The Team

Shkiesha

Director/ Events Coordinator

Shkiesha is the founder and director of the Future Craft initiative but she could not do it without creative practitioner like Luke and Jack who share her passion for art and the wellbeing. Drawn together by similar ideas of changing minds and therefore changing lives.

Our Team

Jack

Art Coordinator

Luke

Activities Coordinator

Core Values

Wellbeing includes mental, physical and spiritual health and maintaining wellbeing includes learning, connecting with and giving to others, staying active and being mindful.
Wellbeing is the foundation of an efficient and successful society and the development of the arts and artistic practices are imperative for healthy people and a healthy society. Therefore arts practices should be incorporated into the regular wellbeing practices of individuals and organisations responsible for the wellbeing of others.
Artists and performers are not always separate from audiences and the goal of art is not always be to perform or entertain.
Practice of art itself is as important as the end product and this mode of thinking should be applied to other practices in society.
We believe in developing practices based on scientific research.
Creativity and intuition are as valuable as logic and reason. Both can be and should be developed by everyone.
Creative, non-goal orientated art should be funded because the benefits of a creative process cannot be predicted. Sometime its true value is not detected until centuries after the work is completed.

Mission Statement

It is our mission to bring together artists and wellbeing practitioners to create experiences for the residence of Manchester that will be both entertaining and improve their wellbeing at the same time. Through such collaberations, we will create short term and long term platforms for socialising, networking and sharing ideas. These platforms will educate the public about wellbeing and inform residents of new research based methods to improve their wellbeing using the arts.

Future Craft platforms will bring arts wellbeing practitioners together with residents, making residents aware of services available to them while acting as an advertising platform for practitioners offering arts wellbeing services. We also hope that by bringing practitioners and residents together in a relaxed, creative and social environments and by connecting people, this will breed spontaneous and innovative ideas from residents and practitioners for new projects and enterprises that could improve the lives of the people in Manchester in a way which leads to greater wellbeing, civic involvement and social cohesion.

This is the first project in the Manchester area that aims to inspire individuals and the whole community to create new ways to improve the wellbeing of residents, practitioners and organisations through artistic processes and collaboration between different sectors.

The project aims to use these different platforms together so that one stage of the project feeds into the success of the next.

Goals

To promote our core values.
For an increase in the development of scientific research into the practical uses of the arts.
For there to be more collaborations between artistic and non-artistic practices; with a particular focus on the health, education science research sector.
For an increase public understanding about wellbeing and increase public awareness of practical use of the arts in wellbeing practices.
For an increase in the participation of arts and wellbeing practices; both integrated and independently.
For the integration of arts practices into public health and education sector.
For an increase in funding and jobs for arts practitioners including independents and organisations.
For an increase in free arts and wellbeing services for the local public.

Aims

To create platforms:

where arts and wellbeing practitioners can network and initiate collaborations.
Where arts and wellbeing practitioners can share and promote their work to each other and the public.
Where the public can take part in affordable arts and wellbeing practices that are fun, nourishing and fulfilling.
Where people can bond with their neighbors.
Where local people can express themselves and their ideas.

Mission