“The Work of Your Hands,” is a project that’s had been created once before at the Whitinsville Retirement Home, said director Jeannine Crawford. It’s a concept that was presented by Barb Hendee over five years ago. Barb was an employee who had borrowed the scheme from another facility.

The art installation includes photographs of the hands of the retirement home’s  residents, each one cradling an object of interest, or habitual use – a golf club, knitting needles or pictures of loved ones.

“I loved this idea and thought it was such a beautiful endeavor. When I became director, I knew it was something I wanted to do with our residents,” Crawford said. Whitinsville Retirement Home held its first exhibit of “The Work of Your Hands” in 2021 that printed on canvas in color and then displayed for a time on the dining room walls.

“We all had a good time matching up the ‘hands’ portrait to each resident and later gave each resident their own ‘hands’ canvas to share with their family,” Crawford said.

Most of the current residents were not here when the hands project was first completed and Crawford thought it time to do the project again.

“I enlisted the help of local talented artist Leah Guanipa who also happens to be our artist in residence and a staff member,” she related. “Immediately, Leah grabbed hold of the idea and ran with it! Leah had a vision and a passion throughout the project that was beautiful to behold. Each time she entered my office regarding this project, we would share what she had learned and my own knowledge about each resident’s life experiences and the work of their hands.” The day the project was unveiled, the inspiration that flowed through the artist into each recorded photograph filled the room creating a deep discussion for all.

It’s true that a picture is worth a thousand words, and it’s important for people of all ages to feel seen and heard, to know that their contribution to life has been appreciated and acknowledged as being one facet that makes up all of humanity.

“A project like this helps us recognize one another and to stop and realize we are more than what we think we are. We are more alike than the current division that surrounds us, we are united in our living and our purpose and we need each other to make great things happen,” Crawford offered.

It’s often our quick judgment of one another that separates us, she continued, and it blinds us to the depth of our common human condition, something that is a part of all of us.