Creativity and life-long education has the power to change and improve lives, but how can we support everyone to experience these changes?
AliusArt offers coaching and workshops providing bespoke solutions to facilitate personal and professional development for individual practitioners and organisations engaged in creative therapies, inclusive arts and holistic education.
We work with individual clients, inclusive art studios, not-for-profit organisations, social care providers, social prescribing services, community initiatives and outreach projects.
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The Magic of Audio Plays: Imagination, Creativity and Therapeutic Benefits.
Here I am – it is a late afternoon in September 2024 and I am sitting in an airport (for the next 3 hours) on my way to Scotland to facilitate a workshop for 14 adults with additional support needs. We are going to spend the next 6 days recording an inclusive audio play! Since this…
Pedagogy vs Andragogy
Pedagogy and Andragogy are distinct teaching styles based on the learners’ age and development. Pedagogy is teacher-centered, focusing on children, while Andragogy is learner-centered, tailored to adults. Understanding these differences helps teachers create tailored, engaging learning experiences, leading to effective outcomes and enhancing professional competence. Both approaches cater to distinct learner needs and motivations.
Bend reality, break rules and blend it all up – it’s good for you!
Creativity allows you to bend reality, break rules and blend it all up, AND it is good for you! Through the processes of bending, breaking and blending we can empower our creativity (and creative thinking) and at the same time push the boundaries of conventional thinking, embracing experimentation and integrating new and diverse ideas. By consciously working with this concept, I believe, it not only fuels our innovation…
Creativity is not limited to a select few.
Many mistakenly believe creativity is only for artists and performers, hindering their potential for exploration and problem-solving. Creativity is innate and extends beyond art, manifesting in pattern recognition and innovative problem-solving. Fear of failure often stifles creativity, but embracing uncertainty unlocks new levels of innovation and problem-solving for all.
Creativity is inherently a social act.
When arranging and executing inclusive art conferences and music performances I have again and again experienced that creativity is not merely an individual pursuit; it is a social act that thrives on interactions, collaboration, feedback, and the exchange of ideas. Social context, feedback, validation, and recognition all play crucial roles in shaping, developing and motivating…
Human creativity is not a spontaneous act!
Creativity is not about finding something completely new. It is about taking what we already have and using it in new and unexpected ways. This is what makes human creativity so powerful and adaptable. While setting up a therapeutic arts and crafts studio back in the early 2000’s, it became clear to me that…
The Diamond Model – creativity and social inclusion.
Approximately 10 years ago Gabriel Eichsteller and Sylvia Holthoff developed the theory of the Diamond Model. This model has within this short time already become one of the most powerful concepts in social pedagogical practice. What is the Diamond Model? The Diamond Model is a framework for understanding and promoting personal and social development, particularly in…
How do you promote creativity?
A 10 step guide. Promoting other people’s creativity involves developing an environment that encourages and nurtures freedom, comfort and innovative thinking. By consciously incorporating the strategies below, you can foster a more creative environment in various settings, being it at work, in education, or in everyday life. Here are 10 steps to help you do…
Is human creativity the antidote to Artificial Intelligence (AI) concerns?
Artificial intelligence (AI) is capable of mimicking creative processes and providing tools for creative tasks, but it lacks the depth and breadth of human creativity particularly in terms of emotion, intuition, and originality. Human creativity, which manifests in innovative problem-solving, art, and personal fulfillment among other things, offers a solution as it empowers social change…
Keep the rhythm – it’s good for you!
The concept of rhythm derives from Greek (ῥυθμός), rhythmos, meaning “any regular recurring motion, symmetry” Conscious awareness of rhythm plays a significant role in expressive arts, such as music, dance, and visual arts. It can convey emotions, create a sense of movement, and add structure to artistic expressions. In music, rhythm is fundamental to creating…
Attention to Detail vs Perfectionism
Attention to Detail vs Perfectionism – a therapeutic difference – Paying attention to detail serves as the hallmark of any creative therapeutic art practice. This principle forms the cornerstone of all aspects of the creative journey. It doesn´t matter if it involves the creation of a visual artwork, the finalisation of a craft project, the…
The Learning Zone Model.
The Learning Zone Model demonstrates how – in order to learn successfully – we must be challenged. But the balance needs to be just right. Tom Senninger, a German Educator and Adventurer, formulated the Learning Zone Model, drawing inspiration from Lev Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development. This model encourages us to view positive encounters as…
The Common Third.
The Common Third is the concept of using an activity to strengthen the relationship between yourself and another person or group. The Common Third empowers us, as practitioners, to create the possibility for engaging in activities where everyone can develop new skills and recognize personal development. What makes the Common Third particularly important is that…
Inclusive Art and the importance of Art created by the Atypical Artist.
Throughout the world there is a growing understanding that inclusive art has a lot to give to our understanding of the world we are living in. Inclusive art is about facilitating and empowering the development of our consciousness – artists from non-conventional backgrounds again and again show us new ways of understanding how we perceive…
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