Renfrew Collingwood Seniors Adult Day Centre

“Betty, we need your diapers,” said artist Carmen Rosen as she and her creative colleagues gathered around the second page of their felt book devoted to the history of Collingwood, and of Diaper Hill in particular. The irony of that statement was certainly not lost on the RenColl group, overcome by giggles at the very idea. It’s these moments of collective laughter and community making that have defined this group, which was part of the Arts and Health from its inception (in 2006) until 2014.

The group was led by Carmen Rosen and artist Emmanuelle Renard. Rosen has worked in community-engaged arts for over three decades and feels strongly about making art in her own neighborhood of Renfrew-Collingwood. “I took a felt-making workshop at Maiwa Handprints a few years ago,” she recalls, “and I knew that I would introduce this process to our group in the Arts and Health program.”

As part of their final project, the group worked together with a Grade 3 class from Nootka Elementary School to write down their personal stories and memories of Diaper Hill, and to create a large-scale felt book, Soft Stories: A Felt History, on show here today. It is amazing to see each group member working on individual aspects of the page, from images of diapers, to trees, to pets and sweet little houses. The group gathered around to discuss where to place their felted creation, and it was beautiful to witness each page unified as a single image that literally showed the hand of each artist.

What is Felting?

If you’ve ever mistakenly put your wool sweater in the wash, then you already have some idea of what felting is. Very simply, felt is matted wool. Wool becomes felt when it is subjected to moisture, heat, and pressure. The group at Renfrew Collingwood experimented with both wet felting and needle felting.

Wet felting is the process of applying hot water and agitation to wool: you begin with unwoven wool and subject it to a process of rolling, beating, and dropping until the wool is thoroughly matted. Needle felting is a popular fibre-arts method conducted without the use of water. Special barbed felting needles used in industrial felting machines are employed here as a sculpting tool. The result is a process of tangling and binding the layers of wool together, much like the wet-felting process.

If you are interested in participating in seniors programming at Renfrew Collingwood Adult Day Centre, please contact Donna Clarke at dclarke@shawbiz.ca.

Renfrew Park Community Centre
2929 E 22nd Avenue
Vancouver, BC V5M 2Y3

Timeline
2006 - 2013

Artists Carmen Rosen Emmanuelle Renard

"If I live much longer who knows what I'll get up to!"

Marguerite, Member of Rencoll Fabric Art Group

Media

Soft Stories: How we Felt

2012/13

In the 2012/13 season Carmen Rosen worked with the seniors to create a village of house lanterns for the Renfrew Ravine Moon Festival. They created a Lunar New Year dragon in collaboration with the Adult Day Care seniors’ group that has been used at celebrations in the Centre. In the spring they collaborated with artists Flick Harrison, Laura Treloar and the Windermere Independent Studies Art students to be part of a Vancouver Biennale art project with and about obsolete media. The seniors were interviewed on obsolete media such as beta cameras and typewriters and they showed their old black and white photographs that were then displayed on video loops on television monitors that were installed at Kits Beach next to the “Echoes” chair sculpture. Their final project was a Senses of Self portrait project reflecting on sights sounds and smells that have resonance for them.

Support Staff: Fiona Lastoria

2011/12

For the 2011/12 season at Renfrew Collingwood Seniors Centre lead artist Carmen Rosen and artist intern Emmanuelle Renard are continuing to develop on the workshops of past years. They include silk dying, stamping and a wide variety of other textile printing skills. The group is currently working on numerous projects, including a large, multi-paneled, hand-printed tapestry.

Support Staff: Fionna Lastoria, Tien Vinh, Cheryl Palidda

2010/11

Soft Stories video

Carmen Rosen and Emmanuelle Renard were the lead artist and intern artist for the Arts Health 2010/11 season at Renfrew Collingwood Seniors Centre. Carmen and Emmanuelle developed a series of textile workshops concentrating on wool felting. The senior’s worked throughout the year to create a felted wool book. The work involved collaboration between all participants and developed their visualization skills. The piece depicts a scene of the surrounding neighbourhood in bright colours of wool, laid out as a large open book. The seniors embraced the challenging nature of the project and felt they were doing “something real”. The book will be displayed at the Renfrew Public Library.

