We had a fantastic day at the Royal West of England Academy (RWA) in Bristol on Thursday 6th February 2025.
More Than Memory: dementia, Art and caring for loved ones, is an exhibition of drawings, paintings and sculptures by older people and people living with dementia as well as those who care for them.
Members of 'Happy Days' Memory Cafes, Evergreens Elders and Trymview Hall Care Home residents and RWA's Teatime Tours regular visitors are included. Paintings from the RWA Collection have also been selected for this exhibition by the facilitators and participants.
Alongside this, a series of Invisible Army's stories and photographs of carers caring for someone with dementia are on display.
On Thursday we celebrated this exhibition with many of the people who contributed towards it. The room was full of people with dementia and their carers.
Two carers and the person they care for who shared their story with us, joined us at the celebration.
Sandy and Peter’s first date was in a pub. Both over 65 and widowed, they’d met online. As their relationship developed, they looked for something they could do together regularly and began volunteering as gardeners at Arnos Vale Cemetery. Five years later they were married there in an outdoor wedding. The staff and other volunteers created an arch of rakes for them to walk through.
Now that Sandy and Peter are both in their 80s, they are starting to find it increasingly difficult to volunteer. Peter is blind and diagnosed with dementia. But they carry on almost every week, as they treasure their time together there volunteering. “They used to call me the Ivy King” Peter shares with a huge smile full of pride.
Sandy is an artist. Her acrylic piece illustrating ‘Singing for the Brain’ is part of this exhibition. With excitement, Sandy shares what an amazing place ‘Singing for the Brain’ is. It’s run by The Alzheimer's Society and brings together people affected by dementia to sing a variety of songs in a fun and friendly environment. Sandy’s painting depicts the group they attend. Sandy says, “Our group is orchestrated by an incredible woman with such a huge presence. She gets everyone singing and smiling.”
Sandy has also completed a series she has called ‘Caring Hands’ which is about the protection carers give the people they care for. “I don’t [normally] get to talk about my paintings - it’s lovely,” she adds.
Sandy also got to show Onia and John her paintings. Onia is John's wife and carer as he has Dementia. Sandy shared on the day, "This is so lovely! I don't get to see or speak to other carers or painters you see."
Onia is 86 years old and John is 95. “We’ve been married 65 and-a-half years and counting,” Onia shared. They were both born in Jamaica and moved to England together in the 1960’s. Last year, to mark their mile-stone anniversary, Onia organised a four-week holiday for herself and John, plus their siblings, seven children, their grandchildren and their friends. John’s brother, sister and her children travelled from America. They connected with even more relatives and had an anniversary party in a church hall. “All in Jamaica,” John said. Onia lit up in response. “You remember! With all your family around you: a memory to never forget.”
John has dementia and Onia has been his primary carer for many years, a role she is starting to feel more and more overwhelmed by. “Being John’s carer is really starting to wear me down,” she explains. John is very talkative; he has been since she first met him. “He talks all the time,” Onia shares. “A lot of what he says is repeated, and while I don’t always understand, I know it’s important to him. I don’t correct him at all.” Onia tries to sit with John and listen as much as she can; she really wants to give all her love, attention and reassurance, but is finding herself getting frustrated and overwhelmed. She takes time out by sitting in the living room while John sits in the room they call “John’s den.”
Thank you everyone for a special afternoon!
The exhibition can be seen at the RWA Bristol till 23rd March 2025
See more information - HERE
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