New year, New art for fun-The January Challenge 2024!

Week 1-04/01/2024

It’s a new year, so new projects abound at Art For Fun! Exciting things have happened, such as winning the People Powered Places grant. This allows us to have greater funding and create stronger cross-cultural links within the community, such as our current collaboration with 64 Million Artists and the January Challenge 2024.  We thought it would be fun to document the journey. 

What’s happened recently?

Since the last post, a lot has happened! For example, we’re back to in-person sessions, and many new members have joined us. We recently applied for grants such as People Powerd Places and Culture Within Newham. Unfortunately, the Culture Within Newham bid was unsuccessful. But when one door closes, another one opens! Stella Toonen remembered our application and offered us some support from 64 Million Artists with the January Challenge 2024. 

We did manage to secure one of these grants, which is exciting! This gives us a considerable sum of money, which we can use to enhance our ever-expanding group in multiple ways, such as extra art supplies. The part we are all really looking forward to, though, is being able to ask other artists to come in and teach us new skills and strengthen cross-cultural links within the community. Plus, we can cover these teaching artists’ expenses and art supplies. Ultimately, it will give Art For Fun a lot more choice in what we do and how we do it- with less stress over expenses, too.

We haven’t had this before; the sense of freedom is exhilarating. There’s this extra spark of life in the group now! This is something to celebrate, especially for our group and what these opportunities enable us and our volunteers to offer!

64 Million Artists

64 Million Artists is an organisation that has been around since 2014 and wants to make a change through creativity. How they feel about art, how they feel about themselves and how we include marginalised groups in art and those spaces. You can find out about 64 Million artists and their work here!  They provide the art supplies and our fantastic teacher, Zoe, and we give out the piping hot tea and biscuits. 

The January challenge

What is the January challenge? Every day in January, 64 million artists provide a prompt, which you then interpret and complete until the 31st. 

We meet once a week. So, the group only does the prompt for the days we meet up (however, every member has a handy booklet if they want to have a go at the prompts outside of our sessions).

Our first session back after Christmas was the 4th. So we were full of festive cheer, recovered from the food coma and in a good mood to say Happy New Year and get the creativity flowing!

The prompt and the pictures!

Our prompt for that day under the January challenge was: ‘Letter from an object.’ By Alex Wharton.

The group had to write from the perspective of an object we use daily. We had to think and feel like an object and think like they would if they were alive! Our teacher Zoe showed us her old mobile phone and showed her example. I remember she spoke about how she bought it because she felt too reliant on technology and liked that it was an older model.

Some people wrote as a kettle and used sound effects to mimic how a kettle boils. Then, they drew a picture of the kettle.

Others preferred not to write their object down and went straight to creating. Some drew their backpacks, feather dusters, and mobile phones. 

I would choose this ‘Mum’ necklace I always wear and how it’s afraid I’ll break its chain because I can never leave it alone!

Below is a selection of photos from the session!

It was a fun prompt to explore the world around us, think about how we use these objects, have fun with them, and explore a unique perspective. It felt like you were making this character and worldbuilding.- it was also rather fun to have the option to write it up. 

What would you write about or draw? Why don’t you give it a go? It’s a great de-stressor and an excellent prompt if you’re a writer. 

 Week 2-11/01/2024

The January challenge continues at Art For Fun; we’re on day 11 of the January Challenge. Today’s prompt was ‘Using your voice.’ 

The Prompt 

The prompt using your voice was curated by Ava Riby-Williams, who loves

“song and movement to tell stories of culture, belonging, and to express whatever it is that we’re feeling.”

In the original prompt, we were meant to  ‘Think of a song that you love, or that is meaningful to you. Try singing or humming it, alone or with a loved one.’ Then, we’re meant to follow a link to a YouTube video and sing along as a group or by ourselves. 

At Art For Fun, we focus more on the crafting, painting and drawing elements of art instead of singing or dancing to show our creativity, culture and mindfulness. This seems like a difficult prompt to make work on paper, yet Zoe adapted to what we do. 

What we did and adaptation.

During the session, various supplies and materials were available, such as foam sponges, acrylic paint and an abundance of paper. Zoe described it as a “free-for-all” or a “freestyle” session. 

Throughout the session, we would listen to different bits of music, from Robbie Williams to classical music, and the group would paint whatever they felt like whilst listening along. Many of the pieces that day were rather abstract and colourful! 

