Art project film celebrates the resilience of care home staff across Glasgow

The ALLIANCE worked with five care homes across Glasgow on a new art project to celebrate staff's resilience during the pandemic.

Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) operates five residential care homes for older people across the city, all of which were significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

As restrictions began to be relaxed, and the care homes moved to a position of recovery, the HSCP began a partnership with the ALLIANCE to reflect staff’s experiences and express this through art, led by National Lead for Caring and Outreach, Tommy Whitelaw, and the ALLIANCE Artist in Residence, Xuechang Leng.

The aim of the artwork is to create a permanent testament to the staff’s resilience, in keeping residents and colleagues supported during the pandemic and the challenges that it brought. Tommy and Xuechang ran a number of workshops with staff and residents, to reflect on their own unique experiences of the last two and a half years and translate this into the artwork.

The HSCP has produced a short film that follows the development of the concept for the artwork with staff, to the final artwork which will be displayed in each home’s public spaces. It also features how care home staff supported one another, residents and their families during the pandemic.

The concept for the artwork was to capture the most common words shared by staff about what is important to them, such as ‘love’, ‘care’, ‘family’, and represent these words as soundwaves. Creating this visual reminder of what’s important in our lives allows us to keep kindness and compassion at the heart of what we do.

ALLIANCE National Lead Tommy Whitelaw, who led on the project, said:

“It was such a privilege to spend time with the incredible care home staff who dedicate their lives every day to residents, families and their colleagues. Through hearing their stories of kindness, love and care, and with the amazing vision of our artist Xuechang Leng, we were able to translate this experience into a beautiful project that will leave a lasting legacy for staff and residents.”

Artist Xuechang Leng said:

“I am filled with profound gratitude and an overwhelming sense of privilege as I embark on the creation of these artworks. These pieces of art find their true purpose in those staff who tend to the hearts and souls residing within the care homes, as well as the cherished loved ones in their own abodes. It is through their unwavering commitment, boundless compassion, enduring love, and unyielding resilience that the essence of these artworks springs forth. I must acknowledge the tremendous effort of Tommy Whitelaw, whose presence has graced each step of the artistic process. Tommy, a source of inspiration and motivation, has infused the creative endeavours.”

ALLIANCE Director Irene Oldfather said:

“It’s great to see this project come to fruition, and thanks to everyone involved who helped to make it happen. It’s great to see the staff able to participate and create something that really matters to them; a lasting legacy that reflects the incredible work they did to keep people safe during the pandemic.”

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