Escape Arts Blog
Our first blog post is about our experiences with our Spring 2024 International Internship Program. Key aims of the program included research into understanding the role of community arts on a global scale, particularly focusing on the impact of arts on health.
University of Warwick and Escape Arts 2024 Internship Program
We were thrilled to work with University of Warwick students as part of our twice-yearly Internship program. This year’s project focus area was to develop a deeper understanding and awareness of the challenges in global mental health and the impact arts can have on it. This was a big question, and we had just the right team in place to help us answer it!
Six students, all from different countries, studying different programs and located at different universities across Europe came together for four weeks to work on this project. This important collaborative project was designed to help raise social awareness and to discover methods, tools and techniques that can support opportunities to drive social impact in our communities.
Throughout the project, Escape Arts team members met weekly with the students to review the project research, answer questions and discuss the findings that would help drive the deliverables for the project. The team was enthusiastic, creative and always open to suggestions on how to structure the findings. Each student provided a fresh perspective, sometimes from direct personal experience, on the impact arts had on their journey to better their mental health. Hearing these thoughtful perspectives provided new illuminations into how we can continually shape our programs to speak to the growing diversity in our communities. The four weeks soon zipped by, and we were eagerly anticipating hearing the results of the students' work- all of which culminated in a spectacular presentation- to the Escape Arts team, a few guests and the University of Warwick internship coordinators. The presentation covered the research the students conducted about community arts and health case studies, challenge and opportunities, tools used by community activism, marketing advice and final recommendations.
The team here was thoroughly impressed with the presentation by the students! Their enthusiasm, solid recommendations and creative suggestions were embraced by our team. We were thrilled to have such an amazing group of thoughtful students share their unique and often personal perspectives on such an important topic.
We look forward to sharing the outcomes of this work with you and to a continued collaboration with the students so that we may continue to learn and grow together.
Recent articles
Nuneaton Escape Bookshelf: Peggy's Shelf
Participants attending Escape Arts Nuneaton Escape community group worked with Artist Jonny Nicholds on the Double Negative project. The group decided that they would want to use this theme to show their real selves and speak their hidden truths. In discussions, we decided that a library was the ideal setting for showcasing their stories and memories. Each member created a shelf housing book spines which are personal to them. This is Peggy's shelf.
Nuneaton Escape Bookshelf: Ella's Shelf
Participants attending Escape Arts Nuneaton Escape community group worked with Artist Jonny Nicholds on the Double Negative project. The group decided that they would want to use this theme to show their real selves and speak their hidden truths. In discussions, we decided that a library was the ideal setting for showcasing their stories and memories. Each member created a shelf housing book spines which are personal to them. This is Ella's shelf.
Nuneaton Escape Bookshelf: Vina's Shelf
Participants attending Escape Arts Nuneaton Escape community group worked with Artist Jonny Nicholds on the Double Negative project. The group decided that they would want to use this theme to show their real selves and speak their hidden truths. In discussions, we decided that a library was the ideal setting for showcasing their stories and memories. Each member created a shelf housing book spines which are personal to them. This is Vina's shelf.