Last month I shared what was unfolding midway through Artful August, an idea Susan Zheng and I felt had merit and decided to bring to life: 31 days of intentional creativity. Thirty-three people from different parts of the world signed up, each choosing their own creative commitment. Artful August reminded us that we are all creative. It also revealed something else: creativity may be personal, but it doesn’t have to be solitary.
Artful August wasn’t only about making art. Being artful can mean paying closer attention, following curiosity, experimenting with an idea, seeing something differently or becoming more conscious of where we place our time and attention.
Now that Artful August is complete and we’ve heard from some of the people who took part, one theme has come through strongly: the value of creating in the company of others.
What happens in the company of others?
People wrote, painted, drew, photographed, danced, made films, created songs, experimented with collage and noticed the natural world. Seeing how others interpreted the same prompts was surprising and enjoyable to see. It helped expand our sense of what creativity could look like.
One participant described arriving as a beginner, wanting to draw and paint but not wanting to enrol in a course or share their work on social media. Artful August offered another kind of space, one where people could share the unfinished, the experimental and the wonderfully wonky.
Releasing the grip of perfectionism became part of the process. There was no expectation. The group offered encouragement rather than critique. Each person decided what to create, whether to share it and how far they wanted to venture beyond their comfort zone.
One reflection captured what the company of others made possible:
“I discovered a love of doodling colourful shapes to express concepts, which I have continued since the project ended. Inspiration was in good supply as well; watching others’ interpretations of prompts and their expression through dance, photography, film and humour gave me more ideas than I would have had alone.”
For some, knowing somebody would see what they created helped them turn up when time was short or motivation was missing. For others, making their work visible was itself a creative risk. One person described Artful August as holding their “feet to the fire in the best possible way”.
Another reflection captured a deeper shift:
“For me, the greatest gift was experiencing, in real time, a shift from observer to participant. I discovered that creativity is not reserved for artists; it is available to anyone willing to pay attention, experiment and share.”
Be the villager
There’s a phrase I’ve heard: “If you want a village, you have to be a villager.”
It speaks to something important about Artful August. Susan and I could create the invitation, prompts, structure and places to connect, but we couldn’t create the community on our own.
The community came from people making and sharing their work, responding to others, offering encouragement, showing curiosity and allowing themselves to be seen. The villagers created the village.
Our intention was to provide enough scaffolding without filling people’s calendars with online sessions or creating another source of digital overload. The feedback suggests that we largely found that balance.
While much of my Artful August involved collaborating with Susan and holding space for others, I had my own creative commitment too. I used the month to work on collages for an upcoming group exhibition, Collage Encounters: What We Make of Things, taking place in December. I’ll keep you posted as it gets closer.
Where to next?
We will run Artful August again in 2027. Before then, Susan and I will reflect on what we’ve learned and work with this first community to consider what the next iteration could become.
Starting the conversation earlier will give people more time to consider what they might commit to, how they want to participate and whether August is the right time for a creative project, practice or idea.
One person told us they would sign up again “in a heartbeat”. That feels like a pretty good place to begin.
Artful August sparked another question related to my work: how might this kind of experience translate into a team setting? What becomes possible when people have enough structure, space and encouragement to follow their curiosity, take responsibility for their participation and discover what they can create in the company of others?
P.S. The ripple continues
Just this week, two people who took part in Artful August and live in the same city met in person for the first time.
It was a lovely reminder that community doesn’t have a beginning and an end. Artful August was shaped around a creative constraint of 31 days, but the connections people made are already carrying it beyond that boundary.
And one more ripple…
Thanks to one of our Artful August crew for turning Susan and me into 90s hip-hop dance queens. I don’t think I’ve ever been animated before!
