The STEAM 2013 workshops would not have been possible without the unbridled efforts and contributions of the volunteers who helped.
The volunteers set up the inking up areas, supported the participants and worked tirelessly as a team to ensure that the workshops became two very successful events.
Artahead would like to thank the following people:
“STEAM was a well-planned project initiated by a collaboration of enthusiastic artists. The sessions felt like we all partied together in art!”
“The most valuable part of the experience for me was the sense of community I felt, the sense of purpose as a result of being involved and the chance to share and build on my own experience around art.”
“This feeling of working hard within a group was really rewarding: everyone’s input seemed equally important and appreciated, from hanging pictures to making the tea.”
“Engaging with an event like this really does highlight how important art is – for our health, for our culture, our communities and for wider society as a whole.”
“It proved valuable to gain insight into how a considerable number of people can come together on such a large undertaking and turn art into a democratic and enjoyable process.”
“During the full two days of the workshops I felt that everyone was learning from each other and sharing their own creative approaches; collaboration seemed to be encompassing the whole project.”
Clare Gallagher
Frances McCann
Samantha Briscoe
Amy Owen
Volunteer Testimonials
Kim Cruickshank Inns:
“STEAM was a well-planned project initiated by a collaboration of enthusiastic artists. As a volunteer/art student I gained valuable experience and had a great deal of fun! There was a diverse range of people that participated in the sessions, everyone was welcome to engage in whichever ways they liked. The sessions felt like we all partied together in art!”
Click on volunteer names to read individual testimonials
Volunteer Induction
Aim of training:
- to better understand people with a learning disability
- to enable volunteers to successfully communicate and connect with participants, allowing access to the workshop activities
- to introduce the concept of “complex needs” and what this means in facilitation work
- to give an overview of the project and share the artists’ aspirations for the workshops
The volunteer training event aimed to raise awareness of the nature of learning disability with the purpose of enabling good communication between volunteers and participants of the workshops. The concept of “complex needs” was introduced and this offered the opportunity to discuss possible barriers to facilitation, such as unfamiliar behaviours.
Examples of previous facilitation work offered ways to create an engaging atmosphere; these were shared in the form of discussion and the showing of two short films. Exploration Art Project by Nickova Behling showed the artist working with people with profound and multiple needs and Mike Corlett gave an insight into his facilitation work at Grace Eyre where he works with people with moderate learning disabilities. The films prompted questions from the volunteers about applying different approaches and methods in order to engage participants in the workshops.
A case study of a person who was reluctant to participate was then discussed in small groups and ideas were shared about how to engage the person in the activity.
Lastly a film was shown of the artists testing out the “steam” roller prior to the workshops, this gave a flavour of the excitement there was to follow and the artists’ expectations and aspirations for the project.
Photos here: Volunteer Training Afternoon
Publication: Volunteer Training Handout
Artahead 