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Arts of the Earth, founded in 2011, works at the intersection of creativity, education, family and community life — carrying forward a practice of envisioning and navigating future terrains, begun in Singapore in the early 1990s. Now, more than 35 years on, we continue to ask what it actually takes for creativity to take root in people’s lives, across age, ability and culture. We haven’t settled that question. It stays alive in a commitment to the families, educators and communities we work alongside and in a dialogue that names real challenges alongside real possibilities, nurtures educational practice, empowers community life, and continues to shape the work still ahead.
What we offer takes different shapes because the people and organisations we work with are all unique, often needing individual pathways to navigate different terrains. We design and build creative arts programmes, play-based education, and inclusive community practices. We coach individuals. We guide and lead projects and initiatives, from small community efforts to larger organisational ones. What holds these together is the same practice running through everything we do: we don’t arrive with a fixed programme — the work takes its shape in dialogue with the families, educators, organisations and communities we’re building it alongside.
Across our services and learning practices, we work in a person-centred, step-by-step way — starting from where people already are, not from a fixed programme. Together with the families, educators, organisations and communities we work alongside, we explore what’s changing, sit honestly with the difficulty of new directions before committing to them, and co-create pathways of experience that shape learning innovation, community outreach and professional development.
Convergence & Exploration:
Discovering the role creativity plays in how people, communities and cultures learn, live and participate.
Creativity & Co-Creation:
Working alongside families, educators and communities to shape visions about creative practice together.
Culmination & Completion:
Experiencing connection, and the lasting shift that creativity leaves behind and drives the future.
Arts of the Earth was founded in 2011 by Dr Esther Joosa, carrying forward a practice she began in Singapore in the early 1990s. She meets the challenges of the 21st century without pretending they’re simple — staying open to new thinking, and honest about what creativity actually takes to work amid real change. Over more than three decades, she has helped build connections and communities, and opened pathways — many shaped alongside marginalised communities — into learning and arts practices developed with people, not delivered to them, and answerable to the needs of the world as it actually is.
The challenges given by a rapidly changing world are our inspiration.
In our creative initiatives and the development of practices, programs and projects, we learn from communities and expand by leading collaborations and co-creation practices.
arts of the earth is dedicated to building meaningful, respectful and sustainable connections among communities and shared education practices in an ever-changing local and global landscape.
Commitment, integrity and reliability guide our actions and projects, as we uphold transparency, professional and ethical standards in all our endeavours.
Our founder, Dr Esther Joosa (PhD)’s track record spans over more than thirty years, during which time she translated her commitment into extensive documentation and research investigations bringing evidence of the impact of creative art practices.
