new artwork exhibition Handmade Wellbeing at Tonedale Business Park today (Wednesday).

Ruby, 102, and Mayor of Taunton Deane Cllr Vivienne Stock-Williams will welcome guests, artists and members of the local businesses community.

The exhibition will showcase artwork created by care home residents in Wellington and Devon, supported by professional artists and Wellington-based non-profit arts organisation Superact.

Handmade Wellbeing is a two-year project that looks at the importance of creativity in care home settings working with partners in Finland, Estonia and Austria.

In Wellington, residents at Camelot House, Chelston Park and Popham Court have created artwork ranging from 3D pictures to pottery hand prints.

Project manager Janine Stedman said, “At the centre of everything that is Handmade Wellbeing is the resident and their friends and family. Working closely with our artists, we’ve had some wonderful feedback from family and staff and it’s been such a worthwhile experience. We are very proud of the work that has been created and can’t wait for Wellington residents to come along and see the exhibition for themselves.”

Ali Smith, creative director of Superact, said: “Handmade Wellbeing is a local, a regional and also an international community project. Working with our European partners has offered us the opportunity to share methodologies and to explore different approaches to engagement in local care settings across Europe. This sharing of ideas can only offer greater scope and depth to our ongoing activities.”

Jon Lincoln-Gordon, a local professional artist and founder of ArtTree, a group of independent artists and teachers, has been working with Superact as lead artist on the Handmade Wellbeing activity sessions.

He said: “It’s been such a lovely experience, creating bespoke activities, taking them into local care settings and seeing residents become involved and engaged over the sessions. For me, all the artistic inspiration from meeting project partners and learning about our different cultures has contributed residents’ activities, bringing everything together.”

Clare Woodhead, operations manager at Camelot House, said: “Enabling people to live well with dementia is all about creating opportunities to rediscover hidden talents or discover new interests. Collaborating with the Handmade Wellbeing project has allowed our residents to work with clay, many for the first time, with that all important individual self-expression, something that said ‘this is a little bit of me and this is what I have achieved today.’”

The Handmade Wellbeing exhibition runs for ten days and is open to the public on Friday and Saturday, March 24 and 25. Private viewings are available by request.