Abstract
Intervention to enhance wellbeing through participation in the creative arts has a transformative potential, but the spatialities to this are poorly theorised. The paper examines arts-based interventions in two primary schools in which small groups of children are taken out of their everyday classrooms to participate in weekly sessions. The paper argues that such intervention is usefully seen as a practice of liminality, a distinct time and space that needs careful management to realise a transformative potential. Such management involves negotiating multiple sources of tension to balance different modes of power, forms of art practices and permeability of the liminal time-space.
Highlights
Introduction‘in order for good creative work to be done, there has to be respect for the process and for each other’ (Michael, 04/12/08) But whilst the arts practitioners aimed to facilitate a greater sense of freedom and exploration, they sometimes found that, ‘..they [the children] bounce about in that freedom and I feel walked all over’ (Michael, 13/01/09)
The argument that engagement in, and with, the creative arts to benefit health and wellbeing is supported by a growing body of evidence (Staricoff, 2004) recognised in health policy communities (Arts Council, 2007; Arts Council/ Department of Health, 2007; Department of Health, 2006; Fiske, 1999; Karkou and Glasman, 2004)
These intellectual roots largely neglect the spatial domain and the spaces of transformation tend to be invisible (Daykin, 2007; Sagan, 2008). The paper addresses this invisibility by proposing that a renewed engagement with Turner’s concept of liminality provides a useful framework for understanding the spatial aspects of the processes and practices through which arts-based interventions in schools can enhance participants’ social and emotional wellbeing
Summary
‘in order for good creative work to be done, there has to be respect for the process and for each other’ (Michael, 04/12/08) But whilst the arts practitioners aimed to facilitate a greater sense of freedom and exploration, they sometimes found that, ‘..they [the children] bounce about in that freedom and I feel walked all over’ (Michael, 13/01/09) Both Michael and Alice found themselves facing a tension between their own ideal of a shared ‘power with’ the group and the evident need at times to exert authoritative ‘power over’ the group (Allen, 2003). Any internal gains in children’s emotional and social wellbeing would only be transferable and sustained beyond the liminal sessions if accorded recognition by others in their everyday worlds (Fisher, 2008) Both schools enabled formal presentations of work: Brightfields screened one group’s animation film; a Pennington group sent their collection of poems to the Queen. If the boundaries had been too tightly protected, the role of the liminal time-space would have become merely one of sanctuary with limited potential for gains to be transferred and integrated back into the everyday emotional and social worlds of the participants
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
