Art for physical disability
It should come as no surprise that art is a well-researched and effective way to help people with their health, as this study from Mind reveals. But when it comes to people living with a physical disability art can go beyond helping mental health – it can provide a community and physical respite through the art of making.
At Ecas we offer a three weekly art activities for people with a physical disability in Edinburgh. Our activity leaders, Graham and Martin, use the tool of creative expression to provide our guests with an experience that positively transforms their recreation and lives.
In this exciting guest blog activity leader Graham Young shares a recent art outing to an iconic cultural site in Falkirk.
An artful day out in the Kelpies
Our first visit to the Kelpies was postponed because of Ali: not I hasten to add our Chief Executive but the September storm Ali which hit Central Scotland on the very day we were due to visit.
As it happened the new date, October 31st, suited more of the class members and so, after meeting up at Oxgangs Neighbourhood Centre, we headed out on the M9 to Falkirk. When we turned a corner in Helix Park, we saw the huge horse’s heads towering high above us shimmering in the sunshine.
Our guide told us about the history of the project, folk lore of the Kelpies and the construction timetable before we went into the nearest Kelpie which is modelled on a Clydesdale horse called Duke. I should explain at this point that the sculptor, Andy Scott, as well as borrowing the name, Kelpies, from mythical shape-shifting beasts with the unpleasant habit of drowning unsuspecting travellers, used two real horses as muses to celebrate the history of heavy horses in the Falkirk area. Once inside Duke (the other one is called Baron) it is possible to wonder at the engineering feat of construction which, added to the artistic appreciation of the sculptures, made it a field trip to remember. Since returning class members have used their memories and digital images to create impressive works of art.