Create & Grow Strong

Synopsis

Create & Grow Strong is the product of 6 weekly workshops held at the Regent Park Focus Youth Media Lab. Development psychology, play theory and social work research all support the premise that creativity encourages self realization, promotes independent thinking and enhances self esteem. This work suggests that today’s youth, the creators of our future world, will need to call on each of these traits, alongside individual resilience, if they are to thrive as they confront the environmental, social, technological and economic challenges that we can only dream of today. Intended to explore the potential for creative expression to foster resilience in youth, participants produced digital landscapes, based on physically created elements, that explore their everyday lives and feature fantasy elements that represent their creative dream worlds. In December 2014 their final works were showcased at a celebration for friends, family, peers and the community. This piece showcases their worlds. They’ve been built by Ayabar Nahk, Break Free and Jub Jub Exo within the workshop and technology frameworks created by Laura Stavro- Beauchamp as part of her thesis work.