2026 COLLAGE CHALLENGE

 

COLLAGE CHALLENGE

Original picture

THE FEMININE POWER

BY GEMMA GARCIA

Copyright

COLLAGE CHALLENGE - Inspired by Old Times

We invite you to create your own collage using this historical photograph as your starting point.

Original photograph:
Portrait of Flo Saunders, date unknown
Photographer: Reuben R. Sallows (1855-1937)
Collection: Huron County Museum & Historic Gaol
Object ID: 0385-rrs-ogohc-ph
The original photograph is identified as being in the public domain in Canada.

THE CHALLENGE

Create your own artistic transformation of this historical photograph.

Your collage should retain at least 50% of the original image while transforming it through your own creative vision.

You may cut, layer, paint, draw, digitally manipulate, combine materials, introduce new imagery, or use other creative techniques.

AI-assisted and AI-generated elements are welcome.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE

Send your finished collage to us by DM or email, together with:

• Your name and surname
• Your country of residence
• Title of your creation

SUBMISSION CONDITIONS FOR A FREE COMMUNITY ART CHALLENGE

By submitting an artwork to the Collage Challenge, you confirm that:

• You are 18 years of age or older.
• You created the submitted artwork yourself and/or have the necessary rights and permissions to use all additional elements incorporated into it.
• Your submission does not infringe the copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity or other rights of any third party.
• You will not submit material that is unlawful, defamatory, discriminatory, obscene or otherwise inappropriate for this community project.
• You retain ownership of any rights you hold in your original contribution to the artwork.
• You grant Gestalt Art Therapy Centre Australia non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free permission to reproduce, display, publish and share your submitted artwork in connection with this challenge and the promotion of Gestalt Art Therapy Centre Australia, including on our social media, website, newsletters and promotional materials.
• This permission includes reasonable technical modifications required for publication, such as resizing, cropping or adapting the artwork to different social-media or publication formats.
• No financial compensation or royalty will be payable for these uses.
• We may publish your name, country of residence and the title of your creation with your artwork unless you specifically ask us not to do so.

Please only submit an artwork if you are comfortable with it potentially being published publicly.

Participants are responsible for ensuring that any additional photographs, artwork, graphics, text, AI-generated material or other content incorporated into their submission can lawfully be used and shared.

Gestalt Art Therapy Centre Australia reserves the right not to publish or to remove a submission if concerns arise regarding copyright, third-party rights, inappropriate content or compliance with these conditions.

This is a free creative community challenge and not a competition. No purchase or payment is required to participate.

gestaltarttherapycentre@gmail.com

ABOUT THE SOURCE IMAGE

Portrait of Flo Saunders, photographed by Reuben R. Sallows (1855-1937). Collection of the Huron County Museum & Historic Gaol, Object ID: 0385-rrs-ogohc-ph. The source photograph is identified as being in the public domain in Canada.

We look forward to seeing how you transform the past through your own creative vision.

Example collage by Gemma Garcia (Australia)
Title: Feminine Power

2026 Collage Challenge

 2026 Collage Challenge

Collage by artist: Gemma Garcia (Australia)

COLLAGE CHALLENGE Inspired by Matisse

We invite you to explore your creativity through collage, inspired by Henri Matisse’s iconic work “Nu bleu II” (1952).

Your challenge is to create your own artwork using this piece as a base, maintaining at least 50% of the original image, and transforming it through your own creative process. You can add, cut, layer, paint, or integrate new elements. Let your imagination guide you.

This is an opportunity to connect with collage as a language of expression, transformation, and personal meaning.

How to participate
Please send us your creation via email with your name & surname, and country of residence.

All selected submissions will be considered for public sharing on our social media platforms as part of this creative challenge and to celebrate the work of our community. For this reason, if you prefer that your artwork not be shared publicly, we kindly ask that you do not send it for this challenge.

Important information about copyright and permissions
By submitting your artwork, you confirm and agree to the following:

You are the creator of the submitted work and hold the rights to the added or modified content.
Your artwork is an original creative transformation and does not infringe the rights of third parties.
You grant the Gestalt Art Therapy Centre Australia permission to use, reproduce, publish, and share your submitted image on our social media platforms, website, newsletters, and promotional materials.
This permission is granted without financial compensation.
You understand that your name may be credited alongside your artwork unless you request otherwise in writing.
You acknowledge that the original artwork by Henri Matisse is used as a reference for creative and educational purposes within the context of this challenge.
You agree that Gestalt Art Therapy Centre Australia is not responsible for any copyright claims arising from the submitted content. 

You must be 18 years or older to participate.

Let’s create, transform, and give new meaning through collage.

Here you can download the original artwork

2024 Collage Art Therapy CAT© a Gestalt Approach ZOOM Online workshop

 

2024 Collage Art Therapy CAT© a Gestalt Approach ZOOM 

Online Workshop

Time & Location

20 Apr 2024, 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm AEST

Online Event ZOOM

About the event

 Collage Art therapy 

The use of figurative and metaphorical language during the creation using collage techniques helps to make changes and implement new options within the client's process, without having to work directly with the confrontation of the problem or conflict. Through collage, clients objectify their conflicts to put them in a different perspective and open future channels of communication. 

