COLD LAKE - On Aug. 9, the Cold Lake and District Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) hosted an engaging and creative event called Art in the Park.
The event at FCSS Park was aimed at youth aged 12 to 17, offering them a chance to enjoy the outdoors, practice mindfulness, and explore their creativity.
“The inspiration for Art in the Park was kind of just getting youth and the community together and outside in nature and just kind of exploring the beautiful public spaces that Cold Lake has to offer, as well as mindfulness practices, and just connection,” said Gabrielle Blinn, a Family Resource Network Facilitator with Cold Lake and District FCSS.
The event offered youth a range of creative activities, including notebook sketching, colouring, and rock painting.
The event was designed to be more than just an art activity, it was an opportunity for young people to connect with nature, each other, and themselves. Blinn reflected on her personal experiences as a teenager, saying, “I think part of it is selflessness in the sense that those are some of my favourite things. And all throughout my own teenage years, art was something very near and dear to myself and my friends. I just wanted to create a space that other youth and their friends and peers could really enjoy and just experience those things all together.”
The choice to hold the event outdoors added a special dimension to the experience.
“I think it enhances the experience just because outdoors there is a lot of inspiration. A lot of art is reflected through the natural world or nature. There are huge themes in art a lot of the time,” Blinn noted.
Art in the Park brought youth from different backgrounds together, including those from various school divisions, providing them with an opportunity to connect, meet new people, and make new friends in a shared community space.
Beyond the art and socializing, the event focused on mental well-being, teaching participants mindfulness techniques.
"Just being in the present moment can improve our current mental state and learning those techniques for them to bring them forward into the coming school year can really help out with those anxieties and stresses of what is to happen in the future, because mindfulness really just centers on the present moment and now,” Blinn explained.
Art in the Park was designed to be inclusive, removing barriers by offering the event at no cost, ensuring all youth had the opportunity to experience and explore different activities before transitioning into adulthood, Blinn explained.
“It's all about the artistic process. A lot of our programs are more focused on the actual process of what you're creating and not the outcome. It's never about a specific way that something has to be done. It's more just enjoying the process of how you got through it and just exploring and trying new things in a safe space.”
