As a comics artist and an educator, I have a strong interest in the application of comics in educational contexts, particularly those outside the formal classroom. My previous comics-related research projects have shown that comics may be especially suitable for narrating personal stories and viewpoints. With this in mind, I have designed a small-scale research study to investigate how creating comics may support young people’s meaning-making with museum collections. The adolescent age range (10-19 years old) is relatively overlooked in museum and gallery education in favour or younger children/family activities. To address this gap, the study was specifically aimed at young people aged 10-19. A group of eight participants was recruited through local arts organisations to take part in this study. Due to the lockdown restrictions, his study has been taking place online, through a series of Zoom workshops. Participants explored items in an online collection of an art museum, and selected items that they found curious or inspiring. During the workshops, participants created comics as their personal interpretations of their chosen objects/items. Participants’ comics were used as project data; additional data was collected through questionnaires following the completion of artwork. Although at present this study is ongoing, the data collected and analysed so far has revealed participants’ choices of objects to be determined by their interests and previous experiences. The study has also demonstrated participants’ strong engagement with museum collections, and a significant degree of independence in their creative decisions.
Permanent link to this resource: https://doi.org/10.24384/3v5a-ps70
Richards, Irina
School of EducationFaculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
Year: 2021
© Richards, Irina All rights reserved.