Update

It has been quite awhile since a posting. In part because we have been procrastinating and also I have been very busy getting ready for learning programs coming up this fall. There is both the Creative Start Workshop and the In Our Voice: Visual Conversations program. We are also getting ready for number of arts festivals and the Tools for life conference. And finally we are also working with a number of other community arts educators to develop a proposal for community arts education program that will be submitted to a number of universities to see if this program is feasible.

Update

Just received news from the 4C's Foundation that the In Our Voice: Visual Conversations project has received funding. The In Our Voice: Visual Conversations workshop is a partnership between Veith Street Gallery Studio Association, Visual Connections Project and the Canadian Mental Health Association, Halifax - Dartmouth Branch.
The workshop will be eight weeks in length. Participants in the workshop will consist of youth who are dealing with mental health issues and people fifty years and over who are also dealing with mental health issues. The youth participants and the elders will pair up with each other. Each week the facilitators will pose a question dealing mental health issues. The pairings will then respond to this question using various art materials and processes. After the eight week workshop there will be an exhibition of the art works at Veith Street Gallery.

New Web Site and Anniversary

Veith Street Gallery Studio Association has a new web site. The site is still under construction but should be completed in two weeks.

www.veithstreetgallery.org

Veith Street Gallery Studio Association is also celebrating its 5th Anniversary on March 20th and 22nd.

UPDATE

Well it has been some time since created a posting, and a lot has happened since December 2007. Veith Street Gallery Studio Association through the Visual Connections Project, has now established partnerships and collaborations with organizations and institutions such as NSCAD University, who has established the new Community Service Learning program, APSEA (Atlantic Provinces Special Education Authority) and Nova Scotia Provincial Autism Centre. We will be offering educational programs for both APSEA and the Nova Scotia Provincial Autism Centre. The program we will be offering the Nova Scotia Provincial Autism Centre will tie into a research project around art and autism. Below are some images from an exercise that I lead for participants of a program called ACEE (Adults in Community Education and Employment). We may be working more closely with this program in the future by offering the Creative Start Open Studio Program to ACEE participants.

More Good News

Last week we received $2200.00 dollars from the Dartmouth Community Health Board - Community Development Fund to deliver the CREATIVE START WORKSHOP for youth with disabilities living in Dartmouth Nova Scotia. We are still in the planning stage and have not secured a location for the program. With this said, however we are hoping to begin the program in February 2008.

Creative Start Workshop Fall 2007

Well the very first CREATIVE START WORKSHOP offered for youth with disabilities finished with a public exhibition of the four participants artworks. This workshop was as much a learning experience for as it was for the participants. Much of the learning came not from the teaching but the administration of the program. Here are some images created by the participants of the CREATIVE START WORKSHOP.

CREATIVE ST(ART) WORKSHOP UPDATE

The images presented here are a small sample of the artworks created by the CREATIVE START WORKSHOP participants.

A thought

WE SHOULD BE EDUCATING EVERYONE FOR THE UNKNOWN BECAUSE THE UNKNOWN IS WHERE THE ART IS.

UPDATE

We have received news from the Canada Council for the Arts regarding funding for the In Our Voice: An Oral History Video Project. Unfortunately we were not successful in securing the funds to produce this video.

EXCITING NEWS

We have received funding from the Capital District Health Authority, Cobequid Community Health Board to offer the Creative St(art) Workshop. The workshop has been developed for youth with disabilities 17 – 21 years old. We will post the artwork here on this blog after the workshop. The dates for the workshop have not been determined as such, but will be will be held September 2007 to December 2007.

New Gallery

Veith Street Gallery Studio has a new satellite gallery called the Pedway Picture Gallery. The Pedway Picture Gallery is located in Dartmouth Nova Scotia on the Alderney Landing pedway. For more information about the gallery call 446-6010

UPDATE

Here is an update on The Visual Connections Project.

Veith Street Gallery Studio, The Visual Connections Project is pursuing funding for a video project in partnership with the Canadian Mental Health Association, Halifax-Dartmouth Branch. The video is entitled In Our Voice: An Oral History Video Project. The video will profile older mental health consumers telling their stories of how they survive their mental illness. If The Visual Connections Project and Canadian Mental Health Association, Halifax-Dartmouth Branch partnership is successful in acquiring the funds for the video project, the production for the video will begin in September 2007 and completed June 2008. My role will be that of Creative Director / Instructor working with individuals who have very limited, if no experiences working with video.

