Creative programs for aged care and retirement living

Be Artistic Club supplies paint-by-numbers kits and creative session materials to aged care homes, retirement villages, day centres and community wellbeing programs across Australia.

The idea is simple: give residents an activity that produces something they are genuinely proud of, rather than a craft designed for children.

Who this is for

• Residential aged care homes
• Retirement villages and independent living communities
• Day centres and respite programs
• Memory care and dementia-specific units
• Community, library and wellbeing groups

If you are a lifestyle coordinator, activities officer, diversional therapist or program manager, this page is written for you.

What we supply

Kits matched to ability. The same subject can be supplied at different levels so a whole group paints together without anyone being excluded — standard kits with a full palette, simplified kits with larger sections and fewer colours, and very simple kits with six to eight colours for residents who need one-to-one support.

Custom kits from residents' own photos. A resident's late dog, the family farmhouse, a wedding photograph from 1961. These are the sessions people talk about for weeks afterwards. Families are usually glad to be asked for the photo.

Session materials. Reference cards, colour guides and practical setup notes so staff are not improvising on the day.

How a session usually runs

Eight to twelve residents is the sweet spot. Everything is laid out before residents arrive — paint pots open, brushes in jars, canvases on small easels. Good light matters more than most people expect, and spare reading glasses in a few strengths save more sessions than anything else on the table.

Most groups run a canvas across several weeks rather than finishing in one sitting. Coming back to an unfinished painting gives residents something to look forward to, and the cleanup ritual at the end bookends each session.

We have written this up in more detail in our journal — see running an art program in aged care and setting up a painting corner.

Adapting for dexterity, vision and dementia

Larger numbered sections, reduced palettes, thicker brush handles and subjects with strong shapes all make the activity reachable for more residents. For residents living with dementia, familiar subjects — a local beach, a garden, an animal they once owned — tend to open conversation in a way abstract designs never do.

More on this in adapting kits for limited dexterity and low vision and dementia-friendly art activities.

Funding and reporting

Creative and wellbeing programs often need to be justified against a budget line or reported against quality standards. We are happy to provide the practical detail you need for a submission — what is supplied, how sessions run, and how the activity maps to social, cognitive and fine-motor engagement.

Getting started

Email info@beartistic.club and tell us a little about your group: how many residents, the setting, the range of abilities, and what you are hoping the sessions do for them. We will come back with options.

We reply within one business day, Monday to Friday, Australian time.

Contact us · Read the journal