Experiencing art and creativity in the institution : paint shop

Abstract

The art practice enables both people’s social reintroduction and personal experience. The creativity practice allows someone’s mental and emotional development process, providing people a wider worldview, which helps them taking decisions in different situations in life. The aim of the activity described in this paper was to improve the participants’ quality of life, allowing them to uncover their creative potential and applying it to problem solving, pursuing new alternatives of action and interpersonal relations, such as the ones they have in their personal, familiar and social lives. Furthermore, it aimed to provide the self-knowledge and the selfvaluing of the individual through the contact with art. The method consisted of offering art workshops - abstract spatula painting - in which group activities were developed. The materials used by the participants were 70 x 90 cm canvas, as the base to create their paintings, brushes, spatulas, dimensional acrylic in black and white, acrylic paint in primary colors, white and black. It was noticed at the end of the process that each participant found singular characteristics in the creating process. Concrete and defined images were not observed in any of the paintings, since the spectator can interpret the creation as he or she wants. This positive activity contributes effectively to people’s quality of life; therefore, it is really important that these workshops continue to exist.