Things You'll Need:
- T-shirts of solid colors
- Non-washable fabric paint
- Informational flyers, pamphlets and other handouts on seeking help and counseling
- Crisis counselor on hand
- Clothesline and clothespins (optional)
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Step 1
Find a location to create the shirts. Possible places to set up include outside for those passing by, or in an easily accessible indoors location. Either outside or inside, the space needs to be fairly large to allow people to sit on the floor or a table and expressing their stories in art.
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Step 2
Create the shirts. Set up the supplies and T-shirts to allow each artistic storyteller to create in peace. Encourage participants to bring their own shirts from home and be sure to have plenty on hand for those who decide at that moment to create a shirt. In addition, provide a place and plenty of time for the shirts to dry without getting damaged.
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Step 3
Provide emotional resources and support. Many people will be shy and/or emotional about the issue. Many women may be sharing their story for the first time. Many women and men may be honoring a friend and/or loved one who they have lost to violence. It is very important to have counselors present and take-home information displayed.
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Step 4
Determine a location and time to display the T-shirts. If there is clear weather, a place outdoors can be nice to display on an actual clothesline between two trees in a high traffic location. During alternative weather, the indoors covering a bare wall creates a colorful display. The T-shirts can still be on an actual clothesline if possible. Display for at least one to two weeks, if not a whole month. An excellent time to display shirts is during Domestic Violence Awareness Week in October, perhaps even creating multiple opportunities for the public to create shirts during the month.
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Step 5
Remember, this is not a lecture. A brief introduction and background about the topic will focus discussion and introduce your activities.
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Step 6
Plan informative and interactive activities. The key to workshops is the interactive quality of sharing information. The simplest way to do this is to ask a series of open-ended questions that relate directly to your topic. This will initiate a more informal group discussion, which can be great for topics less about facts and more about opinions. If you have a more informational topic, you will want to mix discussion with brief lectures by you. Activities such as role-playing invented scenes, storytelling, relating the topic to pop culture, or showing video clips from movies or television are a few more creative ways to engage an audience.
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Step 7
Monitor the audience. Interactive workshops can get dangerously out of hand if the topic is especially sensitive or if there is no maintained focus on the discussion topics. You as the workshop leader or presenter are also the monitor. Setting up ground rules beforehand can help maintain respect. If one person is dominating the space, calling on other people in the room can help vary the participation or directly stating, "Let's see who else has something to say on the matter." Give people the right not to participate, or even leave the room. Tactfully redirect the subject if one is becoming too heated or the conversation is lagging. You can do this by taking a moment to lecture a bit and provide more facts to which the audience can respond.
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Step 8
Have a prepared conclusion. Let the audience know how they can relate that workshop's information to everyday life. Provide a reference sheet to every participant. If you feel comfortable, it is an excellent idea to give our your email address and/or every participants email address so the topic discussed that day can continue outside of the workshop.
