Core Process-Based Youth Lead Art Making

My name is Violet, and I am an art teacher working within youth projects and community settings. Over the past 30 years, I have consistently engaged with young people in a variety of contexts. Their wellbeing has always been central to my teaching approach.

Through my experience, I have found art to be an invaluable tool for fostering creativity, self-expression, and artistic confidence. Art equips individuals with the critical faculties needed to reflect on and derive personal meaning from life experiences. It can spark discussion, challenge stereotypes, promote inclusion, and encourage a deeper understanding of self, culture, and society.

Art offers both the skills and the opportunity to engage in a meaningful process—one that nurtures understanding, creativity, and self-expression. This process promotes personal growth and fulfilment, helping individuals realize their potential and connect to something beyond themselves through purposeful creation.

I believe everyone has the capacity to be creative, and that collaborative environments within community groups provide the ideal conditions for creativity to emerge and flourish. Shared creative experiences build confidence and cohesion, opening communication and dialogue that strengthen bonds of trust, friendship, and awareness. They nurture confidence and cultivate civic responsibility.

I feel this exchange fosters capable, empowered individuals. It provides the space and time for people to rediscover and reignite their creative responses.

 

Violet Dempsey

HDip Community,Art,Education

BA Fine Art