IN DEPTH
Digital arts and creative ageing
With an app, an iPad and an artist, Cambridgeshire’s digital arts & creative ageing workshops off ered participants a chance to learn a creative skill, make friends, take part in new experiences in areas of rural isolation, and improve wellbeing. Rosie Veitch explains.
“If it’s good enough for David Hockney…” Jason Wilsher-Mills
OUR series of Digital Arts & Creative Ageing workshops, an idea which has been in development for over three years, has recently become a reality thanks to the support of The Library Presents, our arts in libraries programme funded by the Arts Coun- cil. Cambridgeshire County Council is a National Portfolio Organisation (NPO) and a commitment to deliver digital arts is embedded in the Busi- ness Plan.
The Digital Art workshops for over-50s aim to unlock the artistic potential within both the person and their tablet, under the guidance of a professional digital artist. From the very start, we saw inspiring and remarkable results.
A wave of tablets
In 2013, we responded to a wave of custom- ers who had been given tablets for Christ- mas – we held drop-ins and 1:1 sessions where we would try to assist anyone who turned up with a device. Having no devices of our own, this was very much a voyage of discovery. Our Tea and Tablets programme developed from these roots, off ering a menu of activities – 1:1 or small group support, monthly social groups and even “try before you buy” events in partnership with John Lewis, Cambridge. We demystifi ed tablets and created groups of people aged between
26 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL
Rosie Veitch (
Rosie.Veitch@
cambridgeshire.gov.uk) is Community Participation Offi cer, Library Development Team – Hunts District, Cambridgeshire Community and Cultural Services.
55 and 93 who experimented with emails, photos, web surfi ng and Spotify.
So where could we take our pioneers next? In 2016, we bid for funding from the Librar- ies Opportunities for Everyone Innovation Fund. I felt that the next step could be to showcase art and music making on tablets. In rural areas where public transport is limited it isn’t always easy to access art events, and the availability of art supplies may be sparse and costly. Digital arts could be the way forward. We identifi ed free apps, sought artists to deliver a series of workshops, and planned a roll out with partners from the Alzheimer’s Society, Dementia Friends and others older people’s networks. Sadly, we weren’t successful.
Determined to keep the idea alive, my April-May 2019
Digital Arts
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