Art, Music and Drama online events for the IOE

Dr Jessica Hayton, Lecturer and Programme Leader, created a series of online creative events for her colleagues in Psychology and Human Development, IOE.

What were you aiming to achieve from your wellbeing initiative?

As part of the small grants offered by UCL Workplace Wellbeing and UCL Mental Health, the IOE Psychology and Human Development Wellbeing Working Group decided to take the opportunity to ‘give back’ to colleagues and creatives, who have been hard-hit by the challenges accumulated from the global pandemic. The Wellbeing Working Group decided to run three online social events, feeding into the distinct themes of ‘healthy body’, ‘healthy mind’, and ‘healthy work’. The idea was to have three related events to stimulate our creativity, let our hair down, have a bit of decompression and most of all have a proper giggle; in doing this we are making steps toward our mission of making a caring work culture by sharing experiences beyond the working day and beyond our typical job remits.

How did you deliver your wellbeing initiative? 

I contacted professional creatives in drama/theatre and music in addition to one of our own departmental artists (Dr Keri Wong) to run the art session (directly linking to her ‘Whine and Art’ evening). 

Externally hosted one-hour Zoom sessions which covered the themes of drama (hosted by Katie Dalzell, alumni of Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts) and music (hosted by Rocco Brunori, alumni of the Conservatorium of Amsterdam and UCL IOE). A doodle poll was created to check staff availability (linking with that of our creatives), and the most popular dates were then confirmed and sent to the PhD All Staff email list with the Zoom links for the call. Seven members of staff were able to attend the drama event, with fewer (5) being able to attend the music event. Some that signed up were unable to make it and the lower turnout was probably due to people taking their much-deserved annual leave in preparation for the summer and external exam boards. 

What was the positive impact of your wellbeing initiative?

Most of all, we learned more about each other in a completely different context and had fun whilst we were doing it! 

The drama event was non-stop laugher, learning who each person would invite to a dinner party and why, learning how to count to 20 as a group – which was swiftly reduced to 10 as we struggled getting past 5, and having to explain to our boss why we were late to work using only our colleagues’ miming skills as an artistic medium to learn our excuse. Being abducted by aliens was probably feasible and borderline realistic given the upheaval this year has brought, but we all laughed until our cheeks ached!

The music event put our knowledge to the test – learning how many songs Elvis had recorded during his career (over 600), that a saxophone is technically a woodwind instrument, and George Michael’s real name was Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou. We were laughing and learning more about a world that seems so alien compared to our daily tasks.
The art session was run both internally and externally to our departmental colleagues, with resources kindly provided by Dr Keri Wong’s grant. Beautiful artworks were created by staff and their families, including an off-the-cuff impressionist piece by the fabulous Amelia Roberts, and the accidental development of “guacamole green” by Jess Hayton. Full details of Keri’s piece can be found on her page, however, running these events together meant that a load was shared in organising multiple events in a short space of time. We learned a lot about letting ourselves go and not being too picky with our art forms. 

What did you learn from running your wellbeing initiative?

Aside from learning how tricky it was to count to 10 and the outcomes of two truths and one lie (which shall forever remain a secret), I learned that shared experiences outside the professional aspects of our role is fundamental to building and strengthening our team. Laughing together and informal sessions really offered the opportunity to see each other in a different light and the importance of this human aspect beyond the pandemic. The sessions reinforced my belief in the importance and value of the creative arts industry and that online events with small numbers really add value to the experience when everyone gets a turn to speak.

In terms of what I would do differently, I would stagger the time between sessions and avoid the end of term chaos. We were limited by the timeframe, which affected numbers, but we had a marvellous time nevertheless!