Creative Community Care 2025: From Sound to Shape

By Riya Gupta

Events and Programs Executive, Future Forte | La Trobe Alum | Soft Pastel enthusiast

👋Hey again. I’m Riya and I’m back with reflections from Week #2 of Creative Community Care—a space I’ve been lucky enough to take part in through Future Forte and Shapes and Sounds, held at La Trobe University’s city campus.

This week, we moved from the world of sound into something even more tangible: art. And if last week was about tuning in, this session was all about letting it out on paper, in color, with texture, movement, and meaning.

The workshop was led by the incredibly talented Stef (she/they), a Registered Art Therapist and multi-disciplinary artist. Raised in Hong Kong and now living in Narrm, Stef brings this thoughtful, grounding energy into the room that immediately puts you at ease.

The first introduction to the session started with tables full of art materials—markers, soft pastels, washi tape, pens, papers. After a quick check-in and a gentle reminder of the session’s structure and boundaries (respect, openness, no pressure to perform or explain), Stef guided us into the exercise. We returned to the playlist we had curated together last week, a spectrum of songs chosen to move us from one emotional state to another. (Read the last blog post if you don’t remember linked here)

We started with a fine liner, drawing continuously while the music played. The only rule? Don’t stop. Just let the music move your hand. It didn’t matter what came out zigzags, waves, little spirals or chaotic scribbles, it was about translating sound into line without care. Then, as each song shifted, so did our tools. 

Every new tool brought a different feeling. The soft pastels were smooth and vivid, markers buzzing with structure chaos, washi tape added texture and whimsy. There was no pressure to produce anything "good." No critique. No comparisons. Just everyone doing their thing, invested in the music and making space for themselves and each other. It was intimate without being intrusive, quietly powerful.

At the end of the session, Stef invited us to reflect on our artworks and we put them together to observe: how do these deeply personal expressions become part of a collective experience? How can something so individual become something we all share?

And honestly, that’s the magic of community care. In a room full of people creating alone and together, a strange kind of solidarity takes shape. I left that session more grounded, more seen, and more creatively motivated than I’d expected. 

Stay tuned—there’s more to come, and if this trajectory continues, I’m going to need a journal.

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!