Inspiration Studio by Drug Aware
Regional Arts WA
This project was delivered with the help of Drug Aware YCulture Regional. If you are aged 12-26, living in regional WA, and are interested in delivering an arts project in your community, get in touch today to find out how!
Two young project coordinators in Narembeen recognised there was a huge array of artistic talent in the Wheatbelt they could harness. Together, they organised a series of workshops for young people to explore, try new things, develop new skills, and make new friends along the way.
The ‘Inspiration Studio’ by Drug Aware was held in September 2021, coordinated by 13-year-olds Sari Cusack and Lucy Currie. Working alongside the Narembeen Community Resource Centre, the girls met after school to design and plan the workshops and resulting art exhibition.
Acrylic pouring workshop. Photo courtesy of Narembeen Community Resource Centre.
Developing skills in graphic design and advertising, the two girls designed posters and flyers to hand out around their school and pin up on community notice boards looking for participants. They advertised in the local newspaper and in the Narembeen District High School newsletter while Narembeen Community Resource Centre helped promote the events through social media.
It was a success. Each workshop attracted at least 10 young participants and over 50 friends, family, and community members came along to the final exhibition to admire their hard work.
Workshop participants were treated to a series of workshops on photography, acrylic pouring, and scrap metal sculpture, each facilitated by a professional creative from the Wheatbelt.
Final exhibition. Photo courtesy of Narembeen Community Resource Centre.
Photography workshops were held with De Strange from Strange Images over two sessions, teaching participants about black and white abstract photography and flat lay photography. Young artists learned about photography angles, shooting techniques, detail editing, and creating photo displays.
Shannae Jasper from Remote Society led the acrylic pouring workshop as participants learned how to mix colours and stir paint, and practiced pouring, blowing, and rotating techniques.
The final session of the workshop series came from well-known sculptor Jordan Sprigg, who taught the eager crowd what was involved in the process of creating sculptures out of scrap metal.
All the workshops were a huge success and workshop participants left inspired and eager to continue practicing what they had learned. In fact, many participants said they wanted to keep doing acrylic pouring as a hobby at home!
Photography workshop. Photo courtesy of Narembeen Community Resource Centre.
Sari and Lucy were proud to wear their Drug Aware T-Shirts at the workshops to highlight the important message. They also printed the Drug Aware messages onto colourful pieces of paper to display around the venues so everyone could read and interact with them.
At each workshop, participants were provided with Drug Aware notebook and pen so they could take notes during the presentations… and many notes were taken by the eager creatives, who took their notebooks home filled to the brim with inspiration and ideas.
Coordinating with Narembeen Co-Op Café, the girls offered a catered experience for the final exhibition by providing healthy food, snacks and drinks to all the visitors.
Photography workshop. Photo courtesy of Narembeen Community Resource Centre.
The project coordinators were excited to be able to be part of such a big project and to develop and learn new skills in project management, grant writing, marketing, and advertising. Each facilitator said they enjoyed teaching the participants new skills and were excited to share their own passions.
Project Name: Inspiration Studio by Drug Aware
Project Coordinators: Sari Cusack and Lucy Currie
Auspice: Narembeen Community Resource Centre
Amount Approved: $4,578.34
Funding Program: Drug Aware YCulture Regional
Region: Wheatbelt
Drug Aware YCulture Regional is funded by Healthway to promote the Drug Aware message.
