I’d like to think I was fairly creative in my day to day life before all this madness descended. I studied Art at A Level, designed sets and posters here at the Artz Centre and did the occasional drawing for a birthday or Christmas present (that was before I had a job and could afford to buy people what they actually wanted!). However it wasn’t until my whole world was flipped on its head that I learnt to appreciate the true meaning of creativity. We all become very accustomed to living how we live. Going to school/work at 9 o’clock every Monday – Friday, shopping at our local supermarkets multiple times a week, going to our parents or grandparents for a cup of tea and a catch up. Yet now we are faced with theses everyday tasks being completely unavailable to us.
Now at the start of all this the thought of that terrified me, what do you mean I finish school forever on Friday? What do you mean the Artz Centre is going to have to shut its doors for the foreseeable future? What do you mean I can’t go to see my grandparents for tea twice a week like I have since I was 6 months old?
Now anyone who knows me knows I am someone who likes to have a plan, it is possibly my favourite thing – to know exactly what it is that I am working towards, exactly what it is that I will be doing tomorrow to get towards those goals. But this unforeseeable event meant that every perfectly thought through plan I held for the upcoming months would not happen. It felt like every avenue I had to be creative was being shut in my face.
That was until I walked through the doors of our Upholland Artz Centre 3 weeks ago to our amazing team who showed me the true meaning of creativity. It had only been 48 hours since the Prime Minister had announce the initial lockdown procedures and already the team had a fully formed plan as to how they would change their business in order for their amazing students to still be able to access the Artz teachings and more importantly the Artz community. These few short hours managed to give me a whole new perspective on the current situation. So what if I wasn’t finishing school in June like I was expecting, so what if I couldn’t come up to the Artz Centre much for the next few months – there were ways around all of these things we just have to think creatively about it.
So yes, quarantine has given me more of an opportunity to focus on my creativity in terms of design and drawing, but it has also challenged me to be creative in new ways I’ve never had to be before.
By Charlotte (Artz Staff)