Collaborative Art Fun!

Last night in class we talked about and created collaborative art projects. We talked about the benefits of collaborative projects in general. A few benefits/advantages were that it takes communication between a group of people, everyone is able to take responsibility for a part of the project, and it makes people aware of others. People are able to do just a little bit (or a lot) and not be afraid that they will mess up the project and it allows for the creative expression of individuals. Collaborative art projects in general allow for people to be able to encourage one another and work on solving problems as a team. It is also beneficial because there can be a wide range of skill levels/abilities working on one project. For collaborative art projects specifically, they help participants work on fine and gross motor skills and they allow for creative/emotional expression and relaxation. Another thing that is really great about collaborative art projects is that they have a process to journey through and they also have a definitive ending product. Many times clients want something to take away at the end, and art projects provide this.

So last night we split into our groups and were able to choose from different art supplies to come up with our own collaborative art project for the class to do together. We each had our own station (sometimes with directions for the activity) and we rotated around the room to combine our skills and talents into six different projects. There were things like a pictophone book, a q-tip painting, a mural, pipe-cleaner representatives, packing tape art, and a weaving of some sort. One thing I realized about myself is that even though I usually take myself to be someone who likes directed crafts, I really enjoyed the freedom to add on to each project in a unique and fun way. I never looked at myself as creative, but I thought it was a blast going around to the different stations and thinking of the most ridiculous things to do to each project. There was freedom in it. It was a fun way to get to know my group better and see our dynamics and how we work together.

The picture above is a picture of packing tape art. It is AWESOME.