celebration day — final visit, Friday 8th July

We all arrived at 9am, doused in rain and a little bit of panic. We began setting up, our priorities clearly in the right place — refreshments first. Together, we unpacked the artwork and equipment and began by setting up our own pieces of work. It was wonderful seeing the little bits of one another's work become actual installations, taking form in situ. Everybody worked together once their piece was done, getting the room presentable and full of "finishing touches". The atmosphere was of a calmed, somewhat muted revelry. The cakes were ready, the installations complete for viewing.
It was brilliant working together to get the pieces, displays and refreshments ready for the patients to see, I felt like we were a far more defined team than in previous weeks.

I felt completely nervous, waiting for people to arrive — especially so for Eunice and Fiona. As students, patients, nurses, and family arrived, trepidation & anticipation only set in more. The work that they'd created with me was very much on display, and I really wanted them to feel proud and involved.

Everybody enjoyed themselves. I saw some really heartwarming things — the enjoyment of Steve when he saw the final product of his and Tessa's piece. The reaction John gave when he saw his and Sakile's. He was genuinely enthralled. Not only, seeing him stand and walk to be involved with the piece, it was wonderful. The amount of involvement people felt with Elana's, the intrigue with Alice's, the way everybody stooped and shrank to view Abraham's, the intimacy of Finley's, and the marvel at the delicate, captured necklaces of Mia's piece. The entire event made me feel somewhat overwhelmed, even though everything came together so brilliantly. The little moments in which I caught people looking at these pieces so intently made the whole event feel successful.
What was lovely, though, was that the event wasn't just about product and results, but was also about a social experience; a culmination of conversations tracing to this day.

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It was unfortunate that neither Fiona or Eunice showed up, especially since I was expecting Eunice. It does just go to show the inconsistency that aspects of a hospice can have. I think the whole fluctuation and unbalance that we met with the patients just adds to the uniqueness of the entire experience. Though I wanted to show Eunice or Fiona the piece, I completely understood that there could be many reasons as to why they didn't show up — from the simple to the complicated. This project has given me a heightened sense of patience and understanding.
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p.s. sorry I've made this horribly embarrassing and mentioned everybody's work, it's just everything was so good.