Students from Nootka Elementary School came to share time and exchange stories with the group.
The project included participants with advanced dementia, which the group found both challenging and rewarding.
Support Staff: Tien Vinh, Cheryl Palidda

2009/10

For the 2009/10 season of Arts and Health the Renfrew Collingwood Seniors Centre hosted a textile specific group for seniors, while Renfrew Community Centre started a group for painting. Carmen Rosen remained lead artist and Emmanuelle Renard was intern. Carmen and Emmanuelle developed a program including silk painting and crocheting. They worked with the seniors to create three giant mixed media assemblages of jellyfish with silk painted bodies and crocheted tentacles. These works were installed at the Renfrew Public Library and have become staff favourites there. The seniors found the workshops both mentally and physically challenging, but are very proud of the pieces they have created and feel the project to be quite rewarding. Carmen has continued the annual grade three visit from Nootka Elementary School, which both seniors and students find rewarding.
Support Staff: Tien Vinh, Cheryl Palidda

2008/09

In the third year of the Arts and Health Project Renfrew Collingwood Seniors Centre hosted one group lead by artist Carmen Rosen and intern Yoko Tomito. Carmen and Yoko developed art workshops in a dynamic manner, reflecting participant’s skills and desires. Workshops taught participants how to make mosaic mirrors, steppingstones, and hand-painted clay panels. The mosaic steppingstones and mosaic panels were installed at the seniors centre. The mosaic panels were also exhibited at the Roundhouse Community Centre. Grade three students from Nootka Elementary School participated in an annual interview and portrait-drawing day with the seniors, and grade five students produced an operetta that they performed for the group, Singing in the Rain: Highlights.
Support Staff: Tien Vinh, Cheryl Palidda

2007/08

In the second year of the Arts and Health Project the number of groups participating shrank from two to one, with the group at Renfrew Collingwood Seniors Centre remaining and the group at Three Links Manor being terminated halfway through the season. Carmen Rosen and Yoko Tomita were the lead artist and intern. Carmen and Yoko continued to develop the art workshops from the previous year’s Arts and Health Project, finding their relationships with the participants becoming more relaxed and the seniors more engaged with the projects. Projects for the 2007/08 season included memory boxes, silk indigo dying, photo transfers, and singing. The Roundhouse Community Centre hosted an exhibition consisting of memory boxes and indigo-dyed silks. Students from Nootka Elementary School participated in an interview and portrait-drawing day with the seniors. Singing and film screenings were also a major part of the project in 2007/08.
Support Staff: Tien Vinh, Cheryl Palidda

2006/07

In the inaugural year of the Arts and Health Project at Renfrew Collingwood Seniors Centre (RCSC) there were two groups participating, one group at the Renfrew Collingwood Seniors Centre and one at Three Links Manor, a seniors housing facility located across the street from the community centre. Carmen Rosen and Yoko Tomita were the lead artist and intern for both groups. Carmen and Yoko designed the art workshops in consultation with the project participants. Projects for this year included lantern making, stamping, photo transfers, and quilting. The Roundhouse Community Centre hosted an exhibition of two memory quilts and portraits created by the two Arts and Health seniors groups. Grade three students from Nootka Elementary School participated in an interview and portrait-drawing day, and singing day. Participants noted that the laughter and joy shared between the seniors and the students helped create a warm and supportive atmosphere in the workshops. The students also accompanied the seniors to the Renfrew Library to view the installation of a memory quilt made by the RCSC Arts and Health seniors. The memory quilt made by the Three Links seniors was displayed in the common room at the Three Links building.
Support Staff: Tien Vinh, Cheryl Palidda

Express Your Voice Choir Digital Storytelling Project