MCAT partnered with Manx National Heritage to create our first Community ‘Art For Wellbeing’ Mural.
It’s not every day that members of the public are invited to display their art at the Manx Museum. Recently, close to 100 people of all ages did just that when they took part in a joint event between MCAT and Manx National Heritage. Visitors to the Manx Museum were invited to ‘Leave Your Mark on The Art’ and contribute to a giant mural of the beautiful Manx Museum building, using their hand prints.
This year Manx National Heritage is celebrating 100 years since the building was gifted to the Nation to house the Museum. Katie King, Curator of Art and Social History selected a watercolour visualisation of the iconic building to provide the inspiration for the mural, a fitting subject for the Centenary Celebrations.
MCAT, wanted to create an opportunity for people of any age to experience the process of art making, which can be hugely positive for our emotional wellbeing. In keeping with our new High-Five logo, handprints were used to build up layers of colour and with a little guidance from some of our super youth ambassadors, the image of the Museum was gradually revealed.
The Manx Museum is also taking part in the BBC’s The Art That Made Us Festival and wanted to acknowledge the powerful role that art making had played for those interned on the Island during the second world war. Internees used art as a coping mechanism and means to express feelings about what they were experiencing. A clear link with the much needed work of MCAT, and our clinical art therapy service for children and young people with chronic illness and mental health needs.
Internees did not have access to many art materials and found unconventional methods to create their art, such as using toothpaste for paint or sculpting with porridge. In the absence of blank paper, art was often created on newspaper. In tribute to this the Community Mural has been created on a background of newspaper articles from throughout the Museum’s 100 years. Now complete, this vibrant, giant artwork will remain on display throughout the centenary celebrations, so be sure to visit and see it for yourself.
More Community Art For Wellbeing projects are being planned. Follow our Facebook page for announcements later this year.
