Queen Elizabeth Court residents create art for The Sketchbook Project at New York’s Brooklyn Art Library

Residents and staff at Queen Elizabeth Court in Llandudno have taken part in an artistic project, which will be featured at Brooklyn Art Library in New York.

The Sketchbook Project started in 2006 and currently has over 50,000 sketchbooks from 30,000 different creative people globally.

Research has found that art sessions can have a positive effect during unsettling times, which helps to combat mental strain by unleashing the imagination to escape, and be innovative.

Residents and staff had fun unleashing their artistic nature by drawing and painting over the past few weeks. Their completed artwork will be included in the Sketchbook Project and will be added to the shelves of a permanent collection at Brooklyn Art Library.

Taking part in the art session, 95 year old Alan Baker said:

It was lovely taking part in the New York Sketchbook Project, great way to socialise and bring us residents closer together.

Queen Elizabeth Court Activities Coordinator, Jenny Rye, said:

The creative project has brought a lot of smiles and laughter for our residents at Queen Elizabeth Court. We’re always looking for different ways to support our residents’ wellbeing and art is a great way of bringing them together. Art is often considered to have therapeutic properties and helps people to heal, communicate suppressed feelings, relieve tension, fear, and anxiety, and foster a sense of self-determination.