Over the past few months, participants in our Creative Toolbox project have been collaborating with a diverse group of artists, exploring various art forms such as creative writing, illustration, textiles, photography, sound, and performance. This journey culminated in a truly inspiring exhibition at The Stove Café, part of the Conversing Building project.
We are incredibly proud of all the participants for their dedication and creativity. It was a joy to share their progress with friends and family during a private showcase at The Stove.
The exhibition featured a wide range of their work, including stunning window murals that beautifully captured the essence of the Creative Toolbox project.
Our Creative Toolbox lead, Georgia, has shared more about the event.
“August was all about the Creative Toolbox Exhibition at The Stove Cafe.
The Creative Toolbox group met once again with Marion Geoffray, who delivered a ‘party planning session’. This day allowed the group to think about what they wanted their exhibition to feel and look like. Bright, colourful and joy-inducing was their main goal. They were taken through some relaxing and meditative techniques to first help them think about their time with Creative Toolbox. They produced ideas for their very own creative manifesto asking questions such as “what inspires creativity?”, “what does creativity look like?” and “how can we access creativity within ourselves?”.
The group decided they wanted this ‘manifesto’ to be picture and not word based so it could be accessible to everyone and allow others to have their own take on what they see, rather than being directly told. “Art is subjective after all.”
On the exhibition installation day, participants helped to design their window mural display. They were given creative freedom to doodle, draw and write things that made them happy, including song lyrics, cartoons, and motifs. We were very thankful for the help of Katie Anderson, The Stove’s Public Art Lead, and Kirstin McEwan, who curated the work created by the participants. There were superhero costumes, poems, storyboards and fables, photography and QR codes on each table that directed people to their audio stories. By the time we had finished at The Stove Cafe, it was unrecognisable due to all their amazing work. It definitely was bright, colourful and joy inducing, and the group left feeling proud seeing their work displayed.
The exhibition took place for two weeks with a live showcase to invited friends and family. Guests were welcomed to the sound of a very eclectic playlist, each song chosen by the participants. It can be listened to here, and you can see for yourself how varied and wonderful their music taste is.
The evening was introduced by Creative Director Lucy Bell, and Youth Lead Georgia Blue Ireland, who then passed it over to the participants. Participants Kayla, Ella and Katie bravely spoke a few words about what this project has meant to them and how it has fueled confidence in their personal lives. Guests were then given paper and pens to draw/write whatever creativity means to them which was then added to the Manifesto Wall in addition to their own Creative Manifesto. Their movie trailer, created at Sky Studios, was shown, along with their audio stories, to much laughter in the room. The evening was rounded off by Kayla, Ella and Katie reading poems written by themselves and other participants from the group.
On a personal level, this project has meant the world to me. I can’t get over just how talented this group is, their imaginations inspire me to keep that inner child alive. I have watched the progression of this group and really seen each of them come into themselves. It has been quite incredible seeing their confidence and self-esteem grow since their first session with us back in April. I offer a safe space in the groups to allow them to find their own voices at a speed that is comfortable to them. We have so many laughs in the room, and I always act the fool, being silly and laughing at myself, which I feel encourages the participants to open up and do the same. I am just so proud of what they managed to achieve for their exhibition and am so excited to continue this creative process in their graduate programme. We have some really cool things planned (things I would have LOVED to do when I was younger, how lucky am I that I get to do it now as a job!) and I can’t wait to share what they create next!”
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