COVID-19, Link Housing Ryde: Art therapy reduces anxiety for social housing residents during uncertain times
An 80-year-old artist who teaches social housing residents how to paint watercolours says art therapy can help people relax and reduce anxieties during the coronavirus pandemic.
Northern District Times
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Romanian artist Dorina Petre moved to Australia from Transylvania 28 years ago equipped with her paint brushes and soft spoken English, not knowing what life in Sydney had in store for her.
Never did the 80-year-old artist think she’d be teaching local Australians at a social housing residence how to paint and use art as a creative outlet while living through the uncertainty of a global pandemic.
“All my life I used to paint and I’ve had my prizes and solo exhibitions. It’s my second passion,” Ms Petre says.
“Now I couldn't use my language so I used my art skills.”
While she has practiced all sorts of art techniques from oils to delicately painting on pure silk, Ms Petre says her first love is still watercolours.
Since mid last year, Ms Petre has shared her passion for watercolours through volunteer teaching a small group of residents at a Link social housing residence in North Ryde.
The art classes were launched to help residents at the affordable housing home to improve their self-confidence and develop an interest in art.
Every Friday, art supplies were provided while about 8-10 enthusiastic residents sat down and painted in a bright sunlit room with Ms Petre.
“There are some people (who are) really interested in learning watercolour techniques. And some come for leisure,” she says.
Ms Petre, who has been a resident at Link Housing since 2018, says the classes offered a way for the residents to connect and socialise with fellow residents while learning and enjoying a new skill in painting.
As a psychiatrist for more than 26 years in Transylvania she says she used art therapy as one of her methods and found it helped people achieve a better condition of “living, being and behaving.”
During these uncertain times, Ms Petre believes practising art will offer a way for people to relax and calm their anxieties.
“There is general anxiety at the moment and people are worried about (getting) sick.
“If they are doing something more relaxing. It’s a kind of help to move the mind from this sort of hysteria,” she said.
For now, the group classes are no longer able to take place during the coronavirus restrictions yet Ms Petre has encouraged the other students to still paint in their own rooms.
The Ryde Art Society member says she looks forward to the other side of the pandemic and hopes she will still be “healthy” enough to continue painting with her community group.
Ms Petre and local residents will be submitting their artworks in the annual No Place Like Home art exhibition in July.
Now in its fourth year the event, launched by Link Housing, aims to exhibit local community art works to raise awareness on the importance of affordable, safe and secure housing.
The exhibition will be running as an online event on July 3 where local community members can still view and purchase the artworks on Link Housing’s website and Facebook page.
All members of the community are welcome to submit an artwork.
To apply, email Link Housing at enquiries@linkhousing.com.au or call 02 9412 5111.
Applications close 5PM on May 29.