Step Exhibitions
Mural by Charmaine Twidale at Hope House, Hartlepool
Nominee Information
Hope House, a service provided by Cygnet Health Care, supports adults living with a learning disability who have additional mental and physical health needs and behaviours that may challenge.
We champion the therapeutic benefits and power of art to transform our environments for both staff and residents. To us, art is not just a ‘picture’ hung on the wall. It’s about hope, co-production, sustainability awareness and creating improved facilities for some of society’s most vulnerable and often marginalised individuals. We want to connect Cygnet staff and service users through art and creativity to bring people together. To that end, we recently appointed an in-house, co-production artist, Charmaine Twidale, to produce artwork across our 150+ services in collaboration with our service users.
For this entry we have selected the first piece of work done by Charmaine for Hope House. She said: “The pandemic was isolating, lonely and it got to a point where I felt lost. Art became my therapy and my calm. It helped my anxiety and helped me to express myself as an artist and person. It became a big part of my life again and I became Hope House’s personal artist. “I painted murals around the building to help make it feel more homely and personal to the individuals we care for. I wanted my designs to be based on how we could make the space calm and relaxing but brighter.”
For the large mural, Charmaine talked to residents about what lifts their mood and gives them hope. Together they decided on countryside with a springtime feel, incorporating a blossom tree to signify new beginnings and a horizon representing opportunity and possibility. Expertly painted woodland animals reflect nature that is native to the UK, helping to create a sense of familiarity and, importantly for the service users, homeliness. Rolling hills, blue sky and flowers carry the artwork across three walls and onto the ceiling to create a calming corner of English countryside that wraps around the room. It conjures up the feeling of walks, picnics and leisurely days in the hills. A small, unobtrusive seat serves to welcome residents and staff to be part of the picture, sit amidst the daisies and be immersed into the artwork for a moment of contemplation. All of these elements serve to create a calming space.
Charmaine worked with acrylic paint which is highly recyclable, comes without loss of condition and is durable. The mural received an enormous amount of positive feedback from service users as it made the space so much more vibrant, comfortable and calming. All of Charmaine’s artwork is based on ideas from our patients and residents, through talking, experience, speaking to staff and relatives of those in our care and learning about the interests of each individual. There are no limits to what can be created.
CEO Dr Tony Romero said: “The partnership of co-production and creativity at Cygnet is inspiring and I am proud to see this collaboration between service users, staff and Charmaine which has given them a calming space and sense of identity.”
