Creative Community Care 2025: Chaos, Colour & Connection

By Riya Gupta
Head of Planning, Future Forte | La Trobe Alum | Believer in community joy and art therapy

👋Hey again. Riya here, back with another heart-full reflection from Creative Community Care—this time from the “Community Canvas: Create and Connect”, a workshop held on April 29th, post-semester break. After a few quiet weeks, this session felt like a soft restart, like stretching after a nap and remembering what waking up feels like.

As we entered the room, the first thing that hit me was the sight of this massive blank canvas sprawled out across the floor like an invitation. Surrounding it were all kinds of art materials—paints, markers, pastels, brushes, and more. Note to self: this was not the day to wear white. 

Cushions were scattered around on the carpeted floor, giving the space the cozy feel of a hangout with close friends, complete with drinks and snacks. After some warm hellos, Stef (our incredible art therapist and guide through chaos and creativity) gathered us around the canvas to talk about how we were feeling and what the session was meant to offer.

This wasn’t about planning or perfection. It was about play. A low-pressure space to decompress and co-create, letting art become the glue between strangers, friends, and everything in between. No rules, no outcomes, just intention and curiosity.

We each picked a medium to begin with. Stef gave us the signal, and suddenly, the silence was filled with movement. People dipped into colours and textures. We were crawling around the canvas on our knees, stepping over each other’s designs, interrupting lines, blending sprays into pastels into scribbles into handprints. What began as individual expressions melted into one chaotic, beautiful, collective mural. It didn’t make sense in the traditional sense, but it felt right. Someone started a swirl, someone else finished it. One person’s lines merged with another’s shading. Every mark held its own weight, yet contributed to something greater.

There was this quiet joy in making something together, uncoordinated yet harmonious. After about 30 minutes of focused, wordless creation, Stef asked us to pause and step back. The result? Absolute, glorious chaos. But it was our chaos. And somehow, I was so proud.

We wrapped up by sharing reflections—what the process felt like, what surprised us, what stayed with us. No one tried to make deep intellectual sense of it. We just let the experience land. And that in itself was enough.

Here’s what I took away: sometimes, the quiet doesn’t bring symmetry or the meaning, it’s in the process. In the act of showing up, of joining in, of letting go of control and leaning into collective messiness. And if you leave feeling just a little lighter than you came in, that’s all the reason you need to keep creating.

DISCLAIMER

While these sessions explore mental health, they’re not a substitute for therapy if you're in crisis. The community care sessions are designed for you to take a break and participate in community care that doesn’t feel like work.

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💡Are you interested in joining our next round of Creative Community Care? We're running a one-off session on September 16th 2025 and you can find all the details, and register HERE!