Rising in Our Power
Lynne McFarlane
Lynne McFarlane
My performance piece was to facilitate art workshops at MIMA on five consecutive Saturdays and to assist in art workshops on three Thursdays with The Club. The Saturday art workshops were typically attended by children under 10 with parent/guardian. I gathered art materials by sending out an SUS (Send Unwanted Stuff) to my @Bluelightbabies friends. MIMA stipulated no wet paint or glue, no beads, no glitter, and vetoed pipe cleaners because of possible sharp ends.
Every week I created a gallery on the windows of MIMA, where the children could display their art and have their photograph taken beside it “like a real artist” (child A). Hoops and Dreams involved creating dream catchers from ribbon and fibres tied to cross-stitch hoops. I prompted the artists to ponder what dream could come true?
Clans involved creating tartans from felt, ribbons and fibres, creating a group identity aka Punks and Scottish families. The prompt was who is your family, who is your clan? “I’m important to my mum because she doesn’t speak English” (child B). “Thanks for spending time with our girls, it’s given us space to talk” (parents C&D).
Protest Puppets was a blast. Honor Flaherty provided all resources, and artists of all ages loved inventing allies, someone to speak out for them. Magnificent Me Medal gave artists a chance to brag about their best quality. “I’m a good friend” (child E) and “My cat loves me” (child F). I was delighted that many of the families that had been to earlier sessions came along to the RIOP / MIMA Extravaganza.
The theme for that day was “what one thing would you do to make the world a better place?” I assembled take-home bags of art supplies. I gave away 19 child-appropriate “goodie bags” plus two for adults (liquid paint and inks) and 11 non-messy (story book and sticker sheet). The response was overwhelmingly positive: “my kids will love this” (parent G), “can I take a book bag for my cousin, I don’t want him to miss out” (child H), “can I take a big bag? My children love to draw” (parent J).
I made the world a better place by providing a service to my friends @bluelightbabies, who were grateful to declutter and the MIMA families, who were grateful to receive the gift and will be using the art supplies for many months, a wonderful legacy of RIOP.
Every week I created a gallery on the windows of MIMA, where the children could display their art and have their photograph taken beside it “like a real artist” (child A). Hoops and Dreams involved creating dream catchers from ribbon and fibres tied to cross-stitch hoops. I prompted the artists to ponder what dream could come true?
Clans involved creating tartans from felt, ribbons and fibres, creating a group identity aka Punks and Scottish families. The prompt was who is your family, who is your clan? “I’m important to my mum because she doesn’t speak English” (child B). “Thanks for spending time with our girls, it’s given us space to talk” (parents C&D).
Protest Puppets was a blast. Honor Flaherty provided all resources, and artists of all ages loved inventing allies, someone to speak out for them. Magnificent Me Medal gave artists a chance to brag about their best quality. “I’m a good friend” (child E) and “My cat loves me” (child F). I was delighted that many of the families that had been to earlier sessions came along to the RIOP / MIMA Extravaganza.
The theme for that day was “what one thing would you do to make the world a better place?” I assembled take-home bags of art supplies. I gave away 19 child-appropriate “goodie bags” plus two for adults (liquid paint and inks) and 11 non-messy (story book and sticker sheet). The response was overwhelmingly positive: “my kids will love this” (parent G), “can I take a book bag for my cousin, I don’t want him to miss out” (child H), “can I take a big bag? My children love to draw” (parent J).
I made the world a better place by providing a service to my friends @bluelightbabies, who were grateful to declutter and the MIMA families, who were grateful to receive the gift and will be using the art supplies for many months, a wonderful legacy of RIOP.