Creating collages with paper can indeed be a therapeutic and beneficial activity when working with individuals and groups in an emotional support setting. Collage-making provides a creative outlet for individuals to express their emotions, thoughts, and experiences in a non-verbal and visually symbolic manner. This can be particularly useful in group therapy or support settings where participants might have different comfort levels with sharing verbally.

Here's how collage-making with paper can be therapeutic when working with groups in an emotional support context:

1. Self-expression: Collage-making allows participants to communicate their feelings and experiences through images, colors, textures, and compositions. This can help individuals express emotions they may find difficult to put into words.
2. Non-verbal communication: Some participants might struggle with verbal expression due to the nature of their emotions or their comfort levels. Collage-making provides an alternative means of communication that can help bridge this gap.
3. Catharsis: The act of selecting images and arranging them in a collage can be cathartic. Participants can explore their feelings, release pent-up emotions, and experience a sense of relief and release.
4. Empowerment: Creating something tangible and visually meaningful can enhance participants' sense of accomplishment and empowerment, which can positively impact their self-esteem and confidence.
5. Metaphor and symbolism: Collages often involve selecting images that symbolize feelings or experiences. This can encourage participants to reflect on the deeper meanings behind their choices and gain insights into their emotional states.
6. Group cohesion: Collaborative collage-making can foster a sense of unity and camaraderie among group members. Sharing the creative process and the final pieces can create a bond and mutual understanding among participants.
7. Mindfulness and focus: Engaging in the process of selecting images, cutting, arranging, and gluing requires concentration and focus. This mindfulness can help participants stay present and grounded in the moment.
8. Distraction and relaxation: Artistic activities like collage-making can provide a break from distressing thoughts or overwhelming emotions, offering participants a chance to relax and shift their focus.
9. Narrative development: Collages can be used as visual narratives to explore personal stories, challenges, and growth. Participants can arrange images to create a visual representation of their journey.
10. Safe exploration: Collage-making can create a safe space for exploring difficult or complex emotions without feeling directly exposed. Participants can choose how much or how little to reveal through their collage.

When incorporating collage-making into individual and/or group therapy or emotional support sessions, we provide a supportive environment, clear instructions, and opportunities for participants to share their collages if they feel comfortable. 

During this workshop, you will:

• Know how to design the collage-work: kind of collages

1. Paper collage – One of the more basic forms of collage. Various pieces of paper are gathered and put together to create a unique collage strictly from paper products.
2. Photomontage – whether done by hand or with the help of a computer, a photomontage is a collage of pictures or photos.
3. Painting collage – Gluing pieces to a canvas and then painting over and/or around those pieces on the canvas, thus creating an original and unique painting.
4. Wood collage – Create from pieces of wood, whether it be from scraps, old furniture, crates, barrels, house parts, driftwood, branches, sticks, bark, etc.
5. Digital collage – Using a computer to gather the visual pieces and put them together

• Discover how this tool will support the psychological process, revealing meaningful information about the client’s inner world.
• Collages are visual artworks that are created by selecting magazine images, textured papers, or ephemera; cutting or altering these elements, and arranging and attaching them to a support such as paper or cardboard”. This kind of creation could be compared with clients' lives and patterns.
• Uncovering the power of the creation with symbols, also the act of cutting and ripping images and gluing them together can be cathartic for some clients.
• Offer options to the client to communicate in a new language, collage art therapy work involves unconscious levels related to archetypes and the collective unconscious.
• Adapting this tool to the client's age and emotional development

Participants from Australia:

Registrants can obtain their CPD /OPD hours (non-endorsed activities)

AASW CPD hours

ACA OPD hours

PACFA CPD hours

Day: April 20th, 2024 

Time: 5 pm to 7 pm (Brisbane- Australian time)  AEST- Australian Eastern Standard Time. UTC/GMT +10 hours

Time Zones

https://24timezones.com/difference

Cost:

Members of the Gestalt Art Therapy Center Participation: $95Aud

Click here to pay by Credit card (Paypal) Promo Members $80

General participants

Click here to pay by Credit card (Paypal) Participation: $110Aud

Workshop REGISTRATION HERE

We are not registered for GST

Silver members: $40 per year

Gold Members: $60 per year

Membership is from one year, until December 31st, 2023.

Payments with PayPal have platform commissions applied.

System: Zoom (After registration and payment you will receive the link for your participation)

System and Materials you will need for the workshop participation:

- Internet connection

- Having installed the Zoom program (Download here)

- PC, Laptop, Tablet with webcam & audio

- Paper to write

- Magazines 

- Scissors

- Glue

- Felt pens, or other colored pens that you like

- Mobile phone or camera to take a photo of your creation.

Read Policy cancelation and Participation conditions in the "Event Policy"

In the situation that there is not a minimum number of participants and the organizers decide to cancel the event, they will offer to transfer the payment to another future event or the refund of the payment made by each participant will be offered. In payments and refunds via PayPal, commissions will be applied by Paypal of 3% of the payment received, in each payment/ refund.

