Date: 26th March 2026

Time: 3:30pm – 4:30pm

Location: The Art Shop, Belfast School of Art, Ulster University

An ecology of care is artistic nurture using natural and found materials in a DIY approach to making special everyday places of living — whether at home, at school, at work, at leisure or within a public venue. An ecology of care is an intentional practice of rejuvenating focus through making a scene that enhances attention and action. Curating care is an imperative within the times we live in when anxieties can overwhelm and cultivating hope and influence is a must. An ecology of care is a creative health practice promoting the attributes of people and places. Participants will learn about this relational art practice and its beneficial outcomes in terms of agency, collaboration and contemplation. The curation of care is a sharing of resources in an ecosystem where everyone is an activist of their own making.

Pamela Whitaker is a lecturer in art psychotherapy at the Belfast School of Art. She is an artist who uses regenerative and biodiversity methods of making nature. She is interested in arts-based care practices, using materials that can be found at home or nearby locations. Environmental design is a contributing factor in her facilitation of an ecology of care art installation composed of nature, refreshments and objects of curiosity. Learn how to become an ecology of care curator to enhance your home, life and work locations and promote places of comfort in civic society. Everyone is a maker and curator in this gathering of people creating a sense of occasion with the materials they already possess.