About Art Bubble — Arts for Health Milton Keynes

[About Art Bubble]

Free art activities to support wellbeing

Image: Art Bubble participant taking part in a mixed media collage activity

What was Art Bubble?

Art Bubble was four free, weekly art sessions. It was a safe, friendly space where an artist helped people to explore their concerns by supporting them to express them through different drawing, painting, and collage activities. No previous art experience was necessary!

Art Bubble offered a welcoming place where participants could enjoy creating their own individual pieces of artwork but also make work together with others on the course. By the end of four weeks, participants had produced a variety of artworks expressing their concerns around the COVID-19 pandemic to others in an original and creative way.

The activities were adapted to each cohorts needs, including making materials available to support vaccine education and awareness where appropriate.

On completion of the sessions, we hoped that participants would have found them helpful and rewarding. That they would have increased confidence and be more likely to become fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and encourage others to do so; as well as that they would want to carry on creating artwork independently - helping themselves to feel better and stay well long-term.

Who was it for?

Anyone age 18 and over, from any background with a diagnosis or pre-diagnosis of a mental health concern was welcome to apply. The project identified vaccine hesitancy amongst existing referrals and prioritised access.

When were the Sessions?

The same 4-week course ran on these series dates:

Workshop Series 1: AUG 1, 8, 15, 22 10am – 12noon
Workshop Series 2: AUG 4, 11, 18, 25 6.30pm – 8.30pm
Workshop Series 3: SEPT 12, 26, OCT 3, 10 10am – 12noon
Workshop Series 4: OCT 17, 24, 31, NOV 7 10am – 12noon
Workshop Series 5: NOV 21, 28, DEC 5, 12 10am – 12noon

Course Activities:

Drawings, collage and mixed media artworks, plus collaborative drawings. Guided by the group and led by their conversations, subjects included the following themes, all expressed in a meaningful abstract context:

Outdoors
Fear
Bereavement
Guilt
Living with COVID-19

Each workshop focused on a technique that could be reused by participants a home beyond the workshops as a form of self-help; for example, to help visually articulate feelings of anxiety, or if you had a ‘bad’ day, similar to how you might use a diary. The long-term display of artwork in the home will also act as a reminder of the creative process.

All of the techniques used focused around taking the pressure off creating “the perfect image” and onto enjoying the creative process and the wellness benefits that come from that.

The long-term display of artwork in the home will also act as a reminder of the creative process.

Feedback:

Participants felt able to express their feelings during the sessions and that the experience has left them wanting to explore more art activities.

Participant quotes:

Qu. What have you learned? How will you continue to use what you have learned?

“That you can use art no matter where you are to express your feeling without other necessarily knowing what you mean from the Art piece. I will try to use art to express the feelings I find it hard to talk about.”

“That it is helpful to express feelings into an Art format as a way of expression of anxieties.”

Qu. Any other comments about Art Bubble?

“[It was] very helpful. I met others who have felt the same anxieties and fears from lockdown, and also the future with Covid. I found the Art Bubble sessions very worthwhile.”

Qu. Of the work that you completed, what has been the most valuable or meaningful to you?

“I was able to put my feelings into art drawings, these were used in a group collage representing how we felt during covid and lockdown. Very powerful.”

︎How do I join in?

Referrals for Art Bubble are now closed, please see our workshops page for current workshops accepting referals.

︎︎︎ Back to Introduction

Art Bubble Archive

COVID-19 Responsive Artworks