profile of a community arts and cultural development projectkickstart.org.au/docs/profile of home...

© KICKSTART ARTS 2010 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. NO PART OF THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE REPRODUCED OR TRANSMITTED IN ANY FORM OR BY ANY MEANS WITHOUT PERMISSION. http://kickstart.org.au/

PROFILE OF A COMMUNITY ARTS AND CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT PROJECT.

WRITTEN BY RICHARD BLADEL WITH JAMI BLADEL.

HOME TRUTHS: PROFILE OF A COMMUNITY ARTS AND CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT PROJECT.

© KICKSTART ARTS 2010 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. NO PART OF THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE REPRODUCED OR TRANSMITTED IN ANY FORM OR BY ANY MEANS WITHOUT PERMISSION. http://kickstart.org.au/ PAGE 2

HOW DO YOU MAKE ART WITH THE BROKEN HEARTED? Some had survived war, genocide and dislocation. Others had been homeless, experienced domestic conflict, substance abuse or lived with mental illness. Tasmaniaʼs Kickstart Arts made art about home with 32 extraordinary young people in 2004. Together they grew from a group of strangers to what many described as the “home truths family,” reporting they felt more connected, positive and better understood. We spoke to some of them six years later and the professional artists and support workers who helped them tell some Home Truths. THE EXHIBITION The HOME TRUTHS Exhibition opened at the Carnegie Gallery, Hobart at 6 pm Wednesday November 10th. It was open to the public until Saturday November 13th 2004. Out of the 32 young people who participated in the project, 18 made art works for the exhibition. The other young people participated in workshops and weekend camps. THE ART

SUDAN/TASMANIA by Godfrey Wani. Digital prints on acetate. BECʼS NOOK by Rebecca March. Digital prints, baby scan, pregnant guitar, arranged objects & furniture. IMAGINE THE HOME YOU LIVE IN DESTROYED by Irene Nyirangabimana, Carine Maniragaba & Yvonne Ilibagiza. Digital print (from original photo by Paul Dresden) & text EATING ALONE by Mohamed Bangura (aka Nyuma Bangura) , Shukri Utura, Binyam Behane, Yaphet Gemechu Chiro & Mamush Utura. Arranged objects & furniture, installation, video EATING TOGETHER by Mohamed Bangura (aka Nyuma Bangura), Shukri Utura, Binyam Berhane, Yaphet Gemechu Chiro & Mamush Utura. Acrylic paint, arranged objects & furniture, video. TAKING CONTROL by Isaac Szemes. Original music, car door installation & video. FAR AWAY FROM MY LIFE by Lawrence Gino. Digital prints, projection & text. SMASHING by Dawn Robey. Collage & door sculpture, soundscape.



SPLIT by Mark Bryant. Domestic installation & soundscape. PERSPEXTIVE by various artists. Drawing on Perspex. A QUIET PLACE by Lawrence Gino. Large digital print. UNTITLED by Anita Abrihimaj. Large Digital Print STICKING AROUND by Dawn Robey. Staff sculpture & text FREEDOM LICENCE by Binyam Berhane. Digital print & string. VIDEO DIARY by various artists. Video. THE HOME TRUTHS PHOTO ALBUM by various artists with Lucia Rossi.

QUOTES FROM HOME TRUTHS: AN EVALUATION OF A COMMUNITY ARTS PROJECT, FINAL REPORT WRITTEN BY TERESA HINTON, MARCH 2005 One in four exhibition attendees rated the quality of the art. 48% said the quality of the Art was Excellent and 37% said Very good. 55% said the presentation of the art in the gallery was Excellent and 31% rated it very good. When asked if they had learnt anything new about refugees, 51% said yes, 35% learnt something new about young people 22% had learnt something new about home. 11% said the same about art; 33% had changed their thinking about refugees; 25% had changed their thinking about young people 27% had changed their thinking about home. 14% said the same about art exhibitions. ʻAt first I thought there wasnʼt much here but then the enormousness of it all hit me. I found it quite harrowing. I clearly got some message. I wish all these people find what they are looking for.ʼ EXHIBITION ATTENDEE ʻThis exhibition is brilliant and should be compulsory viewing for all youth and people involved with youth, refugees and art. It should be showing for a longer time. Just as Iʼm ready to tell everyone that itʼs a must see, its finishing.ʼ EXHIBITION ATTENDEE ” Since the exhibition organisations in the (Home Truths) partnership have reported an interest from the general public which had not been there before and there have been offers of volunteer help from high school students which has reinforced the community development remit of agencies:” ʻMany have rung in since the exhibition to offer help. There is a lot of negative publicity about refugees and people donʼt differentiate between different situations. This means community development is an essential component of our work and its about educating people about the refugee experience.ʼ YOUTH SERVICE PARTNER



ʻI feel very proud of the art we made, the way it looked at the Gallery in town was great.ʼ ʼ PARTICIPANT ʻI felt the installation was a good representation of me.ʼ PARTICIPANT PROCESS

THE PEOPLE DEFINE THE PROCESS In early 2003 Kickstart Arts was approached by Migrant Resource Centre youth worker Thuy Shaw for help to engage a large group of young refugees with complex needs in positive activity that would benefit their wellbeing. Following a series of meetings to explore what was needed, Kickstart Arts Artistic Director Richard Bladel suggested he and Thuy meet and share ideas with other youth services that struggled with the same issues. A few weeks later, Kickstart Arts formed a partnership with The Migrant Resource Centre, Hobart; DHHS Mental Health Rehabilitation Services; DHHS Pulse Youth Health Centre and Family Drug Support Tasmania in order to develop a collaborative arts project that would engage young people in creative exploration of what was important to them. After 6 weeks of getting to know the young people and much planning and discussion, the Home Truths project was born. Home Truths became about finding ways to:

INTEREST REFUGEE AND AT RISK YOUNG PEOPLE enough to get involved and stay involved in high quality collaborative art making that: helped them feel connected; improved their self esteem and general wellbeing; explored their own lives and sense of home as an act of self determination; CONVINCE YOUTH SERVICE ORGANISATIONS that community cultural development would benefit their clients well being and their service delivery through providing new ways to engage in constructive dialogue with young people; ENTERTAIN AND INFORM A GENERAL AUDIENCE through witnessing the young peopleʼs compelling artwork in a highly credible art gallery space. We hoped this would break down negative stereotypes and fear, as well as provide a public voice for people whoʼd felt silenced.