A New Visual Connection

The Visual Connections Project is always interested in connecting with groups and organizations whose goals are to provide a space where anyone no matter what their abilities can make and promote art. The following images come from the Halfax ATC Group, ATC (Artist Trading Card) Jam. An ATC Jam is when everyone in the group collectively creates ATC's.

New Program Structure

There are changes coming to The Visual Connections Project. The Visual Connections Project will now offer two routes to learning through the Community Education Programs and the Professional Development Programs. The Community Education Programs consists of The CREATIVE START DAY PROGRAM and THE VISUAL CONNECTIONS INSTITUTE. The Professional Development Programs consists of The ARTWORKS Seminar Series, SHIFT: Developing Communities of Practice through the Creative Visual Arts, and the Creative Process Facilitation.

COMMUNITY EDUCATION PROGRAMS

CREATIVE ST(ART) DAY PROGRAM (Workshop)

THE VISUAL CONNECTIONS INSTITUTE


PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS

The ARTWORKS Seminar Series

SHIFT: Developing Communities of Practice
through the Creative Visual Arts

Creative Process Facilitation

Broken Lines: Dealing with Conflict

The images profiled here come from an exercise that I facilitated with members of Nova Scotia chapter of the Canadian Society for Training and Development. The exercise was called Broken Lines.

Through this, interactive exercise I invited the participants to engage in an arts based alternative process for dealing with conflict. This exercise only scratched the surface of a more holistic approach to dealing with conflict. I should also say that this process works best with a party or group who have already established a working relationship or rapport with one another.

I asked the group to move and mix about, so people who may know each other are not working with one another. This I felt will ensure a more authentic experience.
I asked the participants to reflect on a past or recent conflict they have been involved with, either as someone in conflict, or as a mediator.

Then in complete silence, using the black pens and white card stock provided, I asked the participants to represent this conflict through drawing. (I asked the part
-icipants to respect this silence, Because the vocalization process utilizes a different part of the brain than visualization and drawing, talking would become not only distracting to other participants but also yourself). I asked the participants to draw what this conflict felt like as they where going through it, or are still dealing with it.

participants spent two minutes on the drawing. I then signaled the participants to pass their drawing to the person on their left. I then asked the participants to spend some time with this drawing reflecting on the essance of the conflict in the drawing, and then add to the drawing. This process continued until everyone in the group had spent two minutes working on each drawing.

This exercise became a real example of a visual connection. The participants communicated through images instead of words, and as you can see the visual dialogue became very rich.

NEW PROGRAMS

Here are two new programs to be offered through The Visual Connections Project, the learning division of Veith Street Gallery Studio. The first program called the Creative Start Day Program, is a visual arts / vocational day program for persons with disabilities. The other program is the ArtWorks Seminar Series, is professional development program for persons working the human services field.

THE VISUAL CONNECTIONS INSTITUTE

The visual image has been with the human species for thousands of years. The cave paintings and petroglyphs found around the world, illustrated the hunt and religious or spiritual practices. Today the visual image numbers in the thousands, and are distributed through television, print media, galleries, and the Internet.

In this interconnected world the visual image has been, and is used to educate the public, promote worldviews, deceive citizens, sell products, inspire, and heal. Here in lies the focus of this learning event, recognizing both the strengths and limitations of the visual image in our daily lives.

Using the World Studio Process, a variation on the World Café. The Visual Connections Institute will examine how the visual image is changing or altering three areas of our lives

• Social Change Through the Creative Visual Arts

• The Visual Arts and Creativity in the Workplace.

• Health and Well being Though the Visual Arts

In the World Café Process, dialogue (face to face communication) is how ideas are shared and cross – pollinated. In the World Studio Process the concept of dialogue is expanded on, the visual image becomes the primary vehicle for communicating ideas and concepts that matter.

Participants will be invited to visit the three different studios. In each studio, one of three different topics is explored through the creative visual arts. In each studio a creative facilitator will provide participants Once the groups have had an opportunity to examine and explore a topic, the groups will then split up and join others in the other studios. This will allow for more cross - pollination of ideas and images.