Category: Theory and debate
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Co-creation: Making Meaning Podcast Episode 42
In my nearly 20 years of creative work, I’ve developed a real passion for creating artwork with the input of others, either in group making or through contributions of stories. In this blog / podcast I’m sharing my piece of reflective writing that I share first in my Cultures of Care Group in June 2024.…
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Reflective Practice: Making Meaning Podcast Episode 41
I find being reflective in my creative work incredibly useful and have done for many years. In this essay / podcast I share how I came to reflective writing or journalling and some of the other ways I am reflective about my work with others. This was part of my Cultures of Care Group in…
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Research as a care practice: Making Meaning Podcast Episode 40
This new podcast episode, the start of series four, is a recording of my first Cultures of Care Group talks. For each CoC Group I write an essay to share on an aspect of care in creative practice. In April 2024, I chose to talk about research as a creative care practice. You can read…
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Cultures of Care Group
What is Cultures of Care Group? This online monthly session is a space for reflection, thinking and conversation about care in creative practice. Why is this happening? It’s part of my ongoing Cultures of Care project, exploring themes of care in my work. The Cultures of Care Group is a free session once a month…
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Words About Women
Way back in 2022, as I was preparing the final version of Criminal Quilts exhibition for Llantarnam Grange, I devised a collaborative project to mark the end of over 10 years working with the stories of women in the criminal justice system in the 19th century. The idea was to create a collaborative artwork with…
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Stitch with something to say
Before I visited Festival of Quilts earlier this year, I was thinking about another world where something other than quilts were on display in a huge, annual competition. I was inspired by Fashion Fictions which Dr Amy Twigger Holroyd introduced in Making Meaning Live where alternative versions of the world are explored where there are…
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Working for free
Artists and freelancers regularly get asked to do unpaid work for organisations and institutions. In this blog post I discuss one of the common scenarios, share some thoughts on how things need to change and suggest some actions you can take. Should I say yes to unpaid work? This is a perennial complex problem for…
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The personal impact of volunteering
How volunteering at a foodbank changed my perspective on life Volunteering during the pandemic changed my life. Helping at the foodbank gave me purpose during the height of the pandemic. I have been so impressed by the care and community-mindedness of the formal and informal volunteers I have met over the last two years. I…
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Community Spirit of Leicestershire launch
My project celebrating the Stories of pandemic volunteering in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland is going on tour I’ve been working on this project most of the year and even longer in the planning and development. It’s finally almost out in the world! Back in 2020 when volunteering to help run a local foodbank, I realised…
Ruth Singer 