“Ann created a supportive and playful atmosphere in which participants with a wide range of experiences could explore storytelling, not only as an artform, but as a way to make themselves heard. She was able to develop a creative and flexible approach to the complex issue of speaking about experiences of mental health and was a joy to work with.” Michael Cunliffe, Artistic Coordinator, NTAS
I was privileged to be invited into NTAS to run a series of sessions on spoken and visual storytelling. I love the big warehouse studio environment, the carved wooden doors, high ceilings, the windows that take up most of the walls and fill the place with light. There’s the intriguing smell of plaster, wood, canvas, acrylics and gesso. I felt instantly relaxed and at home there, and made time to arriveearly so I could chat to studio members as they worked on their art.
Over three afternoons, we shared stories themed loosely on our relationships with art. I told a true story about my early alienation from “Art capital-A” in school, and this lead to a lot of spontaneous sharing about school and other barriers to creativity. The following session we worked with collage, with some group members experimenting with the stencilling technique I used in The Earth Belongs to Everyone to tell the story of their artistic journeys. I was fascinated to see the group’s work develop a spontaneous structure around opposition and contrast: before NTAS (LHS) after NTAS (RHS) with very few bridges in-between.
As a result we spent the final session investigating that “missing middle”. This helped us understand the transformative power of stories, the personal transformation which members experienced through making art, and the healing that comes in the discovery of personal agency, in picking up the tools for recovery and creating new work with them.
Ann Winter Story 