By the time the project was completed in November 2004, weʼd achieved all of the above. QUOTES “When trust had broken down at home and school, relationships were frayed and youth workers were at a loss, thatʼs when we sent in the artists.” RICHARD BLADEL QUOTES FROM HOME TRUTHS: AN EVALUATION OF A COMMUNITY ARTS PROJECT, FINAL REPORT WRITTEN BY TERESA HINTON, MARCH 2005 “Engaging such a diverse group in these circumstances must be seen as a considerable achievement... The impact of the project on young people was significant and had enhanced their sense of well being.” PARTNER YOUTH SERVICE WORKER



ʻThey were able to talk in an environment with people they trust and divulge personal things and actively produce something rather than only being able to do it mentally with a counsellor. It helped them to externalise psychological issues, tell their stories and feel listened to. It has given them other ways of seeing their lives, engaging them in life again and a better understanding of art.ʼ PARTNER YOUTH SERVICE WORKER ʻThe key has been individual work with professional artists. They felt so valued and their ideas were pushed and they were pushed to develop them where they would normally give up. So it was the interest shown in them and being treated as equals and empowered.ʼ PARTNER YOUTH SERVICE WORKER WHY DID WE DO HOME TRUTHS?

THE UNSUNG SOLUTION: COMMUNITY ARTS AND CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT Research from the UK, USA, Canada and Australia proves that through involvement in arts activity young people report increased feelings of wellbeing, confidence and improve their sense of control over their lives and are better able to develop supportive social networks. (Jermyn 2001, Matarasso 1997). Making art is a valuable activity for itʼs own sake. The significance of the creative expression of values, issues, ideas, personal experience and imagination is too often misunderstood, underestimated or ignored. Home Truths was designed as a response to the needs and interests of young people: Young refugees who had lived through war and dislocation now suffered anxiety and loneliness and were subjected to racist abuse, negative stereotyping or violence. A large number of young people werenʼt well served by the Tasmanian education system and felt alienated in general. Many experienced abuse, mental illness or domestic conflict and were poorly understood or even blamed for their circumstances. They lacked a public forum to put their points of view. Young people were increasingly perceived with fear and mistrust in the media and general community. Boredom, depression, violence, vandalism, risk taking with cars, alcohol and drugs were perceived to be on the rise. Young people we got to know merely wanted to be understood, make new friends and have fun; they enjoyed soccer, music, movies and dancing. Most were interested in photography, video and performance. Home Truths also provided an effective response for youth health and support services: We helped them open up conversations and contact with young people on a deeper, more personal level. We helped them promote the young peopleʼs wellbeing more effectively.



We helped them create stronger relationships with the young people to aid service delivery. We helped them act strategically for improvement in social policy. Want to know more? Go to http://kickstart.org.au/resources/ WHO MADE HOME TRUTHS? Youth worker Thuy Shaw and The Bonza youth group of the Migrant Resource Centre, Hobart. Occupational Therapist Debbie Hewson and the Department of Health & Human Servicesʼ Mental Health Rehabilitation Services. Deb had worked with Kickstart Arts in 2002 -3. Creative arts worker Mathew Fargher, health worker Steve Edwards and the Pulse Youth Health Centre. Pulse and Kickstart Arts had a long-term partnership spanning over multiple projects. Project Officer Leanne Decleva and Family Drug Support Tasmania supported young people in conflict over drug related issues. 2 professional photographers – Lucia Rossi and Les Allester; 1 musician/community artist Mathew Fargher; 1 installation artist Scot Cotterell; 1 artistic director/writer/video maker Richard Bladel; 1 set designer Marie Fitzgibbon; 1 publicist Michelle McGinity; 1 social researcher Teresa Hinton + additional help from 1 designer/maker Gerhard Mausz, 1 video maker Rick Mourant, 1 set builder John Bowling and 1 graphic designer Dean DeVries. 3 volunteers - Rachel Edwards, Travis Page & Xavier Lane - Mullins 32 young people: 13 girls and 19 boys. 7 were aged 13-15 years, 15 were aged 16-19 years and ten were aged 20-25 years. 10 were born in Hobart suburbs & surrounds - Glenorchy, West and South Hobart, Bridgewater, Moonah and Carlton. 22 were born outside Australia including 10 from Ethiopia, 5 from Sudan, 1 from Macedonia, 1 from Zimbabwe, 2 from Rwanda, 2 from Sierra Leone and 1 from Vietnam. Many of the refugee young people moved to other states in 2005 and beyond.



HOW DID WE PRODUCE HOME TRUTHS? Home Truths began with a large group of troubled young strangers and through helping them share elements of their inner selves by making art together they began to feel, in the words of many participants “like part of the Home Truths family.” We felt that feelings of trust, of being valued as individuals and the ability to take creative risks were vital for success. These were not easy things to achieve. Key elements in achieving this were: We LISTENED more than we spoke. We spent a lot of time in GETTING TO KNOW THE YOUNG PEOPLE, their interests, needs and life situations. We chose RELEVANT art forms and project theme. We REMAINED FLEXIBLE to evolving interest in our conceptual and practical approach. We PROVIDED STRONG INCENTIVES to attend art-making workshops by offering seaside camps with fun social activities as part of the program. No pressure to participate for those unwilling to commit. We PROVIDED QUICK FUN RESULTS in art making and quality equipment, materials and time with skilled artists to develop the work at young peopleʼs pace. We CREATED AN ATMOSPHERE OF SAFETY AND TRUST in all workshops through fun improvisation games and insisting on respect, listening and awareness to build creativity, group cohesion and confidence. We ENCOURAGED DEEPER PERSONAL EXPLORATION leading from initial creative WORKSHOPS WITH EXPERT PERSONAL SUPPORT FROM YOUTH HEALTH WORKERS for participants before, during and after the project. We ENSURED YOUNG PEOPLE CONTROLLED, MADE AND COMPLETED THE ART according to their interests. The mix of large and small group activities and one on one art making with artists was key. We ENCOURAGED AMBITION, BOLDNESS AND QUALITY EXPRESSION and professional presentation of young peopleʼs art for exhibition.



