Creative Toolbox is an exciting new youth creative wellbeing programme for young people from across Dumfries & Galloway dealing with low self-esteem, low confidence and/or poor mental health.
The Creative Toolbox programme was launched at a special event in April 2024, and aims to boost creativity, expand horizons and provide a gateway to further creative opportunities for young people.
Creative Toolbox is all about storytelling through various art forms, and participants have had the opportunity to work with professional artists from Dumfries & Galloway and beyond, enabling them to be inspired and empowered.
Georgia Blue, our Youth Creative Wellbeing lead, has shared an update on how the programme has been progressing this summer (and if you’d like to check out the Spring update, click here!)
“Around the project’s halfway point, the Creative Toolbox group took part in a reflective Zoom session. During this, they all took stock of all they had achieved while with us, thinking back on all the workshops they had taken part in so far.
I asked them to imagine themselves as a superhero. They were asked to note down five strengths that they have and then choose one that could be turned into a superpower. This became the basis of how they imagined their superhero. They used this perceived superpower to imagine what their costume would look like, which they were asked to sketch out, thinking particularly about a garment they could make that would enhance their character. They thought about its purpose, the type of fabric they would like to use and what colour it should be.
The textiles workshop was led by Emma & Leanne Duncan from Creation Mill & Rose’s Wardrobe. This session taught them many skills such as appliqué, sewing machines, hand stitching and crochet. They used their sketches to help visualise the garment/s they wanted to make. Their ideas were very imaginative and some final pieces included; a belted bag that could be used to store herbs and medicine for injured woodland animals, a flower tote bag that could produce any item the carrier wanted or needed and accessories such as a belt, leg warmers & necklace that helps the wearer become invisible.
During the photography workshop, Kirstin McEwan introduced the group to the basics of portraiture, looking at some famous portraits for inspiration. In small groups, they took to the Crichton Gardens and took turns to be the ‘photographer’ & the ‘subject’. They were asked to think about what background would best fit them to help create the right atmosphere for their superhero characters. Wearing the items they made during the textiles workshop, they posed in character and took some really fantastic shots of each other.
Our sound workshop was led by sound engineer Roo Cunningham. This was split into two parts, one on Zoom and one in person. Our Zoom session gave the group a basic understanding of how sound can be used to tell a story, thinking about “A Day in the Life” and what sounds you would typically hear in a morning routine. The group were asked to go on a Sound Treasure Hunt throughout their house, searching for different sounds every day items can make that could then be incorporated as sound effects.
During our in person workshop at the Crichton Central, the group split into smaller groups to write a short audio story based on their superhero characters, thinking about how each character could come together in one story. In the afternoon they were introduced to a platform called Sound Trap. They each had a shot of using the microphone to record their story, adding background music and sound effects to help enhance their story.
Our first year of Creative Toolbox has seen some young creatives flourish under the guidance of many different artists in their respective fields. They have found friendships and I have seen an incredible boost in their confidence and collaborative skills.”
The Creative Toolbox programme is now nearing the end of the first phase, and the culmination of this journey will be a sharing event to showcase the work of the young participants.
To keep up to date with all the latest Creative Toolbox news, head over to the page by clicking here.