Creativity and social engagement: Studio 10 at the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA)

We have discussed the importance of social engagement and creativity in this course, and Studio 10 at the Irish Museum of Modern Art is an example of how both of these elements can come together to bring benefits to participants.

Studio 10 is a programme for adults of all levels of creative experience at the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA). Every week, this community of learners gathers at 10:00 am in Studio 10, one of IMMA’s workshop studios, and participants work together to engage with ideas and learn art-making techniques.

The sessions are led by IMMA’s gallery staff, who share knowledge and skills across a wide variety of art practices that are centred on work that they explore in IMMA’s temporary exhibition programmes.

• Through this programme, which is run in a series of three sessions over as many weeks, participants can immerse themselves in exploring themes and learn about the ideas behind the specific artworks or artists that they focus on.
• They can subsequently draw from this and their own life experience to make artwork themselves in the studios.

Some of the benefits that participants have described include:

• Fun and enjoyment
• A sense of connectedness
• Engaging with a community of like-minded people who share similar interests
• The continuous opportunity to learn new skills
• The opportunity to meet and to work with people of different ages
• The opportunity to work with and meet different artists

This project is a good example of how being creative and getting socially engaged can be beneficial for your mental wellbeing.

Helen O’Donoghue is the Senior Curator at the Irish Museum of Modern Art.