By Alyssa Julie
Nurses at the Oasis clinic have found a creative way to reach out to women affected by HIV/AIDS — they encourage them to join an art group called Creative Strokes.
Joanna Binch, a nurse-practitioner at the clinic, says the group allows the women to release anxiety, but also lets the clinic inform them about its services.
“It’s a hard to reach population and so we’ve used the art as a way to engage the population and also to give them access to a place where they can get their health looked after,” she explains.
The women who attend Oasis are either infected with HIV/AIDS themselves or know someone who is. The clinic is located on Lisgar Street just behind City Hall. Its staff provides free medicine for HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C as well as information regarding each disease. The facility is affiliated with the Sandy Hill Community Health Centre.
Creative Strokes’ art instructor, Linda Tyrrell, has a background in volunteer counselling. When she started the group in 2001, she says she found it difficult to attract women to join, especially those without a background in art.
However, she says even those inexperienced women should be proud of the artwork they have created.
“I have some people who come in and say ‘I shouldn’t be here because I can’t even draw a straight line.’ So I tell them to look around nature and find me one,” Tyrrell says.
Both Tyrrell and Binch say the art classes inspire the women by lifting their self-esteem and giving them the opportunity to express themselves.
The classes, held every Wednesday, are especially beneficial for women who are unable to communicate with counselors, says Binch.
Tyrrell says the women often come to the clinic weighed down by problems from their daily lives. This frustration shows up in dark, somber colours in their artwork or their unwillingness to create art.
Tyrrell encourages the women to vent their frustrations.
“Even if they just want to scribble on the paper, that’s fine,” she says.
Rosy Marhin, one of the women involved in the art group, says the frustration does not linger long after beginning painting.
She says art is a great way of healing emotional pain.
“Sometimes at first it might be hard to paint something when you’re upset. But after you paint the first few strokes, you’re so focused you forget about being upset,” she says.
Marhin is not infected with HIV/AIDS herself. Five years ago she started coming to the group to learn more about the disease.
Before that, she was a volunteer at a women’s drop-in centre called The Well. She says many of the women at The Well also made use of Oasis’ services.
Kae McColl, the volunteer curator at Heartwood Gallery, which will display artwork by Creative Strokes, speaks highly of the artists’ abilities.
“Usually a group who hasn’t painted before seems timid in their use of colour. But, they seem to be quite mature in their use of colour and willingness to experiment,” she says.
Binch, who is putting together the art show, says women involved in Creative Strokes asked her to organize a gallery show. She says they wanted the opportunity to work towards a goal.
The Creative Strokes art show will be held at Heartwood Gallery from Feb. 1 to Feb. 28.