Community Arts
Mural Project
Timmy, Deb & Emily
In 2003 I applied for and received funding from Artstarts (NSW Department of Education and Training - TAFE Access Division) to run a mural workshop for young people between the ages of 11 and 17 from the Western Sydney area.
The project aimed to re-direct anti-social and unproductive behavior of young people to that of productivity, positive energy and focus. To allow young people to explore their creative sides, to enhance self awareness, confidence and esteem.
The young people involved in the project gained a sense of accomplishment on completion of the mural. They achieved positive community outcomes by working collaboratively on an exhibition portraying youth culture, their views and opinions.
I initiated the workshop by facilitating a discussion of issues that directly and indirectly related to young people. I encouraged the young people to open up and discuss relevant topics.
The issues that were raised in the planning and discussion of the mural by the young people, and that were regarded by them as highly important; were racism and culture, drugs and alcohol, politics and the state of the world (by some), environmental issues, (by most) and categorizing and labeling in sub cultures, young people stereo types - how older people viewed them, how they were viewed and thought of by their peers and young people in general.
On the second day we moved the discussion into pictures, where the young people put their ideas down on paper. They used various imagery from cartooning to realistic portraiture and they all aimed to design the mural with these pictorial issues outlining the above mentioned various themes.
On the third day the mural was copied onto the wall using an overhead projector and the painting process began.
Half way through the mural, I could see that the youth workers and the young people were forming closer relationships, this occurred mainly during the painting process. Via this project, I was able to harness the creative energies of the young people to boost confidence in their creative abilities all the while promoting the arts.
The mural was publicised in the Australian YMCA newspaper and The Torch newspaper.
Workshops
In 2004, I applied for and received funding from Bankstown City Council Community Grants Scheme to run ongoing workshops for young people in the Bankstown area. Entitled 'On the West' the final aim of the workshops was to exhibit the artwork to the public. The workshops were held at the Bankstown City YMCA.
The young people were able to decide from Ceramics, Painting, Sculpture and Printmaking on which medium they preferred to work in. Overall the works aimed to depict what it meant for these individual young people to live on the west side of Bankstown.
The young people involved in the project gained ownership over their work. The workshops encouraged them to explore their creative self, to enhance self awareness, confidence and esteem in their art making processes and outcomes.
In the first 10 workshops we worked closely on planning ideas and deciding on materials. Everything was to be provided by the grant, therefore I had budget constraints that needed to be adhered to. Thankfully we were able to cover costs of all equipment that was needed. Each young person received a visual diary and recorded their processes. The final 20 weeks were focused on attaining the necessary materials and working on the creation and production of the series of works. The workshops ran 3 hours per week.
We secured an exhibition space in the Revesby Workers Club where the final exhibition was able to be viewed by the public. We held an opening night, with the success of 15 of the young people's work being sold to the public.