Gather Round: Creativity, Connection and Collective Action at Somerset House

Gather Round: Creativity, Connection and Collective Action

Photo Credit: Lucian Koncz

Last month, we piloted something new. Gather Round is a fresh, experimental gathering format from 64 Million Artists, born from the belief that our innate creativity is a force for connection, understanding and action. Inspired by Open Space methodology but adapted to include hands-on creative activity, Gather Round brings people together to explore social issues, and take action on tangible steps forward.

 

For our very first Gather Round, we invited 18–30 year-olds to Somerset House in London for a day of creativity, dialogue and reflection. We asked attendees to give us an idea of topics and themes they might bring on the day, one person wrote:

“Redesigning the world is obviously fun.”

…so we knew we were on to something. We didn’t know quite what to expect, but we knew that young people are brimming with the ideas and energy to build change that will shape the future.

A Framework for Creative Action

The day was shaped by the people in the room. Participants were invited to bring issues and ideas they cared about—from climate and social justice to mental health, identity, inequality, and beyond. They designed interactive creative activities to help spark conversation around different topics, using everything from collage and Play-Doh to textile art to their bodies and breath! We explored themed prompts like:

  • Social media promotes perfection and a fear of failure. Create the ugliest piece of art you can and see how it feels, and what conversations emerge.
  • What threads us together across our differences? Create a thread long enough for everyone in the room to hold.
  • “I can’t hear myself think” - Talk to a partner uninterrupted or freewrite for a few minutes about whatever is on your mind. Choose one of your recorded sentences. Create a piece of work that captures and explores that sentence alone. Listen to yourself.
  • “How can we creatively prepare, thrive and support communities in extreme heat and heat waves?" Mould with Play-Doh, feel the heat in your hands as you sculpt and discuss.

There were 8x 30-minute sessions with different activities and participants could choose where to be in the room. Everywhere you looked, ideas were alive in paint, fabric, words and laughter.

Buzzing with Energy, Fuelled by Community

It was a curious, playful and thoughtful group. Most people stayed chatting and connecting after the session ended. We shared food (shout out to the delicious En Root!), swapped social handles, thought up future projects and talked about how to take the spirit of the day into everyday life.

Ideas sparked during the day are already growing into action: from forming a bike-riding club and sharing community resources, to setting up art exhibitions and mutual support networks.

We also learned so much. Next time, we’ll help focus the topic earlier to allow deeper creative exploration sooner. We’ll also allow even more time for conversation and networking, because that’s where the magic is, right?

But overall, this pilot gave us the exciting proof of concept - that centring creative activity when engaging in big topics helps us have better conversations that lead to action and ideas.

 

“There is strength in collective creative exploration of problems.”

“The session felt fortifying and galvanizing.”

“There is power in our creativity and voices.”

Why Now?

The world today feels complex, deeply divided, and (to be very honest) an exhausting place to be. We’re living through crisis after crisis: from the pandemic to the climate emergency, political polarisation to rising inequality. It’s easy to feel like we’re running out of time, energy, and hope.

But we are not running out of our capacity to be creative. Creativity is our abundance. It’s what makes us human. It fuels our ability to imagine, to collaborate and act. And Gather Round is our way of activating that collective creative power, because conversation isn’t enough. We need creativity to catapult us further. We need inclusive and accessible spaces to explore what comes next.

So - What's Next?

Gather Round is just getting started. Here’s where we’re heading:

🛠️ Refining the Framework – We’re continuing to develop Gather Round into a simple, scalable framework.

🧭 Going on Tour – We want to bring Gather Round to workplaces and communities across the UK: from healthcare settings to libraries, from schools to prisons.

🧪 Action Research – In partnership with our research associate tialt, we’re learning how creative activity helps people explore issues, recognise possible responses, and take real action.

🎒 Flatpack Toolkit – Eventually, we’ll launch a downloadable Gather Round kit, so individuals and organisations can run their own gatherings—and share what they learn.

 

We’re excited about what this could become. If you're interested in hosting a Gather Round or helping us grow the idea, we’d love to hear from you. Get in touch.