Face-to-face workshops Read information about our COVID-19 & Vaccine Guidelines 

More information:

Gestaltarttherapycentre@gmail.com

Payment Methods: Ask us for Bank details, please see here for information related to Refunds and cancellation policy. In the situation that there is not a minimum number of participants and the organizers decide to cancel the event, they will offer to transfer the payment to another future event or the refund of the payment made by each participant will be offered. In refunds via PayPal, commissions will be applied by Paypal of 3% of the payment received, in each refund. 

Online workshops:

If you cancel your participation less than 24 hours before the day of the workshop, no refund or credit is forfeiting the payment you would have made to participate in the workshop. If you do not have the necessary materials to participate in the workshop, unfortunately, you will not be able to participate. In each event you will be able to read the list of materials required for each workshop on the website and also in the emails we send you, these materials may be similar, although it is necessary to have them. If you cancel your participation in the workshop due to not having the necessary materials, the payment you would have made to participate will not be refunded. Participating in our events means that you accept all these conditions.

Join our Group on Facebook 

2023 Collage Art Therapy CAT© a Gestalt Approach ZOOM Online workshop

 

Collage Art Therapy CAT© a Gestalt Approach 

ZOOM Online workshop

Collage Art therapy 

The use of figurative and metaphorical language during the creation using collage techniques helps to make changes and implement new options within the client's process, without having to work directly with the confrontation of the problem or conflict. Through collage, clients objectify their conflicts to put them in a different perspective and open future channels of communication. 

During this workshop, you will:

• Know how to design the collage-work: kind of collages

1. Paper collage – One of the more basic forms of collage. Various pieces of paper are gathered and put together to create a unique collage strictly from paper products.
2. Photomontage – whether done by hand or with the help of a computer, a photomontage is a collage of pictures or photos.
3. Painting collage – Gluing pieces to a canvas and then painting over and/or around those pieces on the canvas, thus creating an original and unique painting.
4. Wood collage – Create from pieces of wood, whether it be from scraps, old furniture, crates, barrels, house parts, driftwood, branches, sticks, bark, etc.
5. Digital collage – Using a computer to gather the visual pieces and put them together

• Discover how this tool will support the psychological process, revealing meaningful information about the client’s inner world.
• Collages are visual artworks that are created by selecting magazine images, textured papers, or ephemera; cutting or altering these elements; and arranging and attaching them to a support such as paper or cardboard”. This kind of creation could be compared with clients' life and patterns.
• Uncovering the power of the creation with symbols, also the act of cutting and ripping images and gluing them together can be cathartic for some clients.
• Offer options to the client to communicate in a new language, collage art therapy work involves unconscious levels related to archetypes and the collective unconscious.
• Adapting this tool to the client's age and emotional development

Participants from Australia:

Registrants can obtain their CPD /OPD hours (non-endorsed activities)

AASW CPD hours

ACA OPD hours

PACFA CPD hours

Day: 

August 19th, 2023. 4 pm to 6 pm (Brisbane- Australian time)  AEST- Australian Eastern Standard Time. UTC/GMT +10 hours

Time Zones

https://24timezones.com/difference

Cost:

Members of the Gestalt Art Therapy Center Participation: $95Aud

Click here to pay by Credit card (Paypal) Promo Members $80

General participants

Click here to pay by Credit card (Paypal) Participation: $110Aud

Workshop REGISTRATION HERE

We are not registered for GST

Silver members: $40 per year

Gold Members: $60 per year

Membership is from one year, until December 31st, 2023.

Payments with PayPal have platform commissions applied.

System: Zoom (After registration and payment you will receive the link for your participation)

System and Materials you will need for the workshop participation:

- Internet connection

- Having installed the Zoom program (Download here)

- PC, Laptop, Tablet with webcam & audio

- Paper to write

- Magazines 

- Scissors

- Glue

- Felt pens, or other colored pens that you like

- Mobile phone or camera to take a photo of your creation.

Read Policy cancelation and Participation conditions in the "Event Policy"

In the situation that there is not a minimum number of participants and the organizers decide to cancel the event, they will offer to transfer the payment to another future event or the refund of the payment made by each participant will be offered. In payments and refunds via PayPal, commissions will be applied by Paypal of 3% of the payment received, in each payment/ refund.

More information:

Gestaltarttherapycentre@gmail.com

Payment Methods: Ask us for Bank details, please see here for information related to Refunds & Cancellation policy. In the situation that there is not a minimum number of participants and the organizers decide to cancel the event, they will offer to transfer the payment to another future event or the refund of the payment made by each participant will be offered. In refunds via PayPal, commissions will be applied by Paypal of 3% of the payment received, in each refund. 

Online workshops:

If you cancel your participation less than 24 hours before the day of the workshop, there is no refund or credit forfeiting the payment you would have made to participate in the workshop. If you do not have the necessary materials to participate in the workshop, unfortunately, you will not be able to participate. In each event you will be able to read the list of materials required for each workshop on the website and also in the emails we send you, these materials may be similar, although it is necessary to have them. If you cancel your participation in the workshop due to not having the necessary materials, the payment you would have made to participate will not be refunded. Participating in our events means that you accept all these conditions.

Join our Group on Facebook