art success for cross-generation project

A group of students from Merstham Park School have been bridging the generation gap with a project involving residents of a local care home.

The resulting artwork will be on permanent display as a lasting memory of the six week collaboration with residents at Coppice Lea residential and nursing home.

The project involved a group of 11 Year 7 students attending Coppice Lea each week with the school’s Leader of the Arts Lyndsey Harkness, who arranged the scheme to share experiences between the generations.

“The students have gained a lot from the experience, learning new skills and interacting with the older generation. Some of the residents have dementia and the students have been very caring and considerate throughout.” said Mrs Harkness.

A variety of artworks based around natural forms were created as a result of the project and a series of clay tiles with organic imprints will be mounted together to form the resulting art installation.

Staff at the home were also delighted with the reaction of the residents who took part as many of them built a good rapport with their young visitors while improving their cognitive skills through art.

“They enjoy joining in, chatting with the children and learning new things,” said a staff member.

And the success of the scheme could see it expanded in the next academic year with the possibility of music and photography also being part of the collaborative work.

“We look forward to our partnership with Coppice Lea growing as well as developing other arts programmes with our students in the community. I am so proud of the maturity, kindness and development of the students’ personal skills as well as the arts skills they have developed during the workshops,” said Mrs Harkness.