Flourish: Essence

Flourish is a school holiday family programme which was initiated in North Kensington a few days before Grenfell Tower fire. Each school holiday families collaborate with professional artists; exploring a broad range of processes and materials together they discover what art is and can be. We have recently begun delivering Flourish from our site in Barham Park Wembley after joining Arts Council England’s National Portfolio. 

To prepare for working in a new context and community, ACAVA’s Social Practice team have been talking to commissioned artists and regular Flourish families. Alongside these conversations we have also been reviewing evaluation data collected over the six-years since Flourish began. We have grouped this information thematically to help us articulate the methodology and principles of Flourish, which have grown organically through collaboration and co-creation. 

We have identified five themes which provide the basis for our guiding principles: Play (enjoyment and agency), Discovery (skills and learning), Exploration (themes and materials), Authenticity (co-creation and collaboration) and Wellbeing (emotional resilience and social connectivity), all underpinned by Creativity.  

During February half term, we have commissioned artists Flora Duley and Sadie St. Hilaire to explore these principles with families over three days. Activities will be playful and experimental with many taking place in the Maxilla garden and include: Large scale weaving using the trees as looms (Monday), taking prints and rubbings from a range of sources within the garden (Thursday), and large scale collage and mark-making (Friday). 

The artists will then collate this material, including conversations they may have had with participants, and create a printed output that captures the essence of Flourish.