This 10 part pledge began at a conference held at Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design exploring the relationship between creative practice, wellbeing and health, specifically in the city. Since then the pledges have developed with feedback of the staff, students and researchers at University of the Arts, London.
Each care pledge has been consciously made with the hope of re-evaluating how care can impact your practice, your life and others.
Below you’ll learn more on the development of the pledges over multiple workshops.
Creativity, Care & the City opened the doors to the pledges by creating space for people to actively question, learn and engage with care as a tool to bring communities closer and influence artist practices.
Presenting on ALAS work Dr. RM Sanchez-Camus (ALAS Director) posed the question, ‘How can the arts bring care both into large-scale community works, and into the museum setting?’
This was followed by a workshop on participatory co-design of the pledge.
Conference members worked in groups to distill their ideas and formulate them down to 10. These were then finalised and presented back to the delegates.
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With the care pledge finally refined to 10 questions, designed and printed into large posters, Marcelo and Studio Assistant Connie Hickman took to the streets of Central Saint Martins, inviting passersby to make their creative mark on each poster in reaction to the pledge.
some scribbled, some highlighted others sat down to plan their response. Whether you made your mark on all 10 or focused on just one, the outcome was a feast for the eyes.
Connie and Marcelo enjoyed long, short, deep and lighthearted conversation throughout the day, an impact was definitely made on both student and the ALAS team.
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Three times a year the doctoral school welcomes research communities from within and outside University of the Arts London to gather around a topic of concern.
ALAS ran a care session on mark making and exploring the pledges with a group of researchers and staff. There was an interrogation of the pledge wording, with suggestions of reconstructions, introductions and reiterpretations all welcome.
To mark creativity & wellbeing week Central Saint Martins hosted a micro festival celebrating how creativity and well-being intersect. Marcelo hosted the Care pledges presenting at a PechaKucha alogside other practitioners who enact acts of care through creative practice. Delegates and guests were welcomed to a badge sized Care Pledge designed to sit inside the ID badge worn around the University. The ultimate ambition of for the care pledge to become more widespread and adopted as an organisation.