Community art making that welcomes everyone to get creative, on Thursdays from 12-2pm.
Join AGA educators and students from St. Stephen’s College Art Therapy program in the art studio Art Hive; a weekly community-based art making initiative that is FREE and open to all, every Thursday from 12-2pm. Art Hive does not require pre-registration through Tessitura.
What is an Art Hive?
Art Hives are small community art studios that are open to all, and welcome participants as artists. These safe(r) and inclusive spaces use art making as a tool for collaboration, dialogue, skill-sharing and community engagement for people across different cultural, socio-economic backgrounds, ages and abilities. No art training or experience is required to participate!
An Art Hive:
-
welcomes everyone as an artist and believes art-making is a human behaviour.
-
celebrates the strengths and creative capacities of individuals and communities.
-
fosters self-directed experiences of creativity, learning, and skill sharing.
-
encourages emerging grassroots leaders of all ages.
-
provides free access as promoted by the gift economy.
-
shares resources including the abundant materials available for creative reuse.
-
experiments with ideas through humble inquiry and arts-based research.
-
exchanges knowledge about funding strategies and economic development.
-
partners with colleges and universities to promote engaged scholarship.
-
gardens wherever possible to renew, regenerate, and spread seeds of social change.
The model and practice of these community art studios are based on over two decades of research by Dr. Janis Timm-Bottos, Concordia University, Montreal, QC. Learn more about Art Hives here.
Do Art Hives sound familiar? You may have heard Dara Armsden, Head of Education and Learning at the AGA, having a conversation about them with Art Therapist Olga Perju. Olga is also the Clinical Director at St. Stephen’s College, where she teaches and supervises art therapy students. You can listen to their conversation here.
Or, read how Art Therapy can support mental health and wellness.
This Art Hive is a collaboration between the Art Gallery of Alberta and St. Stephen’s College. Nestled in the heart of the University of Alberta campus, St. Stephen’s College offers unique graduate level professional training programs - including a Masters of Psychotherapy and Spirituality - Art Therapy specialization program. We believe that art has the power to support wellness, break isolation and build community, and could not think of a better space to host an Art Hive than in partnership with the Art Gallery of Alberta. Learn more about studying Art Therapy here.
