Volunteer shares love of stained glass with art project participants
Volunteer shares love of stained glass with art project participants
People have been using the arts as a way to express, communicate and foster
mental well-being for thousands of years. Art can help you communicate, overcome stress and explore different aspects of your own personality.
These are just some of the reasons Waypoint’s HERO Centre joined earlier this year with the Midland Public Library and Quest Art School & Gallery to provide community art programs at little to no cost.
With funding from the Huronia Community Foundation, the group runs once a week with the first session of each month hosted by a professional instructor at Quest, and the remaining three sessions held at the Library facilitated by volunteers.
Waypoint’s Susan Dalrymple is one such volunteer, sharing her love of stained glass with the participants.
Susan works as an Administrative Assistant at The HERO Centre and sees some of the participants on a regular basis in her work. A crafty person by nature, she’s been doing stained glass for about 10 years and loves it – spending much of her free time in her in-home ludio (laundry room / studio) and even selling some of her pieces at the Quest Art Shop. She also donates quite a lot of her work for fundraising activities.
sm.jpg "Art Club participants")
“I love doing it, I love sharing it and I love teaching it,” says Susan. “There’s nothing like the feeling when you put all the pieces together and it comes to life.”
HERO Centre Recreation Therapist Tamara Burke is helping to organize the group to create a safe and inclusive learning environment. “Creating art is very empowering and brings the participants a sense of accomplishment,” shares Tamara. “The collaboration between the agencies provides opportunities to those who otherwise could not afford similar programs.”
The program began in October last year and runs through to the end of June.