Care & Caregiving: Caregivers Need Care, Too!

Quiet Paths is a community-based expressive arts project designed to support caregivers and community members experiencing stress, grief, or life transitions through reflective, process-based artmaking. 

Led by Eileen Daly Wilkinson of WellArts in collaboration with Nurses & Neighbors, the project offers recurring monthly workshops in quiet, trusted community settings, welcoming participants regardless of prior art experience. 

Programming follows a flexible quarterly thematic structure—including fall “Neuro Tree” (letting go and new growth), winter vision boards, and spring reflective journaling—allowing activities to be repeated and adapted for different audiences, seasons, and community contexts. 

About the photo: Tactile Labyrinth Art for Quieting the Mind
Inspired by a tactile wooden labyrinth board, participants create paper-based labyrinth artworks through tracing, assembling, or designing labyrinth paths. The repetitive movement and tactile engagement support calm focus and grounding, functioning as a form of active meditation that encourages reflection without requiring verbal expression or artistic skill. 

Eileen Daly Wilkinson is the founder and facilitator of WELLarts, an expressive arts practice dedicated to supporting connection, reflection, and healing through creative exploration. Based in Lewes, Delaware, Wilkinson’s work centers on accessibility, process-based artmaking, and purposeful play.

During the first 25 years of her career in health communications, Wilkinson created visual and educational wellness messaging for hospitals, outpatient diagnostic centers, home care agencies, and infant loss nonprofit. Her professional background consistently bridges communication, health, and community engagement. As a trailing spouse, she also worked in advertising and the arts, coordinating month-long cultural events such as Spotlight on the Arts and the International Women’s Festival in Aberdeen, Scotland.

Wilkinson is trained in peer grief and loss support, Healing Touch, Mental Health First Aid, and Arts & Healing, and is a longtime advocate for creative practices that help individuals express emotion and reduce isolation. She describes herself as a lifelong maker who values process over product and now works extensively with found natural materials. Her arts coursework includes textiles, knitting, pottery, stained glass and fusing, basketry, nuno felting, whiteline woodcut, carving, textural weaving, zentangle™, bookbinding and papermaking, altered books, flower arranging, SoulCollage®, qigong, and intuitive development.

WELLarts was founded following a personal medical setback more than 15 years ago. Its mission is to encourage individuals, especially those who are hurting or feeling isolated—to connect with themselves and with others through expressive arts. During her years supporting elder care, Wilkinson completed multiple dementia care trainings, including work inspired by Dr. Gene Cohen’s research in creative aging. She also participated in a National Center for Creative Aging workshop in Dover, Delaware, and has presented at the Fairfax Creative Aging Festival.