STIM - Group Selection
STIM is a project specifically for neurodivergent people facilitated by artist educator, Melissa Peacock (she/her).
Melissa is an Autistic researcher, practising artist and arts worker who resides in Central Queensland. STIM is short for stimming/self-stimulation, which, when used in a drawing form is a gestural and movement process that can aid in regulating sensory input.
Melissa has worked with RMOA to select artworks from the gallery’s collection to be displayed in the Margaret Olley Art Trust Collection Study Room that she feels resonate with the experience of STIM mark-making.
Melissa will facilitate workshops at RMOA, focusing on large scale collaborative stim drawings with participants of the project that allow for a visual response to these artworks. The drawings may go on display in the Collection Study Room after the workshops.
STIM aims
- build opportunities for neurodivergent creatives in order to support social and wellbeing inclusion
- explore nurturing benefits of creative collaboration
- create a space where people can come together to share a complex and diverse combination of experiences
What will participants do?
- Attend an optional sensory walk-through of RMOA in advance of the workshop
- Attend a workshop at RMOA with a small group of people to create a large-scale collaborative stim drawing
- The drawing may be displayed in the Margaret Olley Art Trust Collection Study Room at RMOA
- A small exhibition display fee may be paid if artwork is exhibited
More about the Artist Educator
Melissa Peacock was born in Ararat, Victoria and grew up on a sheep and wheat farm near the Pyrenees district. She completed her Bachelor of Visual Arts with First Class Honours at the University of Ballarat from 1994-1998 and then went onto to complete her Masters degree in 2003 at the Arts Academy in Ballarat.
Melissa has been working in the Arts and Disability sector for the past 23 years. Roles such as Artist in Residence, Arts & Craft Studio Coordinator, Community Arts Worker, Arts Tutor , Educator & Instructor have been highlights in her career.
Melissa’s work as visual artist is multi disciplinary and she has exhibited extensively both in Australia and the UK. Since moving to the Gladstone Region in 2018, Melissa has been running a micro regional arts business, A Country Arts Practice.
Melissa is a PhD candidate, researching what role can regional arts play in fostering a neurodiverse paradigm, following her late-in-life diagnosis of Autism. She is the recipient of the BE Scholarship with CQ University.
Image: Melissa Peacock in front of one of her stim drawings. Courtesy the artist.
Funding Acknowledgement
This project is generously supported in partnership with Haymans Electrical.