Every Tuesday morning, for five weeks throughout April and May, I facilitated a series of ‘Adventures in Art’ workshops for Attenborough Arts Centre in Leicester. I’ve worked with AAC before, including when it was previously known as Embrace Arts. I like returning to Leicester, getting drawn back for the odd bit of work, always with a pinch of nostalgia having completed my Masters in Art in Museum and Gallery Studies there from 2006-07. How has it been ten years already?!
‘Adventures in Art’ are 2-hour, drop-in workshops for anyone at any level who has an interest in art-making, wants to learn new techniques and have a dedicated space to develop their individual practice or projects. All-encompassing, it was the first time I had worked with such a large group with mixed capabilities, from the very independent art-informed practitioner to people with physical and learning disabilities needing assistance and support. Taking some extra time to plan and prepare each session, I made sure I had a variety of different activities appropriate for, and flexible to, everyone’s capabilities and interests. It was an incredibly dynamic and insightful few weeks with some amazing people and minds…and art! I wish I could have worked with them all for longer (they said the same too!). Here’s a taster of what was created over the five weeks:
Concertina book-making…
Mono-printing…
Henri Matisse inspired papercut greeting cards…
Chinese papercutting…
Marbling…
Finally, I have to show you this print by one of the workshop attendees. He had a meticulous eye for detail when drawing and could copy anything like-for-like, astounding me (and others) with his skill. Anyway, he showed me some prints he’d created in a previous workshop session, where this one (below) stood out. It immediately spoke to me as a visual metaphor for today’s power struggles, uprisings and socio-political pantomimes we are reading, seeing, hearing in the media on a daily basis.
To the power of the individual and the power of art…
Rachel Marsden's Words 