GETTING STARTED Great things come from seemingly small moments, and this project was a response to a call for help. Something that the community and health sector and arts organisations share is the scarcity of resources, making the idea of working creatively together all the more attractive. FEBRUARY 6 – MARCH 12, 2003 PARTNERSHIP FORMED Thuy Shaw from the Migrant Resource Centre approached Kickstart Arts for help to engage young refugees, and Richard Bladel met and got to know them. After some meetings with other youth services with similar challenges, a partnership between 4 organisations was formed to address common needs and produce the project. The organisations were: The Migrant Resource Centre, Hobart; Pulse Youth Health Centre, Glenorchy; DHHS Mental Health Rehabilitation Services and Family Drug Support Tasmania. APRIL 17 - MAY 5 STEERING COMMITTEE The partners formed a steering committee, agreed upon aims and objectives and project parameters, brainstormed engagement processes and art form ideas and created a two page project design proposal for further discussion with young people over following weeks. Richard Bladel proposed that project partners agree to contract an independent evaluation consultant to conduct a detailed evaluation survey involving partners, health workers, artists, participants and their families and audience. This would assist partners to gauge the effectiveness of the project against its and their own aims and objectives. The Steering Committee agreed to this, and funds were to be raised through the grant applications. MAY 8 - 12 PROJECT DEVELOPMENT A more detailed proposal including creative personnel, working process and timeline developed through consultation with young people and delivered to steering committee. JUNE 17 – NOVEMBER 30, 2003 FUNDING Richard presented funding applications to Steering Committee for approval, then sent them off. By November, we were advised of success, but 3 funding bodies had reduced our grants by15% and we missed out on one for $25,000. 9 FEBRUARY 2004 STARTING AGAIN The funding shortfall meant a smaller arts team and fewer resources. The demands of funding processes meant 8 months had passed since weʼd actively spoken to the young people for whom weʼd designed the project. By this time, many had moved on to other places or activities. FEBRUARY 16 – MARCH 16 FIRST WORKSHOP PROMOTION Artists designed art making workshops to be held at convenient times and places. Promoting them to young people required a lot of person-to-person contact, and the youth support workers played a key role in this. MARCH 17, 18, 19, 20, 24 & 25. RETHINKING ENGAGEMENT – Despite great project promotion, we had very few people turning up to workshops. Simply holding a workshop and expecting this group of young people to come would not work. Unless we made some changes, we could easily see our meagre project funds dwindling quickly in the coming months. We had to rethink our approach.



RETHINKING ENGAGEMENT: CAMP ONE APRIL 15, 2004 - DECIDING ON A CAMP. Having attracted few young people to our first workshop series, the Steering Committee decided to offer weekend camps as an alternative method of engagement, as these were popular for Thuyʼs Migrant Resource Centre group. MAY 3 – 31 - INITIAL PLANNING FOR CAMP. The Steering Committee decided on holding 2 camps a month apart, starting in August at Conningham, by the Derwent River 35 minutes south of Hobart. Workshops between and after camps could progress the work to a solid exhibition outcome. We discussed broader concepts, art form offerings and structure. The diversity within the group meant weʼd need to offer alternative ways for young people to get involved. JUNE 7 – 28 - SPARKING INSPIRATION. To develop a workshop outline for each art form at Camp, the arts team brainstormed and collected diverse reference material, then focussed down on fewer thematic approaches to encourage clarity and unity. We explored the most powerful questions in engaging young people: Why make art? What can it do for me? Will it be fun? We wanted to encourage them to play, to explore who they really were, their feelings and imagination and the here and now of their lives. We structured all activities to address the fun and exploration aspects: by providing attractive materials; equipment; quick and easy results and time for exploration and experimentation. JULY 12 – 23 - FINALISING CAMP & WORKSHOP STRUCTURE. We generated a final workshop timetable draft for all stake holders to review, and then finalised it. We wanted to introduce young people to a really broad range of creative possibilities. The young people would be able to move through a series of different art form workshops or activities over the weekend according to their interests, these included: writing/story recording workshops; music/theatre/movement workshops; music recording studio, video diary room; visual arts/photography workshops with scanners, projections, Perspex drawing & assorted materials to work with light box work stations; Lesʼs Stick Universe – making Nomad Sculptures from sticks on the beach; disposable camera photography and automatic drawing. We then procured the equipment and materials weʼd need and made final production arrangements. Social researcher Teresa Hinton began the evaluation process with participants and artists at this stage. AUGUST 6 - 8 - CAMP ONE – THE PROJECT BEGINS. 32 young people, 3 youth workers and 4 artists met over two and a half days. Many young people were visibly nervous, so we began by introducing everybody through fun group work and simple creative warm ups that got everyone laughing and feeling more relaxed. Once weʼd broken the ice, we organised small groups of young people to begin to move through workshops every 3 hours with a tea break in the middle. As the work progressed, we explored art forms and materials that began to address ideas of home. Artists developed relationships with individual and small groups, introduced young people to art making technology like scanners, projectors and digital cameras, and to a variety of materials and creative methods to explore home. By Camp Oneʼs end, most young people had loosened up, enjoyed forming positive new relationships, and were successfully introduced to some technology, materials and creative methods to explore home. Most importantly, weʼd been able to spend focused time to gain an understanding of who these young people were and what interested and excited them.



Our task now was to inspire young people to further deepen the relationships and exploration.

HOW DID WE BUILD TRUST IN HOME TRUTHS ? A key success of Home Truths was the level of trust we managed to generate within such a diverse group of young people, allowing many to feel safe enough to share traumatic events from their lives, and express their ideas and feelings about these through art making. Being a part of Home Truths opened up conversations that were impossible beforehand. Exploring or sharing personal experience in a creative group setting can bring up difficult emotions and states of mind. For many people these can affect their behavior and ability to cope with everyday life. Because of this, we ensured that participants had qualified health or support workers who understood them, had time to devote to their involvement in the project and knew them in an ongoing relationship in order to help sort through any difficulties one on one. We ensured that this support was available on an ongoing basis within the process itself – before we started, in art making workshops as well after the project was complete. We have directly experienced the positive effect of group creative work, it can help us all feel less isolated, more supported and better understood. However, people only venture to address difficult or painful aspects of their personal stories if they feel ready and safe enough to do so, in their own time, and on a level they can manage. We wish to always promote positive psychology within groups of participants. It was also important for artists to have health care support workers to help them deal with emotional or behavioral problems that could arise in workshops. We recognised that professional artists ought not to be expected to manage negative behavior of participants – they were not counselors, health or support workers. Participants also sometimes had special needs in terms of mobility, medication, treatment, injury, behavior management or other limitations to their ability to participate that we did not know about or were not trained to deal with. We encouraged support workers to participate in workshops as equals, as having spectators could provide barriers to participation. Trust and Workshop Process A key to the success of workshops was the creation of a safe place where participants could experience a degree of relaxation, trust in themselves and trust in the group. This was a challenge for those who had suffered trauma, violence or illness. Fear of being laughed at or put down for an idea or creative offering is negative - creative work is very difficult to conduct in an atmosphere of fear. We began with theatre based improvisation games to focus the group and bring them into a place of shared energy, relaxation and fun. We began by getting everyone physically active, having a laugh, learning each otherʼs names and connecting with their sense of spontaneity. Spontaneity is the core of creativity, and it is actively promoted by improvisation exercises. Improvisation involves verbalising or acting upon your first thought or impulse, without hesitation or judgment, without trying to be clever. This can be confronting for people, as life sometimes teaches us that we can get ourselves into trouble this way. We practice this in the workshop space only as tools for creative process, not as tools for living. Improvisation requires a willingness to play and an active paying attention to what others are communicating to you physically and verbally.



