Life As an Arts Facilitator: Reflecting On Year One

The third year of my degree was slightly less traditional than the average graduating student from the University of South Wales’s Creative and Therapeutic Arts programme. Due to personal circumstances, I ended my time at USW with one more module to complete, my final placement. I had already decided to return to my hometown of Caergybi, on Môn, so my first choice for placement was the Ucheldre Centre. I had attended art workshops there as a child and was thrilled to find out the artist who had been running them, Jacquie Myrtle, was still there facilitating the fantastic workshops.

I completed my placement over the Summer and delivered a range of activities to the young artists who attended. I had an amazing time, it felt like a full-circle moment for me to return to a place that was so important in my creative journey. At the end of the intense week-long series of workshops, Jacquie asked if I would cover a few workshops for her. Of course, I said yes, I was both honoured and incredibly excited that she had asked me. The regular weekly workshops were slightly different to what I was used to. It was entirely non-directive on my part and the young artists guided the sessions’ focus. They would come each Saturday to the centre with their ideas, and together we would work to bring them to life. There was lots of painting, drawing, working with clay, transforming recycled materials, and experimenting with whatever materials they could get their hands on.

After a few weeks, I was asked to take over the workshops permanently. Meanwhile, I had returned to University part-time to work on my Master’s in Counselling at Bangor University, so the addition of the Saturday workshops fitted into my timetable perfectly. It seemed like fate that I should end up coming along to do my placement just in time for Jacquie to step back from the workshops. It was an arrangement that worked for everyone, and everyone was happy. Jacquie still runs the Adult workshops at the Ucheldre, and we meet weekly to chat about how the sessions are going, life in general, community, and anything else two artists feel like chatting about.

I continued this way through the Autumn, as I grew into the role and got comfortable with the flow, I started to introduce new elements to the workshops. I wanted to encourage a project mindset, where participants would think about their artwork in a context greater than a single session. I encouraged planning, designing, mind-mapping, and creating visual explorations of themes they were passionate about. In the new year, I introduced ‘Creative Goals’, where I would ask the young artists to think about what they wanted to achieve creatively in 2024.

Christmas time was the first step in expanding my work. Thanks to another local artist, Debbie, and the Creu Heulwen group, I was asked to help with some Christmas events; a drop-in session for families, and a workshop delivered for the local community of Adults with Disabilities. It was so wonderful to get to work differently than the usual Saturday workshops, and it was even more wonderful getting to know other artists in the community.

In the new year, the manager of the Ucheldre Centre, Mike Gould, was contacted by Menter Môn and Mencap Môn who were looking for artists to come along and facilitate some workshops for the community, and for their service users. I was blessed yet again with the opportunity to meet Jackie and Martin who worked for Menter Môn and Mencap Môn, respectively. Meeting them was an eye-opening experience that showed me that there is a growing demand for people with my skill set to work with a variety of different groups. They had so many exciting ideas and the funding to make it happen. I started work on planning engagement sessions to deliver to the community and sessions for their service users. Having just delivered my first workshop at the time of writing this post, I am beyond excited to continue working with the two groups to develop some exciting arts-based projects.

So what have I learnt this year? Why am I writing this? I’ve learnt that community is paramount. The people you meet, the impressions you make, the recommendations that come from working in the community are a huge part of how this kind of work grows. Connecting with different communities and organisations is essential, and without the kindness of others in my community and their faith in me and my work I would not have had any of the opportunities I was blessed with this year. If I could give one piece of advice to new art facilitators it would be: don’t worry about being perfect, don’t worry about what other artists are doing, go at your own pace and let your work speak for you. There’s room at the table for all of us, and indeed there is a need for all of us. Connect with your local communities, be open to meeting with people for a coffee and a chat and you just might uncover new projects waiting to happen.

I want to end with a thank you to the people who have made Year One so special. Kameron, Jacquie, Carys, Mike, Bethan, Debbie, Jackie, and Martin. Thank you to the Ucheldre Centre, to Creu Heulwen, to Menter Môn, and to Mencap Môn. Here’s to Year Two!