Meet Esther Collins, Head of Learning, Towner Eastbourne
Last month we launched a brand new arts resource ‘Sense Your Way’ in partnership with Towner Eastbourne. The new resource, incorporating a workbook for students and accompanying teachers’ guidance and notes is helping schools across Sussex to encourage students to think imaginatively and get creative with everyday materials.
Here we meet Towner Eastbourne's Head of Learning, Esther Collins to talk about why she believes we need more partnerships like this and about the benefits fostering creativity can bring…
What a great role you’ve got Esther!
Yes, I feel incredibly lucky. Art has been a lifelong passion and it’s a real privilege to be thinking each day of how to help more local people throughout Sussex and beyond to engage with art and to experience the ways in which it can enrich every aspect of your life.
How did Towner’s partnership with SLN come about?
Not everyone's lucky enough to have access to arts materials or opportunities to engage with art. During the first lockdown we worked in partnership with SLN and 3VA (Voluntary Action Network) to deliver hundreds of art packs to homes across Eastbourne and Seaford to ensure that as many young people as possible could seek creativity as a positive outlet during this challenging time.
How did this project evolve into the creation of schools resources?
SLN told us that schools were crying out for creative resources. Both we, and the SLN team could see the real value in a set of resources that showcased how anyone can get creative with anything. That’s the central premise behind the Sense your Way resources. It shows young people that if you think imaginatively and tap into your senses you can see and create beauty using everyday materials in exciting new ways.
What was it like co-creating resources with Year 9 students?
We are so grateful to the team and students at St Catherine’s College in Eastbourne. The energy and insights that their students brought to this project was invaluable in making the resources as accessible and inspiring as possible for all students – not just those typically interested in art.
Why is it so important to engage non-arts students in creative activities?
The ability to get lost in a creative project is a real gift. It can help you see and think differently, get ‘lost’ in a moment and the wellbeing benefits are enormous. Being creative is calming, centering and can help you tap into and express feelings that you might otherwise find difficult to articulate.
We’ve heard that many schools are using the new Sense Your Way resource in their pastoral work as well as in art lessons and that’s wonderful to hear.
What is your hope for these resources?
We hope that these resources – and hopefully more in the future – will help many more young people across Sussex, who might not count themselves as ‘being creative’ to engage with art and experience the huge benefits it can bring.
And what next at Towner?
So much! We’re restarting an arts programme for parents and under 4’s which will launch later in the year and we’re establishing Artists Residencies throughout Eastbourne so that artists can play a central role in our local community. We also plan to open our newly redeveloped ground floor, a great new space for all arts communities to come together. As part of their launch in the summer we have a month of free, bookable shared studios for local artists. And of course we’re hoping to create more schools resources. It’s going to be an exciting year!