making of us reflections update #5
That’s it! We’ve finished our Making of Us project. Six artists, three different projects, three different partners. Watch the film.
Image: ‘Musical’ postcards
I’ve blogged about my experience throughout the project. But I wanted to finish by recording some of my main overall takeaways in case these are useful for the second cohort of artists just starting their Making of Us journey, or perhaps for artists taking part on similar programmes.
A recap on the format of our sessions with True Colours learners
1 x ‘getting to know you’ session
3 x taster workshops (for photography: ways of seeing, framing/macro focus, and lightpainting)
1 x review workshop (to select favourite images, recap on music learnt, and to brainstorm topics and ideas for what the learners wanted to do the next block of 3 weeks)
3 x ‘around the world’ workshops (France – food flat lays, Spain – portraits, China – lightpainting dragons and lanterns)
1 x celebration workshop (to select favourite images, share music learnt with each other and to say goodbye)
1 x drop off goody bag session.
For each session we:
Spent 10 minutes on warm-ups
Split the group of 5 into two teams, one taking part in music and the other in photography (swapping over after 35 minutes)
Spent 10 minutes on a warm-down and evaluation plenary.
Main takeaways
1) It’s absolutely worth putting the time and effort into designing and delivering icebreaker warm-ups, and the right choice of game can help get to know participants.
2) Incorporating at least one ‘getting to know you’ session with the learners was pivotal – it helped us understand the level of the learners as much as it started the ball rolling with introductions.
Image: ‘Musical’ postcards
3) My artist partner Sarah and I thought a lot about whether we picked the right format. The short workshops/splitting the group into music and photography worked well for the five learners. It meant the groups were small (giving more time for helping individual learners) and the time allocation was about right in terms of their concentration levels. On the flip side, Sarah and I were then separate for everything apart from the plenary and opener. Although we pooled ideas at the start and midpoint as to how the sessions could be delivered, it wasn’t as collaborative in delivery. My main takeaway is to go with what’s right for the learners even if that might not necessarily result in the best outcome for you as a collaborative artist pairing.
4) If I was doing the project again, I’d have involved True Colours a lot more in the earlier stages during the residency where we developed our delivery plan. I would have wanted more collaborative time with the staff beforehand and for them to be more involved in the sessions both in terms of design and participation. This might have helped the partner understand more about our artistic process, socially engaged or participatory practice and the aim to give learners more agency. Ideally, support staff should remain the same all the way through if possible to develop their own CPD, but also a relationship with the artists too.
5) I’ve learnt that small wins really are big successes – one of the learners described how proud they were of their work in week 2 and how they didn’t think they’d ever be able to do photography. A big smile says it all! Just turning up each week was also a decent measure of success.
6) The project has demonstrated to me that process is more important than the final product. Instigating conversations can be enough - there’s no need to create anything else. Although saying that, we’ve produced musical postcards and put together goody packs for the learners so they have something to be proud of! The QR code on the postcard links through to recordings of the music they created with Sarah, and the images are ones selected by the learners in their review sessions.
7) The programme has made me consider how I don’t end up being just a resource as an artist, moving from teacher to collaborator with a group. It’s made me think about how everyone is involved and has reassured me that my interest in - and background with - inclusive practice can absolutely come into play here to ensure the artist is equal. I think if we’d had another block of 4 weeks on the programme it’s likely we would have achieved that – but as it stands, on reflection I think my experience on Making of Us has been more about participatory arts than true socially engaged practice.
8) It’s really emphasised the benefit of networking with other artists. It’s been such a welcoming and encouraging environment to learn from each other and to gain new ideas and contacts. So lean on your fellow artists for support and engage with them as much as possible!
What’s next for me
Image: Dropping off goody bags and certificates with some of the learners at True Colours, July 2021.
It’s inspired me to do more work like this in the community so I’m actively looking for other similar opportunities;
It’s made me think about what success looks like for me as an artist, what I want at this stage of my career;
I’ll definitely be using the learning and skills from Making of Us on other projects (I’m already doing that with my Open Eye Gallery socially engaged micro-commission) and feel more confident about applying for other commissions;
I’ll be using some of the fundraising knowledge gained to develop and apply for a new project I have in mind which focuses on the peri-menopause and menopause.
If you’d like to follow the new cohort on Making of Us you’ll be able to do that via the website and hashtag #MakingofUs. There’s also going to be a conference in 2022, so keep an eye out for that.
Finally, I’d like to say thank you to The Turnpike for being such a fab host, the Making of Us co-ordinators and creative assistant team, my fellow artist partner-in-crime Sarah, and of course the learners, for making this such a fun project to work on.