All emotions allowed here Zine
“How can I be normal when I’m living in a social tragedy”
Detail of artwork by Charlotte
The intention
At an initial meeting with ArTELIER artists to discuss the proposal to collaborate to publish a book that showcased the feelings of children at a time of COVID-19 and the ensuing lockdown, the question was raised: what about the voices of young people? Arguably the most deeply impacted demographic.
Four ArTELIER artists led by Bella Young, herself an emerging artist and young person, with strong networks and experience of working with young people, convened a group of young people aged 14-24 to participate in a professional learning opportunity to produce a zine.
The group agreed it was important to maintain the ArTELIER principle of rewarding artists for their commitment to furthering professional knowledge, as well as payment for their artworks for the publication.
The artists invited 13 Tasmanian young people from across Tasmania (between 14 - 24) to submit an artwork in response to the theme, "All emotions allowed here".
The aim was to give young people a voice in the public realm as they respond to the drastic changes they're currently facing in their world.
The published book "How Can I Find Normal When I'm Living in a Social Tragedy?" is a mixture of visual artwork, prose, poetry and comic artwork - each young person sharing a genuine and urgent perspective reflecting upon the unique events of 2020.
The emerging artists were paid for their artwork and attended professional development workshops in creative writing, illustration and graphic artwork with Tasmanian artists; Danielle Wood, Liz Braid and Josh Santospirito.
Created and produced by a diverse group of young people identified through the networks of ArTELIER artists, the zine offered important opportunities for aspiring young Tasmanian artists to work with successful professional Tasmanian novelists, comic makers and visual artists.
This project was initiated, facilitated and produced by early career artist Bella Young with mentorship and production assistance from Victoria Ryle, founder of Kids Own Publishing.
“I was very pleased to be asked to participate in ArTELIER’s Youth Compendium. The project came at a time when many young Tasmanians needed the experience it offered: a space in which they could express their experience of COVID19 through a professional creative lens. For me, the project also came at a good time, when I was coping with massive change in my work context and wondering if the sudden switch to online learning at UTas would spell the end of the collegiality of my classroom, or if technology was, in fact, going to be good enough to provide a workable substitute. The opportunity to facilitate an ArTELIER workshop in creative writing allowed me to test some strategies for my sharing knowledge as a creative writer, and leading creative writing exercises in an online format. This not only offered a professional development for emerging artists to witness how I write and sustain my career, but gave me confidence that a group of writers could, indeed, simply write together and still feel connected, even though we were a virtual room and not a real one. I am very supportive of ArTELIER’s desire to expand their project and provide benefits to more young people interested in the fields of writing, illustration and other forms of creative expression.”
Victoria and bella designing the zine
The brief
“It was an opportunity to have workshops with professional artists and learn different skills and produce something which you get published.”
Young people (15 – 25) through ArTELIER networks were invited to submit work, mentored by professional provocateurs that addressed the following brief.
The theme is 'All Emotions Allowed Here,' and our aim is to publish one collective compendium and give young people a voice in the public realm as they respond to the current drastic changes they face in their world.
This is a chance for emerging artists and young people to get paid to attend professional development workshops, and have their visual/written artwork published in a collective book/zine/graphic novel/compendium.
The task
Each participant to:
Choose a provocateur (workshop leader) from below and attend their 90 minute online workshop, or all three if you want!
Josh Santospirito
Graphic Novelist. Creating graphic novel, zine, comic; https://joshuasantospiritoart.com/
Workshop: Thursday 7th
Danielle Wood
Author. Creating a short story, poem, excerpt of text. http://www.daniellewood.com.au/
Workshop: Wednesday 13th
Liz Braid
Visual Artist/Illustrator. Creating visual artwork or illustration. https://www.elizabeth-braid.com
Workshop: Monday 18th May
Create the following, or any combination of the following:
Short zine, comic, graphic response on A4 paper (portrait orientation).
Selected short story, poem, written statement (250-750 words).
Illustration, visual artwork on A4 paper (portrait orientation).
The compendium’s title is “All Emotions Allowed Here,” which you can interpret in whatever way you want. Perhaps it could tell us “what you want to say to world right now?” or “if you could sent a letter or image out into the world, what would it say?”
If you’re struggling to begin, here are some more specific idea to kickstart your response:
· Make something wholesome that makes us/you feel better about this whole thing.
· Dealing with seclusion, isolation, contact with friends and family.
· Limbo, escaping entrapment, losing coming of age, school/uni changes.
· Financial struggles, dealing with global loss of life and opportunity.
Our provocateurs will equip you with the groundwork to draft your response in each session, so don’t worry too much about this part!
Optional: Attend our editorial and online 60 min sharing session
Optional: with your submission attach a photo of you, or of you creating your artwork.
Outcome: Your artwork will be published in a compendium of Tasmania youth voices, of which you’ll receive 3 copies in the mail.
All participants received an honorarium of $75 for submitted their creative response and attending at least one workshop.
“The Artellier workshop was a great opportunity for me to share my practice and techniques with some brilliant young artists. I really appreciated the perspectives brought to the table and I feel the creative inspiration was two way. I am sure that the book created will be a valuable resource for the community in understanding the experience of young people during this time of Covid-19. This experience was my first workshop delivered online which enabled me to practice this skill and understand the benefit of sharing and connecting virtually. I am looking forward to being involved in this program again in the future!”
“I enjoyed the pilot of this project immensely and found the ability to engage with young people from different socio-economic backgrounds and from all over Tasmania hugely rewarding. I had not properly considered presenting workshops to young people previously but since this experience I am now seriously considering how this kind of work can benefit my art practice in terms of new work opportunities but also in terms of interrogating the basics of my methodologies. With the barrier of geography removed for both myself and the attendees, the engagement during the workshop showed that the young people who attended all found new ways to generate creative ideas.”
The cover of the zine
Some outcomes
Professional learning and networking opportunities for mentors and mentees:
- Exploration of online and regional engagement
- Building creative two-way relationships and networks between early, mid and late career artists
Self-determined decision making and growth in creative process:
- Shared practice that enables emerging artists to witness how professional artists build and sustain their careers.
- Shared practise that allows professional artists to expand and explore their mentorship and community workshopping skills.
Respect for young emerging artists through a paid learning opportunity and to be paid for their artwork:
- Published recognition of the value of young people’s creative work
- Young people’s voices being honoured and circulated publicly through a creative lens
- Opportunities for matching and aspiring artists to learn professional skills
- Working to deadlines/invoicing/editing/online engagement etc.
“I enjoyed working with professional artists and learning their tips. I also enjoyed creating my own piece and having the opportunity to have it published; guidance with creative process and motivation to continue to expand and develop my creative avenues.
I got a lot of motivation to start making more art, also ways to get over the fear of a blank page.
I really loved the creative brainstorming time, and there was no pressure. I tend to complete my favourite works when there is a theme to work towards and it was the case again this time. it challenged me as the brief limited lots of colours etc. so it was nice to still achieve even with a challenge.
I got to focus on emotions in a creative way that I otherwise wouldn’t have done.
Thank you very much for letting me be a part of ArTELIER’s “All Emotions Allowed” youth compendium. It was so inspiring and I wish you all the best for the future with this project, I certainly got so much out of it, I think you have a wonderful programme here. This is my invoice, I’m very sorry it’s so late, it’s been a crazy time.”