It’s like thinking with both sides of your brain. Big Hart’s LUCKY project: an imaginative intervention

P.R. Wright

This document represents an inquiry into Big hART’s LUCKY project run primarily in the North West of Tasmania. It contains a series of portraits, and thick descriptions of contexts and individuals involved in various ways with the project. There are observations of processes and products, each revealing ways in which the work of Big hART impacts on individuals and the communities around them. It is an outcome of a series of visits to various project components from July 2005 (Radio Holiday), to 2008. It includes descriptions, observations, inquiry into and reflections on such LUCKY project components as Radio Holiday and Drive In Holiday, This is Living, and Drive as a work in progress. There also some insights presented that have been gleaned from adjunct projects such as the No Comply skate event held in Burnie during 2005. It includes and gives voice to project participants such as young people from locations including Burnie, Wynyard, Smithon and surrounding areas; older project participants such as those resident in Smithton Nursing Home, the site of one project component; project partners such as those either directly or indirectly involved in support of project participants—both youth and elders; and those who functioned to provide advice and support from local councils, youth support workers, and government agencies. This document is not an audit style report where objectives are measured against outcomes. In this sense it presents a ‘knowing how’ rather than a ‘knowing that’. What this means is that is the personal knowledge of, and knowledge about project participants can contribute to understanding LUCKY in terms of knowing how, when, why, whether, and for whom such projects work. Its power lies in the way it is grounded in the interactions of project participants with Big hART and those involved in this work. Consequently, as the project work is reflective of, and grounded in the lives, times, and communities that surround project participants, it can reveal what is usable and useful. Simply put, what this document reveals is the knowledge that is produced through use, that is, what is learnt through doing. The document includes a series of portraits or narratives. It reflects knowledge of project participants both as groups and as individuals, and portraits of particular individuals who can be seen as representative of themes or patterns of project impact broadly speaking. As these studies are presented in a narrative form they are accessible, and act as agents of understanding, revealing what works in practice. These narratives are informed by multiple lines of evidence including: focus groups, interviews, observations, review of artefacts, and commentary provided by a range of informants including young people, support workers, team members, project directors, and those with a concern and/or involvement with the project. Taken together, these constitute a body of experience that provide evidence against which the impact of LUCKY can be judged. In this document, a context is first set that evokes much of Big hART’s work. Next Big hART’s processes are described. These include themes and principles that run through the project and provide its distinct characteristics. Following this a range of outcomes including enhanced opportunities for learning, connection, work and understanding are illuminated. Finally, observations are made revealing how and in what ways LUCKY is successful with some recommendations for future practice.

It’s like thinking with both sides of your brain. Big Hart’s LUCKY project: an imaginative intervention

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