Wellbeing, Youth and Inclusivity-Focused Initiatives
Facilitating collaborative workshops that empower communities to co-create projects that reflect their vision.
We believe the best outcomes come from active listening and collaboration. Through community-led workshops, we create spaces for dialogue and connection, gathering valuable insights that form the heart of every project.
Tailored to local needs and aspirations.
By working closely with focus groups, we co-design solutions that are rooted in the unique needs and aspirations of each community. Every project is an opportunity to ensure that the voices of local residents are not just heard, but integrated into the design process.
Empowering through participatory design.
Our approach encourages individuals to take an active role in shaping their surroundings. Through participatory design, we create projects that are not only impactful but deeply connected to the people they serve, giving communities a sense of ownership and pride in their spaces and stories.
Using art therapy techniques to encourage team cohesion through Unique Approach to Office Mural Commission
How can a workplace foster deeper connections and align its team around shared values?
ThinkPlace's global headquarters in Barton, Canberra ACT, sought to answer this question by commissioning a collaborative artwork that embodies both their core values and our own commitment to creating meaningful, value-driven art. Together, we designed a project that would inspire connection, creativity, and purpose within their workspace.
The process began with a creative team-building workshop, incorporating art therapy techniques to delve into the motivations and passions of ThinkPlace’s employees. These insights became the foundation for a mural that integrates their aspirations with our vision for art as a medium of storytelling and connection.
Painted on-site with continuous input from the team, the mural weaves together narratives and symbolic messages that align with ThinkPlace’s brand and our belief in fostering hope, patience, and care. Now displayed on the main feature wall of their open-plan office, the artwork serves as a vibrant and meaningful backdrop for work, meetings, and corporate events, bringing our shared values to life.
Timeline: Two week in house art residency, one lunch hour team building workshop with employees. 8 consecutive day artwork installation.
Team: Led by Bohie Blackwood as the workshop facilitator, artwork designer and muralist.
Client: Thinkplace Global
Location: Canberra Centre, ACT.
Raising youTH voices through collaboratively CREATED SUSTAINABLE STREET ART.
Using only recycled materials, this street art workshop brought together 6 participants aged 16-23 years old, from various schools across Canberra. Together with supporting youth workers, we workshopped the theme “Raise young voices within the frame of sustainability”. I asked the question “What change would you like to see happen in the world, and what’s stopping it?”. The participants then covered each side of various recycled boxes with both negative and positive statements that society says which can both encourage and inhibit change. For example “we’re all in this together” vs “it’s always been done that way”. The participants learnt how small moments in every day life can both encourage change, and discourage it, and were provided with conversational tips for how to move the conversation forward.
The painted boxes were then presented as a temporary street art installation alongside professional contemporary artists at the Ainslie + Gorman Gallery, in Braddon, Canberra, for the duration of the Surface Street Art Festival.
Timeline: This project was created over 3 workshop days in the Northside Community Drop in Hub called Gunners Place, Gungahlin ACT, it was on exhibit at Ainslie + Gorman for 5 days over the duration of Surface Street Art Festival
Team: Project Designer, Facilitator, Lead Artist and Partnership Manager Bohie Blackwood, Assisting Artist Bonnie Porter-Green, Youth Work Support from Northside Community Service, Gallery support from Ainslie + Gorman
Funding: Supported by the ACT Government’s TCCS grant in partnership with Northside Community Services with sponsorship donation from Dulux.
Empowering Youth on Mental Wellbeing with Australian Olympian – International Women’s Day 2021
How can youth-led placemaking challenge gender stereotypes and inspire positive self-talk?
For International Women’s Day 2021, we collaborated with Erindale College students on a Youth Street Art project that explored themes of mental wellbeing and challenging gender stereotypes. Centred around the International Women’s Day theme, “Choose to Challenge,” the project included a keynote talk by female Olympian Caroline Buchanan, who shared insights on overcoming negative thinking and breaking free from societal expectations.
The workshop introduced students to an “Expressive Type” module, demonstrating how art can become a tool for empowerment and self-expression. Together, we co-created a mural that celebrated resilience and the power of positive self-talk.
Timeline: The project included a one-day off-site workshop with Caroline Buchanan’s keynote and design planning, followed by two days of mural painting on-site. The final artwork was unveiled with a media launch, covered by The Canberra Times, City News, WIN News, and ABC Radio, and attended by the Minister for Women and the Minister for Sport.
Team: Led by Bohie Blackwood as the workshop facilitator and mural designer, with support from ACT Government Street Art Coordinator Lisa Petheram, and students from Erindale College contributing their talents to the painting process.
Funding: Supported by the ACT Government’s TCCS grant in partnership with YWCA.
Location: Garema Place, Canberra Centre, ACT.
This project exemplified the power of grassroots changemaking by empowering young people to use art as a platform for sparking dialogue and fostering community values.
light projection artwork taking over two city blocks with wellbeing theme during covid
Invited by Enlighten Festival, Canberra to design COVID-19 responding artworks, we delved into the magic of pen pals that sparked up care and wellbeing during the lockdowns. Hand writing real world excerpts from letters emerging online, words of hope for a better future were carried on the wind through dandelion seeds, a medicinal herb for health.
highlighting activism work by young australian of the year in women’s day placemaking project
Rolling with the first lock down of 2020, this International Women’s Day scheduled youth-engagement collaboration with local street artist Faith Kerehona turned into an unexpected political response during heightened times. Inspired by the incredible work of young environmental activist, Madeline Diamond, this space activation project covered hoardings on an unused shop front in Garema Place, Canberra.
responding to workshops with the youth peer education group on act government sexual education, this “Consent” rebrand came from the heart
How do we engage young people to talk about sexual consent? And more than that, how to we engage society as a whole to talk about sexual consent? This design minefield was pitted with innuendos and metaphors, always skirting around the topic and never reaching the mark.
We decided to shoot straight from the hip, taking survey responses from young people directly and illustrating them into marketing collateral for Sexual Health Family Planning ACT.
High School Felixble Learning Centre just got a co-created makeover
Can you believe high school students painted this mural? We can! Designed by our professional typographer, and executed to clinical precision, these grade 12 students left a lasting impact on their school in the final weeks before graduation.
A community art project taking on youth mental health for this Suicide Awareness mural at a NSW sports field
This incredibly meaningful project was organised by a local resident who’d lost her 18 year old son to suicide. Supported by regional council, local business and crowd funding, this project was co-created with young people and local community members in the spirit of creating pathways for young people through mindfulness, team sports, and wellbeing.
Celebrating Murrumbidgee country in COLLABORATION with Wiradjuri Elders and local art therapist
Commissioned by the Murrumbidgee Council to create two artworks for “Wiradjuri Walk”, in collaboration with local art therapist and celebrated fine artist Kerri Weymouth including workshop consultation with Wiradjuri Elders from the Murrumbidgee Arts Kinship Enterprise (M.A.K.E), in Darlington Point, NSW.
Using street art to bring local students together with members of the skate park community for a youth drop-in hub
This street art workshop working with various age groups from three different local schools, along side members of the public and members of the council - created this four sided shipping container mural artwork featuring the community-chosen designs: “Thrive Amidst Chaos'“, “2620” (the local postcode, and important symbol for the local graffiti community), and the platypus which held significance to the local community.
