To be fair, you never know if your idea for a workshop is going to be working for people or not. It's a bit of a gamble (well, a thought-through gamble)but it is difficult to predict how people will respond.
The idea for my workshop was based on a few conditions: people of any age should be able to participate, people who come in should be able to participate for a few minutes or for an hour depending on what they prefer and the theme of the workshop has to relate to the current exhibition.
I chose to stick a very large white paper to the floor and drew multiple dots on it. People were supposed to 'connect the dots' by picking two dots and draw something from one dot to the other without getting their pencil from the paper whilst drawing something that represents them. The current exhibition has a theme that relates to reflection. I wanted people to reflect upon themselves and think about who they are or who they would like to be.
A group of families came in and some kids were eager to start drawing. Their concentrated faces, their pensive glances and their eagerness to create something was wonderful to see. How great is it that children don't feel boundaries, shame or worries when they create art? They can be so straight-forward and serious about what they are doing, something I believe many adults could learn from. However, some adults dared to draw something as well and together it made a great combination of different drawings. Basically, the drawings of people representing themselves where connected to other people by the dots, which I believed was a nice side-effect.
Not only did the visitors liked it, my colleagues and even the art educator from the gallery liked my idea and would be interested in implementing it again!
Not only did I enjoy my first art workshop, it makes me want to do it again, and again. It just made me even more sure: I want to become an art educator.
WHO: Visitors and me
WHAT: Sunday Art Workshop
WHERE: Fabrica Art Gallery, Brighton, UK
I love this idea Yashira! At first i thought you meant rows of dots close together like a grid, but i much prefer the spacing out of the dots to allow more room for the drawings as you have done. I hope you can do another workshop soon! great idea!
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