The Yorkton and District Nursing Home has a series of new murals decorating doors and walls thanks to the efforts of a trio of local artists; Tonia Vermette,聽Angelina Kardynal and Stephanie Newsham.聽
Karen Delong, activities director at the Yorkton and District Nursing Home first reached out to Vermette at the Yorkton聽Arts Council 鈥� they聽had worked together previously on performing arts outreach projects -- looking for local artists to paint door disguises.聽聽
鈥淚 reached out to a few of my visual arts contacts and聽we put together聽some sketches and presented them to Umair Kharral, Clinical Manager at the facility.聽聽聽
鈥淲e were excited to work on a project that would improve聽the lives of the residents.鈥澛�
Kardynal said she was eager to be involved.聽
鈥淲hen Tonia had approached me to join her on a mural project at the Yorkton and District Nursing home I was excited to simply have an opportunity to pick up a paint brush and create,鈥� she said. 鈥淟ittle did I know at that time the exact impact of the project I was embarking on. The door disguise mural project that Umair Kharral has spearheaded at the Nursing home has such an important function in enhancing the quality of life for the residents.聽聽
鈥淚t was truly an honour to be part of it all.鈥澛�
Kardynal added a big thank you to Kharral and Yorkton District Nursing Home for the work to bring such a project to fruition.聽
Newsham was happy to be part of the trio too.聽
鈥淚 was thrilled to be asked by Tonia to contribute to the mural project,鈥� she said, adding it was a big step for her as an artist.聽
鈥淚t was definitely a challenge for me, as I am used to painting nothing larger than 鈥�16X20鈥�.鈥澛�
Of course creating art on聽six doors (two double and four singles),聽and a wall that is between two of the doors, had its challenges.聽
鈥淔or such a large project聽we used sample sized paints from Benjamin聽Moore,聽which had its own challenges in regard to mixing colour and application,鈥� offered Vermette.聽聽聽
鈥淲e had to work around the crash bars on the double doors leading outside, which led to reorganizing the composition from the original sketch.聽
鈥淲orking on an immovable聽vertical surface meant we were sometimes perched on ladders or step stools blocking the doorways where staff had to enter or exit.鈥澛�
There was a safety element to the project too.聽
鈥淭he challenge was to create beautiful images at the same time as disguising doors to areas that residents might try to access which would not be safe for them, or which might find them outside the facility unattended,鈥� said Kardynal. 鈥淲e strived to create visuals that were bright and cheerful and that would spark opportunities for the residents to reminisce. The rewards were felt in moments with the residents when they would discuss the elements of the murals with us and we would see how it would trigger a positive reminder for them of something from their past.鈥澛�
And of course there were COVID-19 protocols to follow.聽
鈥淲e had to mask up, sanitize, have our聽temperature taken, fill out screening forms, each time we entered just as all other healthcare聽workers at the facilities had to do,鈥� said Vermette.聽
鈥淭he staff at the nursing home were so accommodating while we were there, as we were certainly underfoot while they tended to the exceptional care they provide,鈥� added Kardynal. 鈥淲e of course had to follow all the necessary COVID precautions to ensure the safety of all.鈥�
鈥淐OVID didn鈥檛 affect the project too much,鈥� suggested Newsham, adding 鈥渨e wore masks, of course, had our temperature taken at the entrance, and sanitized properly.聽聽
鈥淢ostly it was sad to see the unit so quiet without visitors.鈥澛�
The art all has a nostalgic look which came out of a consultation process.聽
鈥淲e worked with the team at the Yorkton聽and District Nursing Home in regard to subject matter,鈥� said Vermette.聽聽
鈥淚n the process of design we considered objects that residents would have had in their own homes, objects that sparked memories, cheerful colors and animals.聽聽聽
鈥淎s we worked we sometimes聽came up with changes聽or ideas from the staff or residents. The doors all had to be paintings of interior spaces so as not to encourage residents to go through them to the 鈥榦utside鈥�.鈥澛�
The work was also carried out under the watchful eyes of the residents.聽
鈥淚t was an adventure painting around curious residents,鈥� said Newsham. 鈥淲e had some regular company which was lovely! There were mostly comments voicing approval, but there were a few critical eyes as well. I had some help choosing colours too.鈥澛�
鈥淲e were also very graciously welcomed by the residents into their home for eight weeks,鈥� noted Kardynal. 鈥淚t was truly a pleasure to get to know each of them as they would spend much time visiting with us and offering us some much needed advice on our project.鈥澛�
鈥淩esidents interacted with us daily,鈥� added Vermette.聽 鈥淭hey were extremely聽positive, telling us how nice everything聽looked, and occasionally聽trying to pick flowers, pick up toys or gather potatoes from the paintings.聽聽聽
鈥淪ometimes they wanted to get right in on the action dipping their fingers into our paint or making off with paint cans or reference photos/sketches.鈥澛�
Newsham said interactions were taken in stride.聽
鈥淚t was fun watching people trying to take items off the wall because they were convinced they were real,鈥� she said.聽
And, as hoped the art elicited memories too.聽
鈥淭hey, (residents), would often tell us stories about the objects we were including in the design, for example 鈥業 used to have shelves painted that same color in my house鈥�,鈥� said Vermette.聽
As it turned out the artists too learned from the project.聽
鈥淲hen I began the project I had hoped that I would walk away with some new found knowledge of the mural painting process,鈥� noted Kardynal.聽聽
鈥淲hat I did not know is how much I would learn about life with dementia and the services that are provided to ensure safe and compassionate care.鈥�
