The three research sites were conceived as creative worlds. They provided case studies that offered unique insights into the role and influence of IAP. These deliberately diverse sites
Immersive art pedagogy Personal artwork & associated experiences Layered narratives Evolving model Layered narratives Participant artwork & associated experiences Creative Worlds 1, 2, 3 discussion findings Creative World 3 Photo Book Contextual Literature Review
included community based, institutional and personal/self-based contexts so that IAP could be examined across a range of settings.
The choice of sites reflects my approach to IAP as it does a systems view of creativity (Csiksentmihalyi, 1996) in which the where of creativity is analysed through the interconnection of individual, field and domain. The three chosen sites allowed me to focus on zones of creativity (individual, field and domain) determined by Csikszentmihalyi (1996) with each site providing different foci through which to explore the interconnectedness of components. The sites offered an opportunity to explore creativity as a place-based and relational notion, thus further enriching my understanding of IAP.
Each site generated a critical narrative that emerged as a consequence of researcher and participant interaction with the site. In each site, the way in which participants engaged with their art practice and the issues that informed their art making are examined through the evolving model for IAP. Informing theoretical notions derived from arts-based and practice- led research, creativity research and socially critical, sociocultural and place-based theories were applied to the experiential data to explore the role and influence of IAP in each site. Participants found their voice/s within the context of IAP and the creative worlds that each site enabled and revealed. Each site was positioned as a creative world for investigation and was examined through an evolving theoretical lens provided by the methodological and conceptual role and influence of IAP. The power and knowledge relationships that existed between me and the participants were explored. In each site my role shifted (see Figure 8). For example, as a university lecturer in teacher education, I assess students and class attendance is compulsory. As artistic coordinator in a community project, participants can come and go as they please. I view myself as an artist when involved in my own art practice. Many students, commencing university study in my generalist primary teaching units, view themselves as non-artists. However, by the end of the semester, most have developed a belief in their own creative potential and have become creative risk takers3. In contrast, participants in the Creative Junction Project are defined as artists and/or community members, some are expert practitioners and others are beginners.
Creative World 1, the Creative Junction Art and Environment Project, aimed to explore sense of place and identity and notions of wellbeing through artistic means (see Figure 8).A critical narrative developed from this site highlights the issues and sociocultural contexts through which participants expressed their sense of identity and sense of power. The immersive arts- based methodology drew out participants’ contexts of power and their relationship to societal
3
This view was formed as a result of reading and viewing the visual diaries created by students who undertook immersive based studio art classes with me at Monash University
viewpoints so that their own expressive voices were highlighted. It also explored how creative processes across time, space and place can be used to connect participants to each other and to the cultural domain. The critical narrative explored how art media and techniques can be selected to best represent the viewpoint of the participant. This narrative and critical methodological approach was used across the three sites to explore similarities and differences between the different contexts.
Figure 8: Overview of Creative Worlds 1, 2 and 3
The places in which art is made in each creative world revealed disparate levels of power and influence (see Table 7). For example, the use of private space to make ephemeral artworks over time was possible in my home studio, but was problematic in a university setting where three hundred students used the facility each week. The making of ephemeral artworks in the natural setting of the Yarra River was approved by the Yarra Junction Shire. This provided a sense of temporality as the artworks were left to the natural elements. By examining the participants’ roles, the places in which IAP took place and participants’ relationship to me as lecturer, artistic coordinator and artist, further opportunities for contrasting the various contexts for IAP were presented.
Creative World 1: Immersive Art Pedagogy in a community
project
This site explores the Creative Junction Art and Environment Project through the lens of a developing view of Immersive Art Pedagogy and is positioned within a community context. Expression of place and identity, made possible through IAP is a major focus of this community project.
Creative World 2: Immersive Art Pedagogy in teacher education
This site explores an institutional setting where a Studio Arts - Two Dimensional Studies class for pre-service generalist primary education students at Monash University is understood through an evolving view of Immersive Art Pedagogy. The starting points developed for use in this institutional context are a major feature of the site.
Creative World 3: Immersive Art Pedagogy in personal artistic
practice:
This site explores Immersive Art Pedagogy in relation to my role as artist and as related to the self as teacher and researcher. The artist/self in the making (Ellsworth, 2005) and the personal studio practice of the artist is a feature of this site which is located across private studio, the community and institutional work place, the classroom, outside sites and domestic space.
Table 7: Research Sites, Roles and Variants
Site My Role Variants
Creative World 1
IAP in a community project Creative Junction Art and Environment Project Yarra Ranges ART COORDINATOR within a COMMUNITY SETTING
100s of participants, various ages, male and female, open entry
Participants can come and go Community sites/local environment Working with artists, local community,
The Shire, project team, funding bodies
Advertised program of events
Creative World 2
IAP in teacher education Studio Arts Class, Monash University Faculty of Education LECTURER, STUDIO ARTS within an INSTITUTIONAL SETTING
18 female participants, aged over 18, 3rd and 4th year Art Elective for Pre- Service Primary Teachers
Shared studio/art-room setting Lecturer/student dynamic
Prescribed unit guide and assessment
Creative World 3
IAP in personal artistic practice
Studio practice across multiple sites ARTIST within MULTIPLE SITES ACROSS PRIVATE, INSTITUTIONAL, CULTURAL AND ENVIRONMENT- AL SETTINGS
Self in artist role
Female, aged 40+, undertaking PhD by arts-based Project
Artist role managed alongside educator, researcher and family contexts
Private spaces, University Art studios, research retreat, cafes, outside settings
Access to cultural and environmental sites, critical friends, educators, researchers
Self-initiated content