Impact Arts

Craft Cafe, our flagship older people’s programme, last week launched an exhibition featuring a massive range of beautiful and personal artwork on the top floor of Ocean Terminal Shopping Centre.

As part of Luminate, Scotland’s creative ageing festival, the work will remain at Ocean Terminal – around the Image Collective gallery – for the entire month of October.

The exhibition features a staggeringly varied collection of work – including colourful abstract pieces, land and seascapes, water colour portraits of beloved pets and sketches from Craft Cafe workshops themselves.

Also on display – and on sale – are items from the Craft Cafe collections. These are furnishings and scarves using designs by older people who take part in Craft Cafe workshops.

Craft Cafe in Edinburgh takes place in Viewpoint care homes in two locations in the city, and a delighted coachful of members made the trip to see their artwork on display to the public.

Also being exhibited was a collaboration between our Craft Cafe Edinburgh participants and our other groups in Govan, Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire – this was a vibrant tapestry featuring messages and illustrations, and bearing the Impact Arts mantra “Art Changes Lives”.

Impact Arts have delivered Craft Cafe workshops in community and care home venues since 2011. The aim is to give older people a safe, welcoming and stimulating environment to develop creative skills while socialising with others their own age. You can watch a short film about Craft Cafe workshops here on YouTube.

The exhibition runs at Ocean Terminal between 10am and 4pm until Sunday 29th October 2017.