KITCHENER — Art students from a Kitchener high school are sharing their work with retirement residences and long-term care homes.
Dreamy watercolour paintings, sharp graphite pencil drawings and bright acrylic and pencil crayon pieces were printed onto thick card stock and are being delivered to 10 facilities by a very proud Forest Heights Collegiate Institute art teacher.
“They were just super happy to share their artwork,” Melanie Kloet said of the students. “It’s just a nice way of keeping in touch and hoping these seniors and staff members know that we are thinking of them.”
Since the pandemic hit and schools were closed, Kloet has been getting emails from students showcasing some of the artwork they’ve been working on. Kloet shared the pieces with staff members at the school but wanted others to get the chance to see the pieces, too.
With permission from the students, Kloet decided to create packages of prints for 10 care homes. Each package has about 25 printed pieces of work as well as a poster explaining where the art came from.
“We hope that our artwork brings sunshine to your day and a reminder that we are all in this together, even when we are apart,” the poster reads.
Kloet made her first deliveries on the rainy Friday before the long weekend, dropping off packages to Chartwell Bankside Retirement Residence, Forest Heights Long Term Care Home and Trinity Village Care Centre and others.
“It was such a heartwarming experience for sure,” said Kloet, adding there were a lot of smiles and waves from staff thanking her for the art.
