Community Lives' Inclusive Art Project Celebrates 2024 Olympics
Across Community Lives, groups have been involved in an incredible art project to mark the 2024 Olympics.
People who use community lives day services have been working together to create hand craft Olympic mascot sculptures. The groups have created two sculptures of the Olympic Phryges, the official mascots of the Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics, inspired by the traditional Phrygian hats.
The sculptures have been created using panels of wire mesh woven with fabric, wool and crochet squares, overseen by Jo Werrett, Community Lives artist in residence and is the result of over 1300 hours of work. The art installation is the combined effort of all parts of Optalis Community Lives, which supports people with disabilities, people with long-term conditions and people living with dementia in the Wokingham borough, Windsor, Maidenhead and Ascot. The sculptures will be on display in Wokingham Town centre, in front of the Town Hall this summer for all to enjoy thanks to the generosity of Wokingham Town Council, which has kindly agreed to host the sculptures when they are complete.
Julia Harris, Optalis Head of Service, said
"This project helps to showcase what the people we support can do. Our artist Jo is incredibly skilled at drawing out people’s talents and abilities.
The motto of the Olympic Phryge is: ‘Alone we go faster, but together we go further’ representing the ways in which the people of the world, can make each other better by working side-by-side. This project does just that, working together to create something wonderful.
Optalis is thrilled to be able to support such an impactful and collaborative project. It’s a celebration of what we can achieve when we come together, and we are looking forward to sharing this with the wider community.”
The sculptures are on display in Wokingham Town Centre in August.
Optalis Community Lives provides day opportunities to adults with learning disabilities, people with physical disabilities and people living with dementia across Windsor and Maidenhead and Wokingham. Our experienced team are committed to providing a varied and meaningful programme of activities suitable for people of all abilities.
We pride ourselves on being a fun and engaging service. Our aim is for people to leave our care, each day, with a great big smile.
We think broadly and with ambition to improve individuals’ quality of life by offering opportunities that matter to them; through
volunteering, leisure and social activities, developing life skills, and work opportunities. One size does not fit all, we offer a range of opportunities that people can choose from.
Across all our services, we help our customers with a range of support needs, from medication to personal care or emotional support.
Find out more about our Community Lives Services.
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