Agency in Creative Practice
Summary
In 2021 I was awarded a grant from Arts Council England from the Develop Your Creative Practice fund to integrate my work as an academic researcher and with my creative practice.
My focus for the project was to give greater agency to the people I work with, particularly young people, by listening to their needs more deeply and earlier in the artistic process. I hope that this will lead to higher quality work and a more equal sharing of power.
I did this by running focus groups with young people. I chose the focus group approach because it gives agency to young people, offers a listening space for reflection and collaborative artistic practice.
To prepare myself for this work I undertook the following training courses:
Youth Voice
Decentralisation
Photovoice
Project 1
I worked with Dr. Miranda Matthews of Goldsmiths College and Bridget McKenzie of Climate Museum UK on a funding bid to the Arts and Humanities Research Council for ??? which was successful. The title of the resulting research project is:
Ecologies in Practice: Participatory arts methods for engaging young people in climate research
In this project we will look at how interventions in arts practice can enable young people to find their own ways of expressing agency around the issues involved in the earth crisis. We will explore creative responses to biodiversity loss, environmental relationships to culture, and dialogical nature-based solutions to climate change that connect with the needs of different communities.
As a precursor to the interventions, I will run focus groups with young people to explore their previous experiences of socially-engaged creative practice, or ‘artivism’, which will guide the delivery of the interventions.
This project will take place from September 2022 - July 2023.
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Project 2
I worked with Anna Bruder, Arji Manuelpillai and Ross Bolwell-Williams from A Line Arts on the Learning Labyrinth project, which received funding from Arts Council England.
A Line Arts describe the project as follows:
Following on from creating Outdoor Games for a variety of public spaces, we became interested in the potential of how play can inspire not only physical literacy, but unlock new and surprising perspectives and moments of connection. We know for many schools that classroom spaces come at a premium, and we want to use this opportunity to explore how communal spaces in schools (corridors, halls and playgrounds) can be utilised as places of wonder, connection and stimulation.
Accessibility has always been central to our work and philosophy, and we want to create an artistic environment which can tap into multiple senses and ways of experiencing “the art”. We envisage the Learning Labyrinths will utilse every corner of the school, taking students on a daily “unforgettable” journey where learning can spill out and connect the whole school community.
The following enquiry questions form the basis of the R&D:
How can communal spaces be reviewed as places of possibility and positive interaction?
How can artistic spaces help to focus learners?
How can a shared artistic intervention change the culture of school?
Can sensory pathways increase children/young people’s curiosity and desire to learn?
Can a corridor/school hall hold as much learning possibility as a classroom?
Are communal spaces environments which can encourage positive connections?
Can sensory practices benefit everyone in the school? (both in mainstream settings as well as SEND settings)
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