My Introduction to Artscaping
Last Thursday, I spent the day in an immersive Artscaping experience and as luck would have it on this hemisphere, it was a glorious day for it! I didn’t know what to expect, it turns out, it was a loosely structured day of action rather than reaction.
What is Artscaping?
Our participant journal offers this description:
"Artscaping is an established arts-in-nature programme, with a growing body of research-led evidence, that supports creative learning, mental health and well-being. It places creativity and imagination at the heart of a practice that connects children and communities to their environments and landscapes.
The day was structured around creative moments designed to help participants experience first-hand, tried and tested Artscaping approaches that have been used therapeutically in child-centred settings.?
A few steps to freedom
Our group's first creative moment was making an installation using materials and inspiration we could find right outside the building. As adults accustomed to working towards a goal or deadline, it can be daunting to be sent on a mission to find and make anything we want. Once we get past the idea that no instructions are forthcoming, we slowly relax and let ourselves look for inspiration.
Bringing together pieces of art made in no less than an hour, we were awed by different creative interpretations and uses of materials. One word stood out to me from the group reflection: Freedom.?
No wrong, no right, no rules, no permission needed. With the mindset and space for it, freedom is a feeling that is not far away!
Making by moving
Our second creative moment was a whole-body exercise. It’s somewhat difficult to describe simply by writing about it. Perhaps that is the point. It was a feeling exercise. We moved around the space while listening to different pieces of music culminating in creating artwork on paper based on the real-time experience. I felt waves of self-consciousness, intrigue and immersion in the exercise. On reflection, it is the multi-dimensional aspect that made it stand out. Like I said, it’s hard to explain but every bit worth the experience in as much as it demands connections that we may not make often.
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Good or bad?
The third creative moment asked participants to explore the beauty in trees but what I produced was far from beautiful. I tried to make a 3D tree from tissue paper, but it lacked structural integrity and more importantly, patience on my part to take remedial measures. The creation hardly saw daylight and no camera action.? No surprise, not all roads lead to oh la la moments and I couldn’t help myself judging the product. I know that the bigger picture is about the process, with its comfortable discomfort and minor frustrations.
Little guerrilla art
The fourth creative moment was inspired by street art. We used photos and images to make collages with nature. I enjoyed this exercise and would like to do it again soon with a group of people. A blank canvas can be much too much sometimes and working with an existing image to build on makes it accessible and less intimidating to people.
The child in all of us
“Didn’t it feel like being back in school?” someone asked when I described the Artscaping day to them. That was a great segway to use the challenge we were set at the start of the day - to think “Yes, and…”
For children and adults alike, Artscaping can
I came away from the Artscaping experience feeling refreshed and with seeds of curiosity about the great research and organisations working in this space. I am also encouraged to look into small ways of weaving in the creative principles we learnt regularly.
Thanks to
Dr Zoe Moula and Dr Gabrielle Arenge, PhD of Kings College London
And the generous invitation from Abbey People