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Dementia & Imagination: Research Informed Approaches to Visual Arts Interventions             

You’ll see - over there on the sidebar - there’s a Yellow Book. I’m pleased to publish one of the outputs of Dementia & Imagination, which is a research informed handbook for visual artists working in a dementia context. This handbook is not a tool-kit of prescription exercises to deliver visual arts projects, and it’s not an evaluation guide - there are enough of those out there already! What it is, is one result of a research project and is intended to be used by artists and other people who plan to deliver arts-based activities with people who are living with dementia. It is a set of useful ideas and recommendations that come from a robust research project setting out some foundations for developing visual arts projects with and for, people affected by dementia.

It is designed to be as accessible as possible. In it you will find information about the Dementia & Imagination project; some key ingredients for delivering research-informed visual arts projects; case studies, a set of guiding principles, quotes from people involved in the programme, and some recommendations. By clicking HERE you can also download a write up of the Research Protocol that has been published in the BMJ Open, and the Methodological Approach published in Cultural Trends. The handbook is freely available online and we’ll have hardcopies available soon, more details of which will follow on this blog or at the D&I website. 

Age UK - the Index of Wellbeing in Later Life 2017

Being 'creative' and 'open' boosts wellbeing in later life Age UK's Wellbeing Index finds that age isn't a barrier to living well. The Wellbeing in Later Life Index, developed by Age UK and the University of Southampton, analysed data from 15,000 people aged 60 and over to measure the wellbeing of the UK's older population. It looked at how people were doing in different aspects of their lives under five key areas ' social, personal, health, financial and environmental. Overall it showed there is no 'magic bullet' for positive wellbeing in later life and that instead, a whole host of factors under each of the key areas play a part in contributing to a person's overall sense of wellbeing. Find outmode and read the full report HERE.

                             

The Value of Cultural Learning
The Arts empower children & improve life chances. The Cultural Learning Alliance has published its new core document ImagineNation: the value of cultural learning.  The document pulls together all the available evidence on the impact of the arts and culture to children’s lives, alongside quotes, stats and arguments from a wide range of sources including the Bank of England, LEPs, Police Commissioners and the Children’s Commissioner, parents, teachers and UCAS.  The document can be used to help make the case for the importance of arts and heritage in the lives of children, young people and their families. Click HERE.
               

1. Participation in structured arts activities can increase cognitive abilities by 17%.

2. Learning through arts and culture can improve attainment in Maths and English.

3. Learning through arts and culture develops skills and behaviour that lead children to do better in school.

4. Students from low-income families who take part in arts activities at school are three times more likely to get a degree.

5. Employability of students who study arts subjects is higher and they are more likely to stay in employment.

6. Students from low-income families who engage in the arts at school are twice as likely to volunteer.

7. Students from low-income families who engage in the arts at school are 20% more likely to vote as young adults.

8. Young offenders who take part in arts activities are 18% less likely to re-offend.

9. Children who take part in arts activities in the home during their early years are ahead in reading and Maths at age nine.

10. People who take part in the arts are 38% more likely to report good health.

Alder Hey & Twin Vision

This films below shows the process oncology patients from unit 3B at Alder Hey took, to make an educational animation as a tool for newly diagnosed patients. The animation will help support new patients to familiarise themselves with their new surroundings and offer a fun introduction through an animation made for young people by young people. You can see the final animated film, by clicking HERE.

The Mindful Museum

Over the past four years Manchester Art Gallery (MAG) has been developing mindfulness activities across their learning programmes with a range of audiences, exploring just how this valuable skill can be employed in the appreciation of art. In this way, they have helped people to engage more fully with their permanent collection as well as with the special exhibitions. In encountering familiar works as well as art that is entirely new to them, participants have been able to reflect upon the importance of their own mental health. As The Mindful Museum, they have launched a programme of events, seminars and training sessions around art and mindfulness. Click HERE to find out more.

#iwill Youth Social Action Fund 

A £50 million investment as part of the #iwill campaign, coordinated by Step up To Serve, has been launched to help increase the number of young people taking part in social action. The ‘#iwill Fund’ is made up of a £40 million joint commitment by the UK Government and Big Lottery Fund, boosted by Comic Relief; Pears Foundation; and UK Community Foundations. These match-funders will invest an additional £9.6 million to the #iwill Fund. Click HERE.

Funding for artists & bands 

PRS for Music Foundation has announced that the next application deadline for the Momentum Music Fund is the 21st February 2017. The Momentum Music Fund offers grants of £5,000-£15,000 for artists/bands to break through to the next level of their careers. Activities eligible for support include recording, touring and marketing. Click HERE.

Опубліковано запис нападу на виставку художника Чичкана з камер спостереження

Last Tuesday, February 8, a group of masked men and women attacked the Visual Culture Research Centre (VCRC) in Kiev, destroying an exhibition by the Ukrainian artist David Tschitschkan. The VCRC has repeatedly been criticised and attacked by right-wing extremists in recent years. David Tschitschkan, born in 1986, represents of a new generation of artists in Kiev and positions himself as an anarchist. This exhibition revolved around the question of what the impact of the Maidan protests of 2013-2014 could have been, and included drawings depicting right-wing nationalists on both sides of the Eastern-Ukrainian front line, each using identical slogans, differing only in the language used: Ukrainian or Russian. (Thanks to MP and ArtNet)

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