Charlotte Faubert

Always More to Explore: Play and Resilience in Community-Based Artmaking 

This thesis research investigates the ways in which material exploration in community-based artmaking spaces fosters learning through play and creative resilience. Using teacher-based action research, three visual arts workshops were designed, conducted, and reviewed in order to understand how community-based teaching strategies that center material exploration impact these two components of social emotional growth in elementary-aged art students. The conclusions drawn from this research indicate that material exploration, learning through play, and creative resilience are elements within community-based artmaking that form an ecosystem of learning, with all three phenomena feeding off of one another in a non-linear capacity. Additionally, it was concluded that the artmaking spaces of the workshops influence student collaboration and creative resilience, highlighting the importance of considering the context of artmaking when designing art lessons.

Always More to Explore: Play and Resilience in Community-Based Artmaking 
Book Cover