Design workshop in Regina

On the morning of Saturday, September 14th, I woke up with a start as the alarm went off. The first thing that came to my mind was the Shared Spaces workshop in Regina. We had been talking about and planning this workshop for weeks. We had prepared a worksheet of questions, two pages long. The workshop was supposed to begin at 2p.m. It started on time with 7 participants. Michael started the workshop by first introducing himself, followed by a round of introductions for participants. They had to tell their name, their job and how they are connected to the art world. After the introductions, Michael came to the front of the room and asked everyone to take 5 minutes to answer the first page of questions, first talking in pairs and then sharing with the full. Then talked about our experiences in art galleries. I started to recognize that people new to galleries might get the feeling of not being welcome or that art isn’t their thing because of a lack of knowledge. The most important thing I learned from these workshops is that people always learn from one another. And how vital is to look at people not only as customers but as peers to design something for them.

Written by Fatemeh Ebrahimnejadnamini, User Engagement Team Member