Art & Wellbeing Workshop — Adelaide
A community-based creative practice for wellbeing and connection
Project overview
This art & wellbeing workshop was delivered in Adelaide for members of the Ukrainian community, bringing together over 45 participants in a shared creative experience.
The project was developed in collaboration with Slava Ukrainian Cultural Centre Inc, a community organisation supporting cultural connection and wellbeing.
Within this collective setting, the workshop offered a calm, inclusive space where art supported presence, connection, and mutual care.
Project details
Location: Adelaide, South Australia
Year: 2024
Context: Community wellbeing workshop
Format: In-person group workshop
Participants: 45+
Audience: Adults, children 12+
Partner: SLAVA Ukrainian Cultural Centre Inc
Focus: mindful art practice, community wellbeing, cultural connection
Concept & intention
The workshop was conceived as a large-scale yet gentle creative practice, designed to support wellbeing within a close-knit cultural community.
Drawing on Anna Mykhalchuk’s Samchykivka-inspired approach — a traditional folk painting practice rooted in nature, rhythm, and symbolic form — participants were guided through a slow, attentive process of making.
Despite the size of the group, the intention was to maintain:
a sense of calm and focus
individual creative autonomy
collective presence without pressure
The workshop demonstrated how mindful art practice can remain intimate and supportive, even within a large community setting.
Community context
For many participants, the workshop offered more than a creative session — it became a moment of gathering, shared experience, and cultural continuity.
Through working with familiar natural forms, colour, and rhythm, participants were able to reconnect with both personal and collective memory, strengthening a sense of belonging and mutual support.
The collaboration with Slava highlighted the role of art as a bridge between wellbeing and cultural identity, particularly within diaspora communities.
Reflection
The Adelaide workshop illustrated the capacity of art to hold space for many people at once — without losing gentleness or depth.
By slowing down together, participants experienced how shared creative practice can support emotional balance, connection, and a sense of grounded presence.
This project forms an important part of Anna Mykhalchuk’s wider Art & Wellbeing Workshops practice, demonstrating its adaptability to scale, community context, and cultural specificity.
This workshop is part of Anna Mykhalchuk’s broader Art & Wellbeing Workshops practice.