SALTO-YOUTH.net is a real treasure trove. For those who haven’t come across it yet—simply put, it’s a pan-European network for supporting and developing youth work, which offers non-formal learning materials to youth workers and youth leaders and organizes training sessions and networking activities as part of the European Commission’s training strategy.
I found a training session called“Creative Self – Art Practices for Youth Empowerment” on the SALTO training calendar and immediately felt that I simply had to attend . And I did.
The training took place May 20–29 in Norway, in the picturesque town of Balestrand, home to one of Europe’s most renowned artist residencies. In addition to me, 18 other creative souls from the Netherlands, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Romania, Lithuania, Ukraine, Georgia, Serbia, and Greece took part in the training.
We spent eight intense days together exploring what creativity and the creative process are, how to develop, cultivate, and maintain creativity within ourselves, and how to find a balance between our logical and creative sides. We tried out three art techniques that are perfect for youth work: marbling (ebru), ceramics, and collage. To wrap up the training, we put together an exhibition of our work, which gave us experience in preparing and presenting an exhibition. I was in charge of the collage section and was very satisfied with the result.
Throughout the training, we kept a journal in which we noted important sources of information and quotes, as well as our own observations about the creative process, sketches and diagrams to visualize the material, and outlines for our future creative workshop. I personally focused on the collage technique and wrote down three ways to use it with young people of different age groups to unleash their creativity and explore their personalities (I have already conducted one such workshop with the youth at the Anne Youth Center).
I’m still keeping the journal I started during the training. My impressions of the inspiring encounters, exciting techniques, and moments of insight from that time will last until now and far into the future. I returned to Tartu feeling truly enriched and deeply grateful, with a firm desire in my heart to continue exploring my creativity and to share its magic with others.
The project “Creative Self – Art Practices for Youth Empowerment” received financial support from the Erasmus+ program through the Norwegian National Agency and was implemented by Creative Connections Norway.
Article by Julia Barsukova, youth worker at the Anneke Youth Center
Materials for independent study:
- “The Creative Fire: 10 Weeks to Emotional and Creative Fitness,” by Bob Beare, 2014
- “The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity,” by Julia Cameron, 2020
- “100 Years of Creativity: Collage Artist Eunice Parsons” https://youtu.be/Dq3cX7AqARs?is=bGpMbZb–Sdalmm2
- “What Creativity Is Trying to Tell You,” Jonathan Tilley, TED Talks https://youtu.be/eMOqIJ9V_K4?is=HE7-QjvhzsCklXUQ
- “Why Everybody—Not Just Artists—Needs to Practice Creativity,” Pam Grout, TED Talks https://youtu.be/1VCrPvvohGk?is=KoTeYa0J7v7cO8L2
- “The Theory of Creativity,” Duncan Wardle, TEDxAUK https://youtu.be/_8MwiGYzlyg?is=CZwAEPP9gh0-r-Pz
