Artzability Short Film Festival
Artzability is an artist group for adults living with disabilities that I have the joy of co-ordinating. In 2021 I led the team of participants and local artists to create their own short films including story development, costume design, character work and filming. The project was shared with the community through hosting the Artzabilty Short Film Festival at the Margaret River HEART, proudly supported by Regional Arts WA.
photo credit – Anton Blume
Artzability Puppet Project
Utilizing my passion for puppetry and puppet-making I facilitated a 10 week puppet-making workshop with Artzability in 2020. The process included puppet design, sculpting clay faces, making polymer clay eyes, molding thermo-plastic, inserting mechanics, painting, making bodies and costumes. The characer development process covered learning basic puppetry technichques including a three person Bunraku style experience and resulted in a filmed performance on stage at the Margaret River HEART.
Council of All Beings
One of many projects I have facilitated as the dance and drama teacher at Margaret River Independent School, is the deep ecology practice known as a Council of All Beings. Grade 6 students were invited to explore the natural world through embracing a non-human character to speak on behalf of. They developed a mask, wrote a research based monologue and after a period of character and movement development, they adopted their characters to speak at the Council of All Beings.
The Hybrid Web – a collaboration with The Concrete Club
The 10 week ‘Hybrid Web’ was a project of many threads, engaging over 25 young people, in an inclusive arts program exploring identity, sense of place and community. Employing a range of skilled regional artists to facilitate workshops, young people were introduced to the broad range of skills used in puppet making, including character design and sculpture techniques. Working with The Nomadics, an original song was written and recorded in local Hairy Back Marron recording studio and a film clip was created of puppets interacting with various locations and groups. Funded by DLGSC Creative Communities COVID 19 recovery program.