No one was pressured to participate in creative workshops, but we did discourage “watchers” as they could have made people feel self-conscious. We tried to make sure that the spirit of ʻhave a goʼ ruled. If the situation called for it, workshop facilitators openly asked that a set of rules be consented to by the group. We put it in the positive - all participants ideas and suggestions free of put downs were valued. We were aware that everybody needed a laugh and to have lots of fun, and we felt the rules allowed fun and trust to take place. The following were not necessarily stated verbally at the beginning. The rules we decided upon were: Respect and listening to one another is valued. Itʼs best if one person speaks at a time. Everyone gets a turn to speak if they wish. No put downs, verbal or otherwise allowed, no laughing at each other (Laughing with is ok). No teasing, no name calling, no abuse, violence, gossip, vilification, racism, sexism or negative personal comments of any kind in group processes. No-one can volunteer anyone else to do anything without their consent. (To encourage is OK) Personal privacy must be observed outside workshop settings. Personal stories sometimes require anonymity to be expressed.

WORKSHOPS AFTER CAMP ONE AUGUST 10, 2004 - DEBRIEF AND PLANNING. Artists and youth workers drew upon the creative work that attracted the strongest interest at camp - music, photography, video, building sculptural spaces, personal story and experimenting with shapes and objects through projection - to construct a method to inspire further creative exploration and take young peopleʼs creative energy into a focused direction. AUGUST 11 - CONCEPT TO PROCESS. We started thinking of home as an exterior manifestation of identity and made a list of elements that formed our identity. Lucia suggested a concept inspired by Aboriginal photographer Tracey Moffatt, whose staged images using objects and people as narrative could provide us with an accessible method of encouraging young people to explore ideas of home. From our identity list, we created interesting tasks that could encourage further exploration in this direction. We organised with small groups and individuals to meet artists at home or after school to test the ideas and perhaps continue the work. AUGUST 18 – 25 - NEW IDEAS NEW ARTISTS The new creative direction had met with a positive reception from young people. Some had built upon work from Camp one, others were trying fresh approaches of their own. Because installation art was the way we were headed, Scot Cotterell and Marie Fitzgibbon joined the arts team. AUGUST 27 – SEPTEMBER 4 – EXTREME ARTMAKING Artists, young people and support workers continued image making and personal story telling about home. Workshops were a mixture of inspiration, success, frustration and halting attendance. Some workshops would move ahead well, then a key participant would have a crisis and weʼd have to wait till it was resolved before we could start again. That was why Mathew called it “extreme artmaking.” SEPTEMBER 5 – 9 - PLANNING CAMP TWO: ORGANISING TO INSPIRE Offering numerous options for making images of home necessitated bringing a truck-load of computers, projectors, cameras, sets, furniture, objects and all sorts of material to the next Camp. We planned carefully



to provide a rotating series of workshop activities that would invite young people to deepen a journey theyʼd begun only a bit over a month before...

DEEPENING THE CONNECTION: CAMP TWO THIS CAMP WOULD BE PIVOTAL FOR THE PROJECT TO SUCCEED IN ITʼS KEY AIMS - to help young people feel more connected, share and explore their own experience, deepen new relationships, and increase their confidence by exhibiting their art in public. OUR PLAN WAS AMBITIOUS BUT SIMPLE: Step 1. YOUNG PEOPLE EXPLORE AND GENERATE THEIR OWN STORIES about their relationship to home or their own experience through collaboration with artists. Step 2. CREATE IMAGES THAT EXPRESS THOSE STORIES through story telling in text or audio, the arranging of objects, projecting video and images both scanned and self generated, audio or music or 3 dimensional sculpture. AT LEAST A DOZEN YOUNG PEOPLE WOULD BE MAKING FOCUSED WORKS OF ART by the end of the camp we hoped, and they could be completed in workshops post camp. WEʼD CREATE 7 DISTINCT WORKSHOP SPACES for different creative activities to feed into each other and engage young people at different levels. One space would be for games and thereʼd be chill out zones, so those who didnʼt want to participate fully could still have some fun. We organised young people into small groups that worked well together or allowed some to work on their own. Having small groups move through the different creative spaces in a progression that helped their process from idea to completion was important, so they got enough support from artists and youth workers. FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 10 CAMP TWO DAY ONE. A more manageable group of 28 met at camp this time, and worked with 6 artists. The first night we had a Sculpture Slam. This was a fun, competitive structured improvisation with objects, a backing beat and an MC, and it helped loosen people up into thinking creatively in 3 dimensions. We had lots of laughs. The first day had started in a relaxed and positive manner, but tomorrow was going to be huge...

DEEPENING THE CONNECTION: CAMP TWO DAY TWO SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 11. Day 2 began brightly, after a group warm up, the small groups moved to their starting spaces. Each group would progress to a new space at lunch-time or as required. SPACE # 1. STORY ROOM: Gathering starting points. Young people generated stories around stuff they wanted to explore. Staff: Thuy Shaw, Richard Bladel, Xavier Lane – Mullins (a volunteer from MRC) & Deb Hewson SPACE # 2. VERANDAH: Drawing Perspex images - collages and image projection. Staff: Les Allester



SPACE # 3. DINING ROOM SET: Photography, scanning, printing and projecting images relating to story. Staff: Lucia Rossi + Scot Cotterell. SPACE # 4. MAIN ROOM SET: Making home images using furniture, objects & projected images from Spaces 1 and 3. Staff: Marie Fitzgibbon + Scot Cotterell SPACE # 5. CHAPEL: Audio recording – songs, music, words, sound. Staff: Mathew Fargher. SPACE # 6. BEACH/OUTSIDE: Developing stick sculptures. Warm ups. Staff: Les Allester, Mathew & Richard. SPACE # 7. GYM: Let off steam, play space. Staff: Supervised by Leeanne Decleva and Travis (a volunteer) As the day progressed, a strong cross-pollination between groups began as the young people got energized and awakened to new possibilities. Some very moving stories had begun to flow and the atmosphere of sharing and generous sympathy in these workshops was quite extraordinary.

