How It Works | Creative Kin
Fraser Stone | Creative Kin Project Coordinator
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Fraser Stone joined Starcatchers as the project coordinator for Creative Kin. He’s the man behind the operation, liaising with the artists who facilitate the sessions, the families taking part, and our project partners Children 1st. Tomorrow is the first block of sessions taking place in Moray, and in his first blog (hopefully of many!) Fraser shares his insights into Creative Kin, and what he’s working towards achieving with it.
How It Works
The Creative Kin workshops in Ayrshire have offered a fantastic opportunity for Starcatchers and Children 1st staff to work with, and support, our lead artist Naomi O Kelly, in successfully developing and delivering the first block. I personally, have really enjoyed further developing relations with Children 1st staff and have taken the opportunity to form new relationships with the Kinship families in attendance. Naomi, the two Brians and I were able to gain a real sense of the innate creativity the Children 1st staff and the Kinship families have to offer and, moving forward, we are excited to see how this groups expands in size and skillset whilst growing together to form a creative community.
The first block has highlighted the fantastic support the Children 1st staff provide. Staff are very much creatively involved during workshops which has further aided the successful delivery of the project thus far. We have embraced the feedback from participants and Children 1st staff and feel confident this joint venture is aboard a vessel destined for great things.
Starcatchers looks forward to welcoming the Moray Kinship families to sessions which start on Saturday the 4th of November in Elgin. Families will be working with our lead artist, Heather Fulton, and I will attend and offer support at the helm as an additional artist. I have worked with Heather Fulton to develop activities which complement the overall vision of the project in Moray and I am looking forward to exploring these with the families.
I have been a professional musician and practitioner for over a decade and have created multiple rhythm based projects for schools around Scotland and have worked with players from around the world. I believe passionately that drumming offers a glorious melting-pot of cultural influences which brings people together, whilst leaving the fear of being stereotyped or labelled behind.
There are many artistic forms that can be utilised to encourage creativity. Rhythm is one which encourages both creativity whilst has been proven, through progressive methodologies, to aid music attainment and other curricular areas such as literacy, numeracy in early years.
To many, rhythm runs deeper than the parameters set in a musical context. Through my work as a practitioner, I look to address participants’ natural response to rhythm, an often subconscious quality, which has been continuously developing since the second trimester of their foetal development.
The Creative Kin sessions offer a platform to:
- Build on family bonds and connect with others
- Learn new things and share experiences
- Develop self-confidence and encourage and support others
- Inspire and be inspired
- Contribute positively to your health and wellbeing
- Re-engage with your innate creativity and feel empowered to shape its direction
Creativity can be used to explore who we are and is often an extension of our being. It can feature simple or intricate offerings of outward expression and the chance for people to connect with our internal thinking. It can be used as a platform for change and offer an opportunity to stamp our own beauty on the world.
I believe that everyone is unique and have loved and will continue to love celebrating this through our Creative Kin creative play sessions.
Creativity is not simply a property of exceptional people but an exceptional property of all people. Carter.R (2004) The Art of Common Talk.
Creative Kin is a 2-year pilot project funded by the Scottish Government Children, Young People and Families Early Intervention Project Fund and delivered in partnership with Children 1st, Scotland’s National Children’s Charity.