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Perth Students and Artists Create Masterpieces for Local Health Centre
Perth Students and Artists Create Masterpieces for Local Health Centre
Posted on 03/22/2022
Students at The Stewart School create masterpieces for local health centre

March 22, 2022 Magnificent works of art created by Upper Canada District School Board (UCDSB) students are on display at the Tay River Health Centre in Perth.   

The new medical centre reached out to area schools to see if students would be interested in bringing their exam rooms to life with student artwork. The artwork would prove to be multi-faceted; to be a conversation starter for patients and health care providers, help ease patient anxiety, and promote a sense of community.  

Four Grade 6 students at The Stewart School answered the call to create artwork: Heera Thind, Masha Smolentseva-Felepchuk, Mya Truelove, and Callie Wheeler.  

With a health care theme and vision in mind, the four students put paint to canvas.   

“I was blown away by what they were able to do. They really did it independently and I am so proud of each of them and the work they produced,” said the school’s Principal, Stacie Dowdall.  

Heera Thind's artwork for local health centreHeera’s painting, a nurse with her arm out supporting a heart and lungs, represents her supporting the health care system.
“I was inspired to paint someone of colour because it's important to be inclusive and represent different cultures and people,” she explained. “I made the painting mystical for younger kids. Almost like magic and to take away the scariness of the heart and lungs. A different perspective is also that it is magical because health care workers are helping patients.”

 

Callie Wheeler's artwork for local health centreCallie took a slightly different approach. She painted a dog, who is a doctor and a cat who is a nurse on an exam table in a hospital. The reason? To make an exam room more fun for children.
“I decided to make my painting with animals on an exam table and have them as the medical staff because I know for some children, hospitals and going to the doctors is a scary place and they may have phobias about it. So, I tried to make it as child-friendly as I could, which included ensuring there were no sharp objects,” she said. “I hope it will make children smile or laugh.”

 

Tay River Health Centre Operations Manager Kathryn Ransom-Hodges said the idea to display student artwork at the medical centre came from one of their nurses.   

We provided the canvases and away they went,” she explained. The only parameter we put on their creativity was that the subject matter be related to health care. 

Masha Smolentseva-Felepchuk's artwork for local health centreFor Masha, her art depicts a doctor painting on the canvas while holding a palette in one hand and a brush in the other. She shared that her inspiration came from Pinterest and created her own original artwork.
“I wanted my painting to have lots of colours,” she explained. “So that's why around the borders there are bright colours because it adds more positivity and makes people feel good.”

 

What was the hardest part for Masha?

“Well, for me, it was painting her shirt because I had to make it look textured and crinkled around the sleeves, so that was hard to get that effect. Also painting the gloves was hard for me because I am not good at drawing hands,” she shared.  

Mya Truelove's artwork for health centreFellow artist, Mya, found inspiration in designs and ideas shared by her classmates. The end result was several sets of hands surrounding a heart.  Mya shared that there is a special someone that she looks up to for art inspiration.

“My Grandmother,” she cheerfully said. “She is a painter and creates really good scenery paintings. Particularly paintings about oceans, boats, and beaches.”  

Mya, who had previously worked with canvas painting, says she wants to be an artist when she gets older.  

Once the paintings were completed, photos were shared with each of the respective artists’ families.

“My mom was really proud of me,” said Heera. “She sent it to most of my relatives and the responses we got back was ‘oh my gosh, that's amazing!’ It made me feel more confident and prouder of myself.”  

When the staff from the medical centre picked up the artwork, they were amazed that these were completed by Grade 6 students.  

“We cannot wait for our patients to see and enjoy these impressive creations. Thank you to all of the students and teachers who participated in bringing our clinic to life,” said Ransom-Hodges.

It’s really cool because I'm really into art and I've never had my art on display before for people to see. It was an amazing experience,” shared Masha. All four young artists are thrilled to have their art on display for patients and staff to see. 

 

For media inquiries, please contact:   

April Scott-Clarke   Manager of Communications   Upper Canada District School Board   [email protected] 

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