WHY PERSONAL STORY? Why personal stories about home and how did we approach this? Personal story makes powerful art in any art form, but itʼs best if we try to understand the complexity of personal relationship to story. Every story has an owner or owners. Itʼs vital to respect that fact. As community arts and cultural development project artists, we acknowledged that becoming a co-custodian of a persons story is a sacred and awe inspiring responsibility. We believe the following sentiment is a key to our work:

"Walk A Mile In My Shoes" (Written by Joe South)

“If I could be you and you could be me for just one hour If we could find a way to get inside each other's mind

If you could see me through your eyes instead of your ego I believe you'd be surprised to see that you'd been blind.

Walk a mile in my shoes, walk a mile in my shoes

And before you abuse, criticize and accuse Walk a mile in my shoes.

Now your whole world you see around you is just a reflection

And the law of common says you reap just what you sow So unless you've lived a life of total perfection

You'd better be careful of every stone that you throw.” All human beings have profound life experience. Everybody can relate to the universal truths of life: relationships, a sense of place, suffering, joy, love and death. These experiences are unique to each of us, and they are the wellspring of all the creative expression we will ever undertake.



In our years of practice, many people weʼd worked with said they found it hard to believe their own life story was in any way interesting enough to be the subject of art making. They often thought of famous people, or those who had great adventures as somehow more compelling or important than theirs. It was our job to challenge those beliefs in a positive way. Home Truths was a little different. We had young people whoʼd been through wars and lost their homes. These experiences could bring up traumatic memories, troubling emotions and states of mind, so we worked closely with health and support workers during the whole project and afterwards in order to allow debriefing and counselling to take place. We had a duty of care we took very seriously. (See How did we build trust in Home Truths?) Therapy is for You, Art is for an Audience. Know The Difference. When a person has traumatic experience, great sadness or perhaps a mental illness, the recovery process can be enhanced by self-reflection assisted by journal writing, or music making or visual artwork etc. A therapist or psychologist often guides this work. This can help provide comfort and reconnect a person with their emotional world and creativity in a safe manner, as well as aid personal exploration and revelation that can facilitate healing and recovery. This is therapy: creative work made for an audience of one, ourself; or perhaps for two if we include our therapist. When we make art, we deliberately employ our skills, imagination and insight in communicating something of ourselves or our own stories with an audience of many different people. We want to entertain them, edify them, and ask them to share complex insights or emotions, but we might leave space for the audience to interpret and place their own meanings within the exchange that is taking place. They will not always share our assumptions, the context in which we have made the art, or our special knowledge; they will interpret the work in many different ways. We must not share our therapeutic based work with a general public audience believing it to be art, unless the exhibiting of this is in a special therapeutic context, with family members as part of an institutional expo, for example. When we make art, we must ask ourselves: What effect will sharing this have on an audience? For example, telling explicit tales of sexual abuse can merely revisit the pain upon others who may have had similar experience. What emotional state do we leave our audience with? Will we do more harm than good? As community arts and cultural development artists we must ask ourselves also what effect will sharing this personal story have on the owner or subject(s) of that story? If we are to behave ethically, we have a duty of care. Sometimes the storyteller or art maker is reluctant to be identified for any number of reasons. In that case, we might not attribute the story to an individual. This allows a degree of personal safety that unfolds the process more easily, and can take the pressure off individuals. Home Truths Workshop Process Our staged process aimed at helping participants feel more confident about exploring their own lives as a starting point for a work of art about home, whether it ended up as music, a song, a sculpture, performance, photograph, slideshow or video, or combination of any of these. We began with improvisation-based warm-ups to open up our creative selves and our ability to listen to others as well to our own impulses, ideas and feelings with freedom from judgment. These games had an increasing focus upon personal exploration, and progressed to writing based improvisation each being shared with the group. This was a challenge, as many in the group did



not write English. In those cases, we provided sound recorders so they could speak their words into them. A final exercise focused upon writing or recording an exploration of a personal object they had been asked to bring to camp. Each person explored the object in detail; where theyʼd got it, when, what else was going on, who gave it to them etc. The resulting story could be private if they wished, and this exercise really got story telling beginning to unfold. We also conducted exercises exploring home in words, but also with a variety of art forms, and this approach is explored in the rest of the website. The function of story* * Stories make the world. * Stories tell us who we are. * Stories tell us where we are. * Stories define community and landscape. * Stories connect the individual to community and landscape. * Stories are a mingling of breaths, of lives, of identities. * Stories mingle events, community, place and the individual. * Stories weave the listeners into a web of continuity and responsibility. * Stories present an individual's achievements and failings in relation to community and landscape. * Stories reflect the rhythms of life in landscape. The above “The function of story” is from Focus West – a news and public affairs partnership among western public television stations in the USA http://www.focuswest.org/learn/lands/story.htm



FINAL WORKSHOPS AND ARTMAKING SEPTEMBER 15 - TOWARDS A PUBLIC OUTCOME? The arts team and health workers met and reviewed progress made at Camp 2. Would we have sufficient developed work to make a show? Looking at the project objectively, despite the very short time frame, we all saw that the young people were engaged enough to proceed, and we had starting points of sufficient quality that would provide a positive exhibition outcome with the right sort of approach from this point onwards. THE WELL BEING OF THE YOUNG PEOPLE WAS THE TOP PRIORITY. We remained mindful that if the outcome could become negative for whatever reason we would withdraw from a public show, and opt instead to exhibit to friends and family, or as works in progress. NEXT WE CREATED A DEVELOPMENT PLAN, this contained a list of artworks, the elements that constituted each and what they needed to reach completion. From this we set tasks for each artist and planned how to resource them. From this point on Producer Richard Bladel kept a close check on the hours worked by each artist and limited the scope of some aspects in order to avoid artists doing extra unpaid hours of work. SEPTEMBER 17 - OCTOBER 22 – MAKING THE ART Artists and health workers collaborated with young people regularly over the next 5 weeks to develop the art, working regularly at Kickstart Artsʼ Unions Tasmania meeting room, in their homes and various studios and sheds all over Hobart and Glenorchy. SOME OF THE ART WORK DEVELOPED DURING THIS TIME INCLUDED: Lucia Rossi worked with Lawrence Gino to present his images and text; Lucia also worked with Godfrey Wani to develop his image collisions on acetate; video maker Rick Mourant edited the Eating Together Video. Designer/Maker Gerhard Mausz helped Dawn Robey and Mark Bryant saw a kitchen table and chairs in half and Marie Fitzgibbon worked with Rebecca March, who was pregnant for the first time and was exploring safety, comfort and identity in a domestic space. By late October, we were ready to develop a final exhibition plan and make final curation decisions..



