Creative workshops aim to inspire
empathy in young people

Local GCSE art students participated in the first of a series of creative workshops organised by the University for the Creative Arts (UCA) in Farnham to raise awareness for empathy through poetry and visual art.

13 Oct 2023

The series of workshops, entitled ‘Kindness Rocks' celebrate that each of us is unique in our personality and characteristics.

Farnham children of all ages from six local schools, the first being GCSE students from Weydon School, have been invited to creatively respond to the concept of kindness by drawing, writing, painting, and gluing on rocks or pebbles.

These rocks will be little treasures of positivity, inspiration or an acknowledgement of difficult emotions or experiences.

Dr Vicky Samara, the facilitator of the ‘Kindness Rocks’ project also works as a Learning Support Assistant at Weydon School and is a local resident, poet and genetic scientist. She wanted to explore ways of communicating poetry that expresses feelings.

“This is what the community is being asked to do here: to depict, visually, what kindness is to them; what colour does it have; what pattern; what texture?”

The workshops are part of UCA’s gallery programme to celebrate Farnham’s October Craft Month, which was officially launched at the gallery earlier this month by UCA Chancellor Dame Magdalene Odundo DBE.

The rocks created by Weydon school children are currently on display in the Foyer Gallery for everyone to enjoy during the month-long celebration of craft.

UCA Surrey Galleries have two further specially curated exhibitions to celebrate October Craft Month, Learning Together | Creating Together and TechX: Technique.

These exhibitions celebrate craft learning at UCA, the legacy, the future, and the skilled technicians who provide the knowledge and expertise, which are fundamental in supporting the students’ learning journey and the teaching experience.

To learn more about UCA’s gallery programme, visit the galleries and exhibitions page or contact Loucia Manopoulou, UCA's Surrey Galleries Curator, at gallery@uca.ac.uk