Zoe, our teacher, said,

“We’re looking at how one sense can connect to another sense, so we’re looking at how listening to music can help create something new artistically. So the sound of music, the rhythm of music, even the words within music, how that can inspire us to paint something that actually we wouldn’t have come up with if we’d have just been looking at something rather than listening to something as well.”

Zoe also told me how she adapted the prompt for our session,

“The lady that designed the prompt of using your voice to sing the reason why she chose that prompt is coz she has noticed that when we sing or when we listen to music that has a special way of connecting to our emotions. That sometimes words on their own don’t do, and she looks at how the senses are connected, so we have basically taken that concept and applied it to art in the same way when you hear a song, you might feel a certain way when you see a sunset, it might make you feel a certain way.”

What people thought and pictures. 

When this prompt was given to the group that morning, there was a mixture of reactions; some were apprehensive, and some were excited. 

Once the group agreed on some music (a particular favourite was Robbie Williams.) Many members were happily listening and painting along- painting shapes, using colours that spoke to them, and being more free-spirited with what they created. 

One of our members made at least four paintings during the session. They utilised shapes such as dots to create abstract pieces and a lot of colour. 

They found it “Really good,” and ”Enjoyed myself painting and drawing.”

They “Liked the music, Robbie Williams all the other songs.”

This exercise could easily be used with any type of art supply, such as charcoal or ink- because you’re going with how you’re feeling and aren’t entirely thinking, you could use this as a mindfulness exercise or a way to stop art block. All you have to do is get the supplies and get your playlist ready, and you’re set; feel free to sing along!

Week 3-18/01/2024

The prompt

The prompt for week 3 of the January Challenge was another interesting one, created by Zesty’s Collective entitled ‘Your Space.’

The prompt is used in a workshop for Zesty’s collective often for them typically to

“Reflect on and celebrate the different beings (our mentors/pets/chosen or blood family), places (your local LGBTQIA+ friendly bar), and items (the piece of clothing or a book) that bring us joy and make us…us.”

What we did and the pictures

Zoe brought these white 3D models of a house (or one we could build ourselves), and we had to decorate the space with available materials.

Some created gardens, and others used clay to create 3D objects for our spaces.

Below are some pictures of what the group made.

Week 4 25/01/2024

The Prompt

It’s the final week of the January Challenge 2024! Our prompt was ‘Bring it to life’. Kate Betty Scott created it.

Scott said the prompt

“Is about objects. As someone who was chosen to be one of eight artists who have experienced homelessness in the UK to work for Arts and Homeless International, I have thought a lot about objects I had whilst homeless – their semiotics, their meanings, usefulnesses and how they made me feel.”

What we did

Instead of approaching this as an individual task like we usually do in Art for Fun, this was a group activity for us. We were tasked with creating a picture of St. Mark’s Church; it would be hung around the church and used as a promotion for Art For Fun!

We started the session by brainstorming with Sue (The leader of Art For Fun) some words we associate with the group and the building we could use in our pictures and as inspiration. Many words were thrown out by the group, such as sanctuary, community and welcoming.

Once we finished brainstorming, the tea and coffee were handed out, and the biscuits were eaten; it was time to get to work!

We were each given a piece of card with the outline of the outside of the church; our task was to decorate it how we liked, with the words as inspiration or in the artwork itself. Once it was completed, we would take the cut-out pieces of cards that we finished and arrange them in the correct order (like a puzzle) to show the finished artwork of the church.

Here’s a look at our finished product!

It was fun to come together and create something as a group- it was comforting to find out why others like coming to our weekly sessions and the impact we’ve made on each other, not only as artists but as friends, too.

If you were to do this at home, try doing a simple sketch or copying an outline using tracing paper, giving yourself a five-minute brainstorm to think of whatever comes to mind and then designing the building or object from there. It helps you grow a greater appreciation for what you have or could work as a way to navigate the more negative stuff!

We hope you’ve had a Happy New Year! We hope you’ve enjoyed our monthly update! Follow us to stay informed with our monthly updates and to see all our new artwork! Or come along to the next Art for Fun session; we’d love for you to join our group!

Follow us on our brand new Instagram, here’s the link: https://www.instagram.com/ourartforfun/

Art For Fun is held every Thursday from 10 am to 12:30 pm at St Mark’s Church Beckton; we hope you’ll come to visit soon- Thanks for reading!