Getting creative on the train in October

Press Release – Squiggla
The public are invited to exercise their creative brains on the train, and at Wellington Railway Station over October: to substitute their phones for the joy of drawing.

Providing travel packs with starter exercises for people to draw on their train journeys home, Squiggla by Train also features free drop-in weekend workshops at Wellington’s grand railway station, responding to the grand architecture and railway network maps and diagrams.

Developed by the Chartwell Trust, Squiggla is a hands-on creative visual thinking programme, with events held nationally in different locations to encourage direct engagement by the public in art through mark making.

“We increasingly know the importance of creativity for well-being,” says co-founder Karen Gardiner, “and no matter what age you are, you can exercise and ‘train’ to think more creatively.”

Squiggla by Train is part of the Urban Dream Station Series, a public art programme at the Wellington Railway Station being run by Urban Dream Brokerage until December, with the support of Kiwirail, Metlink and Transdev.

The public can pop-in between 12noon and 4pm Saturday and Sunday October 10 and 11, and Saturdays October 17 and 24. The workshops coincide with the reopening of City Gallery Wellington.

Held in a vacant space inside the grand station’s entrance, the public are invited to use dots, lines and squiggles to respond to the historic architecture and their train journeys. They can contribute to a giant network map and, if they wish, have their work projected up large in the station.

“Rather than getting ‘sidetracked’ scrolling on your phone,” says producer Mark Amery, “you can engage with your own creativity. It’s about the joy of art without worrying about whether you’re good enough or the end result. Squiggla by Train encourages people to slow down and get inventive with mark making. There are no mistakes, only opportunities.”

Tuesdays to Fridays, 4-6pm from October 6 to October 25 commuters can also pick up a free Squiggla travel journal and colouring pencils to draw on their train journey home. They can then choose to share their work for projection at the station by taking a photo and tagging Squiggla on Instagram or Facebook.

Content Sourced from scoop.co.nz
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