Tonic Taster Arts was a programme of short workshop courses of different art forms, delivered to the dementia patients at Tonic 44 centre in Surfleet, giving them ‘tasters’ of the art forms.
As we came out of lockdown and started to recommission some of the project strands, we listened to people and service providers relate the need to get back to social activity, especially the most vulnerable and most isolated, for their physical and mental health and general wellbeing.
We have solid evidence of the value of arts activity as a catalyst to bring people together, so in response to the opportunity to apply for Mental Health Promotion fund, we created a new strand of activity with Tonic Health, the Spalding Safe Places Group and the Surfleet Dementia Group taking place in Tonic Health’s Spalding and Surfleet Community café.
The first set of 4 sessions were entitled Fantastic Beasts and How To Make Them with artist Mark Steadman and utilised a variety natural items such as sticks, leaves and fungi to create a range of objects.
Other sessions are mixed media, monoprinting, collagraphs (a printing technique) dry point and pottery.
Following on from the tasters, the groups did a more in-depth 10-week pottery course from November – January with the aim of putting on an exhibition.
The project will culminate in an exhibition of the work from 23rd February – 25th March 2022 at Spalding Library.