CURATING HOME TRUTHS This CURATORIAL EXERCISE was about placing the different art works in the gallery space to construct a journey for the audience from one emotional and intellectual experience to the next with each supporting and leading to the next, with groupings of works that made sense in the space and in relation to each other. Part of the aesthetic of the show was using found objects and bric a brac, which could look plain cheap unless we used them in the right context. OCTOBER 30 – NOVEMBER 7 - FINAL PLAN. We constructed a final development plan of art works that would appear in the show, and it was very pleasing to see about a dozen major works of some complexity nearing completion. This period was devoted to finishing and polishing the works ready for the gallery. AN INSTALLATION PLAN of each art-work in relation to the others was created in collaboration with the young people next, outlining which artworks would fit where in the space. Further FINISHING TOUCHES were made to art works right up to the last minute on Sunday 7th, and we loaded up materials, tools and equipment ready for an early start getting the show into the gallery on Monday morning. MONDAY NOVEMBER 8 – WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 10 - INSTALLING HOME TRUTHS. Two and a half days was a very short time to collate a collection of pretty raw art works that had existed only in various sheds, lounge rooms, workshops and offices and collaborate with young people to install them into a professional looking exhibition. Despite the profound nature of Les Allesterʼs work creating the ephemeral stick sculptures with young people during the camps, the arts team made the difficult decision not to include one in the final show. FINAL PREPARATIONS FOR THE LAUNCH were made during Tuesday: ensuring catering was organised; invitations and RSVPʼs were all in; speeches written and catalogues were printed and collated. Social researcher Teresa Hinton created an EVALUATION SHEET for those attending the exhibition. This asked how people had heard about the exhibition, why they attended, about the quality of the art and whether it had changed their views in any way about home, young people or refugees. Teresa would also interview the artists, support workers and managers of their organisations about the efficacy of the project from their point of view. WE ALL FELT A MOUNTING SENSE OF EXCITEMENT, mixed with a huge sense of responsibility and a bit of stage fright.



PROMOTING THE SHOW ʻHaving the Minister for Arts and the Lord Mayor validated it to a broad range of people and it was not a typical artistic community audience. It was everyone including those who would not normally go to a gallery.ʼ AUDIENCE MEMBER From Teresa Hinton, Home Truths: An Evaluation of a Community Arts Project, March 2005 There are specific types of promotion required at different phases of the project, each strategy varying depending on your target audience at the time. All promotion work must be attractive and professional; itʼs really worth spending the time and effort to make the show look exciting, especially as there are so many other events clamouring for peopleʼs attention. OUR PROMOTION STRATEGY INVOLVED: PROMOTING INITIAL INVOLVEMENT IN THE PROJECT TO PARTICIPANTS. PROMOTING COMMUNITY CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT TO YOUTH SERVICE PARTNERS. PROMOTING THE PROJECT AND ART TO AUDIENCE. PROMOTING THE VALUE OF YOUNG PEOPLEʼS ART, IDEAS AND EXPERIENCES TO THE WIDER COMMUNITY. PROMOTING INVOLVEMENT IN THE PROJECT TO PARTICIPANTS was achieved through personal contact, distributing flyers, word of mouth and by youth support workers. We worked hard to find what genuinely interested people and offered that in a manner that made sense, and they got involved. PROMOTING VALUE OF COMMUNITY CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT TO YOUTH SERVICE ORGANISATIONS was achieved through advocacy from Richard Bladel and to some extent, the other artists. Providing potential partners with research into the value of community cultural development, doing our own evaluation and having a good track record from previous projects to show people was pivotal. The fact that the Migrant Resource Centre contacted us initially was a significant indication that we were trusted enough to be seen as a potential ally. WE PROMOTED THE PROJECT TO THE AUDIENCE with help from publicist Michelle McGinity, who collaborated to write copy for Kickstart Arts and Graphic Designer Dean De Vries to create flyers, posters and newspaper ads weʼd distribute from about 5 weeks before the event. As this was before viral marketing and Facebook became widespread, Michelle also promoted the project by direct mailing invitations to the show to supporters, families, contacts and friends, and we hoped they were going to fill the opening night audience easily. We wanted the young people to feature in promotion, so Michelle organised interviews with ABC TVʼs Stateline Program. This would air on the Friday before the show opened, at 6PM on Friday November 6. WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 10, 2004 10 AM – MEDIA LAUNCH – We felt it was best to hold the launch at this time, as television and print journalists are more likely to attend, and it gives them all day to write, edit and file their stories for the evening news.



State Arts Minister, Lara Giddings, MHA,X launched the project in front of TV cameras, journalists and a small crowd of invited guests. TO PROMOTE THE VALUE OF YOUNG PEOPLEʼS ART, IDEAS AND EXPERIENCES TO THE WIDER COMMUNITY, we ensured all promotional material was professionally produced, and invited the Lord Mayor of Hobart, Alderman Rob Valentine to speak and State Minister of the Arts, Lara Giddings MHA to launch the project. We wanted a professionally produced color exhibition catalogue, so weʼd taken portrait photographs of all participants. This was another important method of signaling the seriousness of the art making to the audience. Full color was expensive, however, and as we had a limited budget, we reached a compromise whereby we had the outside cover designed and printed in color professionally, and Richard Bladel produced the inner pages in black & white. TV, radio and print media provided a method of reaching the wider community through interviews, news and current affairs stories.

THE SHOW OPENS WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 10, 2004 We all felt a huge sense of responsibility and a little bit of stage fright. Weʼd purposely made the decision to stand up on the big stage, and this was the time to make that gamble pay off. We had to do the work justice, because it contained so many delicate and beautiful sensibilities. 5 PM OPENING NIGHT – Twenty-one months after Thuy Shaw had approached us for help and the project began, weʼd arrived at the biggest night of them all. All the participants had arrived, all dressed up. It was really unusual for them to be this early, a fact remarked upon by Thuy Shaw. Everyone was really happy and excited. Volunteers served drinks and food and a huge beautiful bunch of flowers graced the entrance. 6 PM -The crowd started arriving, a few at first, then by 6:15 we had about 180 people crammed into the gallery. 6:30 PM Kickstart Arts Chairman Mark Joseph was MC and he began with an acknowledgement of prior custodianship of the land by Aboriginal people. Richard Bladel spoke first. Thuy Shaw spoke on behalf of the Migrant Resource Centre. Hobart Lord Mayor, Alderman Rob Valentine spoke. Participant Isaac Szemes (Sak) then performed Taking Control. State Arts Minister, Lara Giddings MHA launched the project.



Participant Rebecca March performed her song Hold On. Richard presented project director Lucia Rossi with a bunch of flowers and card signed by everyone for her exemplary leadership and dedication to the project. A lot of the young people who participated in the project felt the night went in a blur, as the event brought together so many friends and family to speak to, and so much attention. As we gathered for a group photo, everyone felt it had been truly an extraordinary night. 10:30 PM - most audience members had begun to leave, and exhaustion had caught up with the arts team. We cleaned up glasses, plates and other debris, as we had to open the exhibition again at 9AM in the morning. 11:15 PM - we were ready to close the doors. The feeling was one of elation. The night and the project had been a huge success.

