Lieke has been working at Leyden Academy since January 2020. She is a PhD candidate. In her research, Lieke explores the intersection of art, care, and aging. She focuses on the unsayable, embodied value of art participation, often referred to as affect: Art not only has measurable effects on health and well-being, and is not merely a means of conveying a message, but it touches people. This aspect is often challenging to capture in words or traditional research methods.
As a junior researcher, Lieke was involved in the project “Art in Long-Term Care.” Recently, she collaborated with social designer Joost van Wijmen on a study examining boundary work in arts and elderly care. Lieke also serves as project leader, researcher, and catalyst for “Generatie Mixer,” a project where primary school students and seniors, guided by professional artists, bring fantasy worlds to life.
Lieke holds a background in theater studies and spent five years in the United Kingdom, where she conducted research on theater for seniors with memory problems in care homes. In the Netherlands, she worked as a residential care assistant at Herbergier Ede and as an activity therapist at Ziekenhuis Gelderse Vallei. Simultaneously, Lieke pursued part-time studies in Social Work at the Hogeschool van Arnhem en Nijmegen.
In de media
- Arts & Health, November 2023, article The complex nature of boundary work in arts and health: a reflective journey in a social design project.
- HKU press, Octobre 2023, publication Superhero of designzero? Over het grensewerk van de social designer in de zorg
- Research in Drama Education, January 2023, article Making Invisible care visible. Ethics and aesthetics of care in participatory arts practices in times of COVID-19