Residents at Blayney Multi-Purpose Service’s aged care unit are making new artworks for their home.
Multi-Purpose Health Services across Western NSW are home to hundreds of people who live in the residential aged care units. When Blayney MPS was redeveloped, instead of buying generic, commercial decor, Health Infrastructure asked Arts OutWest to bring in artists to help the residents create the new artworks.
Residents have been exploring colour, pattern, memory and place through a unique artist residency led by Blayney based paper-cut artist Laura Baker.
Over seven weekly workshops, residents created marks, patterns and artworks inspired by home, gardens, music, fabrics and everyday beauty.
The program was designed for residents with a range of abilities and levels of art experience, with participation possible through conversation, colour choice, mark-making, pattern, arrangement, gluing, observation and shared decision-making.
Laura wanted the workshops to be a relaxed and supportive space for residents to engage with familiar visual languages: domestic objects and handmade traditions.
The project draws on the histories and skills many residents may bring with them, including sewing, homemaking, colour selection, pattern recognition and care-based making.
The second stage of the project will bring these printed patterned papers together in a large communal paper mosaic. Laura will create a base design in response to words gathered from residents during the workshops, and potentially from lyrics developed through a parallel music residency with Abby Smith (more on that in another post).
Read more about the project: https://artsoutwest.org.au/blayney-mps-project-2026/
This Arts OutWest program is delivered in partnership with Health Infrastructure as part of the Blayney MPS redevelopment.
Video: Henry Simmons. Images below: Carolyn Hide