RICHARD BLADELʼS HOME TRUTHS OPENING NIGHT SPEECH We go and see art as a means of knowing ourselves better through experiencing the inner visions of others. The home truths we are being invited to consider in this show express home as not always a sanctuary or even a safe place for many people, rather, it can be the site of violence, emotional turmoil and loss. The art in this show is asking us to open up our definitions of home, and of what constitutes art. Consider how a refugee, a young person on a low income battling to find home in the competitive rental market or someone who lives with domestic conflict might define home. It asks us to consider that the idea of home might also be a state of mind, or of heart – a place we carry within us – a connection with ourselves. The troubled visions that many of these art works express are in the end, however, a positive force. Look carefully as you view this show, for these young people have re-affirmed their core values and needs and they shine through it – the need for greater understanding, love and acceptance. The art works you will see as part of this exhibition are also acts of great generosity. The young people and artists have brought some private and domestic visions to this art gallery because they are on a journey towards understanding. We have shared a conversation that starts with the inspiring thought that we are all creative beings and our lives have the potential to be the subject of art that might be beautiful and disturbing but above all is worthwhile to confidently share with others through our art making. Diverse versions of the domestic are being brought into the art space as gifts to the audience. That the young people involved in this project shared of themselves so freely becomes all the more inspiring when we consider that the majority have had very difficult lives. Some live with mental illness, some have conflict over substance abuse and others have barely survived their escape from their once-home countries. Something they share is that issues of trust have become very problematic. Many have had their life circumstances examined or mediated by strangers from the departments of Immigration or Health and Human Services. This project is a safe place where they have been expressing how they feel about these processes and a lot else besides.



The group of artists that facilitated these art works have been resourceful, skilled and inspired and their generosity of spirit and creativity over the last 6 months has been truly remarkable. I thank them and all the health and youth workers, volunteers and young people from the bottom of my heart for participating in an incredibly challenging and worthwhile experience. Kickstart Arts Inc produced this project through an innovative partnership with DHHS Mental Health Rehabilitation Services, Pulse Youth Health Centre, Family Drug Support Tasmania and the Bonza youth group of the Migrant Resource Centre. This arts focused partnership was formed and has continued for so long because the partners recognise that supported group creative work is beneficial in promoting positive well-being and health outcomes for all participants. The youth and health workers have been integral to the art making process, and have worked alongside the artists all the way, providing vital support and inspiration for young people and for us artists. I hope you enjoy the show as much as we did creating it..



EVALUATION: WHAT DID WE LEARN? Home Truths was clearly a very successful project in accomplishing what we set out to achieve. From the independent evaluation it is clear that the project made a positive contribution to the lives of the young people involved, to the artists professional development and to developing a better understanding of young people and refugees in the wider community. But there were also aspects that were not so successful, and we learnt most from these opportunities to improve our practice. Here are some of the things we learnt. BUDGET & RESOURCES The Home Truths project had been a drain on the resources of all concerned, particularly as there had been a funding shortfall due to unsuccessful grant applications. Despite our attempt to keep within budget artists worked more hours than they should, effectively subsidising the project by working for a lower hourly rate than we all preferred. We never approve of this, and tried very hard to avoid the situation by simplifying the project where we could. The whole team made the decision to move ahead early on in the project despite the shortfall in finances, understanding what that might mean. Artists were constantly consulted on the consequences of decisions and updated on the budget situation during the process. The impetus to continue personal relationships built around the art making always meant we felt a need to complete projects in the most fulfilling way possible. The smaller budget had meant we had to make do with limited time and resources, had to move quickly in the creative work and communication became a challenge at times. So much more could have been achieved if funding bodies had adequately supported the project. The strain of running this project as well as others within Kickstart Arts annual program of community cultural development activities was unsustainable in the long term given the small level of financial support we were receiving. In Tasmania many funding bodies donʼt grasp the significance and value of community arts and cultural development in engaging the public in art. Conceptually, in Tasmania, community arts and cultural development sat uncomfortably between community development and art, and Kickstart Arts as a professional producing organization with a focus on quality, contemporary approaches, confused matters even further. It seems the value of the work needs to be proven repeatedly to bureaucracies more focused on what Eric Booth, US President Obamaʼs Arts advisor calls the “nouns” of art (Orchestras, Theatre companies etc) rather than the “verbs” – the doing of it. SHORTCOMINGS OF THE PROJECT MODEL OF COMMUNITY CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT Not having a workshop space where we could leave art work set up; a place where we could always be and provide a still point of consistency and drop in centre for these young people was a constant challenge. Projects end with close connections and a celebration with the public outcome, but then there is a let down. Itʼs difficult to encourage the relationships to continue while waiting for new funding. People go on to other things. All the momentum and good will evaporates after a while, and you have to start again.



A good example of this is Lawrence Gino, who has been involved in 4 projects since Home Truths, culminating in 2009 & 2010 with Power Hip Hop where he wrote a rap and performed in front of the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. THE CHALLENGE OF ENGAGEMENT Simply holding a workshop and expecting people to come did not work. Asking at risk young people to understand what good things might be on offer was unrealistic, especially in the context of their busy lives. Our task was to offer something out of the ordinary, something that promised and delivered fun, imagination and interest. The Camps offered this in Home Truths. THE NEED FOR FLEXIBILITY The projectʼs success had a lot to do with being able to adapt our creative process to the changing emphasis revealed as we got to know the young people better. The communication that the support workers were able to facilitate was crucial in our ability to respond to the young peopleʼs feelings and needs as we went along. It was also vital to have project directors and managers who constantly monitored the relationships and the art making processes that were unfolding. IMPROVISATION AND HOW CREATIVITY WORKS Theatre, music and writing based improvisation games as a starting process provides group energizing, relaxation, team building and fun. Spontaneity is the core of creativity, and it is actively promoted by improvisation exercises. It involves verbalising or acting upon your first thought or impulse, without hesitation or judgement, without trying to be clever. This requires relaxation, self and group trust and freedom. It also requires active listening, a willingness to play and paying attention to what others are communicating to you. All these attributes must be present to begin to make art together. TRUST AND GOOD WILL What became clear despite the many challenges was the overwhelming good will and generosity weʼd been able to generate as a group, and this was the projectʼs enduring legacy. Having artists and support workers deliberately model this attitude was pivotal in achieving this. SUPPORT WORKERS INVOLVEMENT SAFEGUARDS WELL BEING OF PARTICIPANTS It has been widely remarked that a key success was the level of trust we managed to generate within such a diverse at risk group. This allowed people the safety to share their stories, and this lessened their sense of isolation while increasing self-confidence. The process had to be supported before, during and afterwards by trained health professionals who had a strong ongoing relationship with the young person, otherwise, negative emotions could continue unchallenged. This was one reason we entered into partnerships with youth support organisations. ABOUT VISUAL ARTS AND ARTISTS Having inventive, passionate artists with intelligence and sensitivity made the project a success in creative terms. Their skills in the collaborative curating and polishing of young peopleʼs art works into a show that had many audience members in tears in such a short time was extraordinary. A STRONG CREATIVE DIRECTION THAT DIGS DEEPER WORKS It was important that we did some hard intellectual and soul searching about the meaning of the project theme, ideas and the implications of the stories that were being revealed to us. Finding a unified premise and progressively narrowing down the ideas and process set the art free.



