The Sketcher Project grew from a coffee between cousins Rhiannon Stokes, an occupational therapist and case manager, and Beth Morris, an artist and art tutor. What began as an idea to create meaningful and accessible opportunities for people living with acquired brain injury has developed into a longstanding creative artistic community.

 

Over the past 8 years, the project has provided regular art classes and, more recently, stitch-based creative sessions for adults living with the consequences of brain injury.

 

This panel discussion will explore the project through both an occupational therapy and artistic lens. Rhiannon will facilitate a conversation with Beth about their different but complementary approaches and consider why meaningful creative occupation can be so powerful following brain injury.

 

The discussion will explore the potential impact of creative participation on areas including identity, confidence, cognition, emotional wellbeing, social connection, routine, purpose and community participation. It will also consider the practical challenges involved in making creative environments genuinely accessible to people experiencing cognitive, physical, communication, sensory and emotional changes following brain injury.

 

Central to the session will be the voices of the people who attend the Sketcher Project. We anticipate being joined by two or three members of the group who are living with acquired brain injury. Through conversation with the panel, they will be invited to share their own experiences of creativity, community and participation, and what attending the project has meant to them.

 

Rather than viewing participants simply as recipients of rehabilitation, the Sketcher Project encourages people to develop and recognise their identities as artists and makers in their own right. The session will consider what occupational therapists can learn from this approach and how collaboration between therapists, artists and people with lived experience can create opportunities that extend beyond traditional rehabilitation.