Artasia at N2N Athens Street
EarlyON
🖌️ Artist Educators: Sophie Zuccolo, Caroline O'Regan
Crafting our Stories
Participants explored their identities by creating personalized badges out of upcycled fabric and markers that represent them, their identity and their culture. Through these creations, participants expressed what brings them joy, what is important to them, and what makes them unique.
This week I mostly worked with two little kids, a brother and sister. The brother made two versions of a game controller badge, and he had a very specific vision of what he wanted to create, particularly with the colours. His sister pretended it was a real controller and was playing with it, so we all took turns playing pretend with it to her delight. They were both very engaged in the activity. The sister was little, but she made two badges and really enjoyed gluing with the glue sticks and layering different pieces of fabric.
Wearable Designs & Sustainability
Participants upcycled scrap materials to create unique, expressive pieces of wearable art. These pieces showcased their individuality, creativity, and self-expression. They reflected on how their clothing choices express their personal style and identity, the importance of sustainability, and how they can creatively repurpose materials to make something new.
This week there were two sets of siblings and two babies. I let the babies touch the bag of fabric and look in my suitcase, which they were very interested in. With the first two siblings I made paper crowns, and with the second two I made flower headbands. At the end we all made bracelets together as well with the beads they had on site. The one little girl was very considerate and tried to find us matching Hello Kitty beads.Â
The paper crowns were made by cutting out the paper, colouring designs on it, and taping it together. For the flower headbands, they’re made by choosing and cutting out a strip of fabric, drawing and cutting out a flower, and using a rivet to punch through and hold the two together. They had never seen rivets before, so they learned about what they’re for and how they work. Providing physical examples of ideas and guiding them with step by step instructions really helped them and worked well for their age group. It really warmed my heart to see the older siblings helping out and looking after their younger siblings. They were making things special for them and always trying to make them happy.Â
A Feast of Stories
Participants made pretend food items out of felt and craft paper, creating recipes both real and imaginary that reflect the diverse cultures and experiences within our community. We pondered the cultural and social significance of food as a means of connection and celebration, and as a group discussed our favourite dishes, the role of food in our lives and communities, and celebrated the power of shared meals and the stories they tell. We also explored different kinds of “recipes” beyond food, asking participants to think creatively about what constitutes a recipe for happiness, love, and other elements of a thriving community.Â
Some children gathered around the table as I got my supplies out. It was pretty crowded this week, but a lot of the kids were very little babies that couldn’t do the activity or kids that were very engrossed in playing with something else when I arrived and didn’t want to stop to do art. I still had about 4-5 participants, though. The kids were too little to cut the felt themselves, so I helped them with cutting when they wanted to make felt foods, and they did the gluing and drawing details like sprinkles and lines on an ice cream cone. Some of them opted to draw their foods instead, which worked better for their early ages. The foods they created included ice cream, grapes, cupcakes, and cucumbers. There was a pair of siblings that finished pretty quickly and started painting, and one of them made a lovely portrait of her and her sister. Once most of the participants that were interested had left or were all done, I spent the rest of the time playing with the different kids around the room.