EXCERPTS FROM TERESA HINTONʼS EVALUATION REPORT Social researcher Teresa Hinton was so impressed with the Home Truths project, that several months after researching and writing her report, she joined Kickstart Arts board of management. Excerpt from Report Summary In evaluating Home Truths and assessing outcomes there are two main questions – how far has the project been able to change the individual lives of participants and promote their well-being and how far has it resulted in longer term developmental benefits for the community? In addition it could be asked whether Home Truths has been able to unlock new solutions in the pursuit of community well-being? The project provided a safe space in which participants could explore their relationship to each other and the wider community. It has resulted in personal change and development for individuals and social change in promoting more cross cultural understanding that can bring different groups together. In this respect it demonstrates the potential of the arts to reach those who are not otherwise reached and connect them to themselves and to others. As a community development strategy it appears to work.. From the evidence gathered Home Truths has been successful in:

• developing positive relationships between peers and with families. Not only have the young people been able to make friends with people from very different backgrounds but also it has allowed the participants to see each other differently with an increase in tolerance and understanding. This has included families who have gained new insights into their children and more of a sense of community

• reducing the sense of isolation through increasing self esteem, trust and confidence and

gaining public recognition and acknowledgement through the exhibition From the evidence gathered Home Truths has been successful in:

• increasing skills levels through learning to work with others, communicating ideas and information, developing strategies to deal with anger and grief, solving problems, planning and organising activities.

• increasing health and well-being. Young people felt happier as a result of their participation

and were more confident about themselves, their abilities, where they live and their future.

• cementing new contacts and cooperation between community groups that can benefit mutual clients and the profile of participating organisations and create new understandings about their roles and the issues they aim to tackle.

• increasing public awareness of the issues facing marginalised groups and reinforcing the

will to tackle them as a community THE IMPACT ON YOUNG PEOPLE Artists and health/youth workers were asked to assess the impact of the project on the young people involved. For those who had participated fully in the project access to an environment which allowed them to externalise fear and guilt and explore emotions had initiated positive outcomes in terms of their health and well-being. For many these outcomes became visible in the early stages of the project, after the camps.



They included:

• significant/dramatic gains in confidence, self esteem and a sense of achievement • acquiring new skills– organisational skills, planning and goal setting, seeing something

through, being responsible and accountable, overcoming social anxiety, creative and technological skills

• increased rapport with health and youth workers • more appreciation of and respect for other peopleʼs ideas and ways of working

The skills acquired could be applied to most other areas of life and there was also a spiritual aspect where the process of creating became an informal therapy in itself which was more acceptable than formal counselling. As one worker said: ʻThey were able to talk in an environment with people they trust and divulge personal things and actively produce something rather than only being able to do it mentally with a counsellor. It helped them to externalise psychological issues, tell their stories and feel listened to. It has given them other ways of seeing their lives, engaging them in life again and a better understanding of art.ʼ There were positive anecdotes about particular individuals for whom the process had achieved a great deal of additional well being and a huge boost and reaffirmation of their worth: ʻHe has had his worth reinforced and his value through his engagement and he can now see himself as a hip hop star. It lifted his game musically and professionally and for him as a person. It gave him goal setting and problem solving skills through thinking through the creative process and he can now apply that to other aspects of his life and his vision is now much clearer.ʼ ʻOne person who had nothing to do, was not part of the community and was very bored now feels valued and has a role, wants to study and to step back into life. She usually struggles with bonding, letting go but she overcame her fears and gained significantly in confidence.ʼ ʻOne was very withdrawn and is now integrating into groups and has become a totally different person by the end of the camp, embraced by others and joining in. He jumped at the chance to do a writing workshop so its impacted on his self esteem and created bonds with other participants.ʼ The catalyst for these transformations was seen as the time and energy devoted to individuals as well as the opportunity to work with professional artists with a wealth of resources: ʻThe key has been individual work with professional artists. They felt so valued and their ideas were pushed and they were pushed to develop them where they would normally give up. So it was the interest shown in them and being treated as equals and empowered.ʼ In particular workers and artists talked about the value of the camps that enabled participants to meet new people and make friends and were for some the heart of the project. This meant that the impact of the project had been immediate in providing an encouraging, accepting and positive space where young people felt safe enough to explore their stories, start to open up and feel and understand their experiences in different ways through making art.



CONTENTS

HOW DO YOU MAKE ART WITH THE BROKEN HEARTED? 1

THE EXHIBITION 2

PROCESS 4

THE PEOPLE DEFINE THE PROCESS 4

WHY DID WE DO HOME TRUTHS? 5

THE UNSUNG SOLUTION: COMMUNITY ARTS AND CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT 5

WHO MADE HOME TRUTHS? 6

HOW DID WE PRODUCE HOME TRUTHS? 7

GETTING STARTED 8

RETHINKING ENGAGEMENT: CAMP ONE 9

HOW DID WE BUILD TRUST IN HOME TRUTHS ? 10

WORKSHOPS AFTER CAMP ONE 11

DEEPENING THE CONNECTION: CAMP TWO 12

DEEPENING THE CONNECTION: CAMP TWO DAY TWO 12

WHY PERSONAL STORY? 13

FINAL WORKSHOPS AND ARTMAKING 16

CURATING HOME TRUTHS 17

PROMOTING THE SHOW 18

THE SHOW OPENS 19

RICHARD BLADELʼS HOME TRUTHS OPENING NIGHT SPEECH 20

EVALUATION: WHAT DID WE LEARN? 22

EXCERPTS FROM TERESA HINTONʼS EVALUATION REPORT 24

profile of a community arts and cultural development projectkickstart.org.au/docs/profile of home...

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