Creating Together

Hand a child a sheet of paper and a box of pencils, and they will usually start straight away. Hand the same to an adult, and there is often a pause, followed by the words "I can't draw." At the Sovereign Art Foundation's family workshops in Portugal, that pause is exactly where things get interesting.

At these free sessions, parents and caregivers are increasingly invited to take part rather than watch. Instead of helping a child complete an activity, the adult picks up the same materials, responds to the same ideas and makes work of their own. The focus is on the shared experience, not on artistic ability.

The Layers of Love

This idea is at the heart of the Foundation's next free family workshop, taking place in Lisbon on Sunday 18 October and led by Lisbon-based artist Vanessa Teodoro.

The Layers of Love / As Camadas do Amor takes place inside Teodoro's exhibition MOTHER: A Tribute to the Feminine, which explores the feminine through motherhood, nature, craftsmanship, memory and the sacred. The exhibition brings Teodoro's own work together with pieces made in collaboration with women artisans on two continents. Beadwork from Cape Town and traditional Arraiolos embroidery from Portugal sit alongside reclaimed wood, clay and natural materials gathered on the artist's walks.

Running through it all are ideas of inheritance and transformation: what we carry from one person to the next, how memories pass between generations, and how individual contributions become part of something shared.

In the workshop, Teodoro will translate these ideas into a hands-on activity. Using drawing, cut-outs and translucent tracing paper, each child and adult will create their own layer. These layers will then be overlaid and connected, bringing two perspectives together into one finished artwork.

Creating on equal ground

At the art table, both participants respond to the same materials, and neither needs to have the answers.

A child might introduce an unexpected colour or shape. The adult might respond to it, or take the work somewhere new. The artwork grows out of that exchange, and carries the marks of both.

For SAF, this reflects a principle that runs through all its work with children: creativity has value beyond technical skill or a polished result. The process itself encourages experimentation, decision-making and confidence, and gives each person's ideas room to be seen.

A growing programme

Family workshops have become a regular part of SAF's community programme in Portugal. In September alone, families in Loulé explored natural materials with Rêverie in Da Natureza à Arte, and families in Lisbon made self-portraits with artist Franka Struys at Dona Ajuda, asking the question "What makes you, you?"

Each workshop is shaped by a different artist, but most are designed so that accompanying adults join in. Family life is full of activities organised around children; it is less common for adults and children to experience the same creative process as equals. Art makes this easy. No experience is needed, and a six-year-old and a grandparent can approach the same activity in completely different ways while contributing equally.

Creativity and care

The family workshops sit alongside the Foundation's core charitable work in Portugal: Make It Better, an expressive arts therapy programme launched in 2021 for children from low-income backgrounds and children with special educational needs, running in Lisbon, Estremoz and the Algarve.

The two serve different purposes. Make It Better is delivered by trained art therapists in structured groups, supporting children to build confidence, communication and emotional resilience. The community workshops are open, artist-led experiences for any family. Both share the same belief: that creative expression gives children, and the people around them, another way to communicate, experiment and be heard.

Space to create together

These workshops are not about training the professional artists of the future. They are about making creativity accessible, and giving families time to make something together.

As one family discovers at every session, the value is not only in what gets made, but in making it together.

Details: The Layers of Love / As Camadas do Amor, with Vanessa Teodoro. Sunday 18 October, 10am to 12pm, at the MOTHER exhibition, Avenida 24 de Julho, Lisbon. Free, for all ages. No experience needed and all materials provided. Places are limited; book here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/workshop-de-arte-gratuito-para-familias-com-vanessa-teodoro-tickets-2002187249962?aff=oddtdtcreator&keep_tld=true

Art at every stage

Creativity across SAF's work in Portugal doesn't stop at the family workshop table.

The 30 finalists of the 2026 Sovereign Art Foundation Students Prize, Portugal, young artists aged 15 to 18 from schools across the country, are currently on show at Howard's Folly in Estremoz until 31 October, before the exhibition moves to the Sociedade Nacional de Belas-Artes (SNBA) in Lisbon from 24 November to 12 December. Every work is available to buy and proceeds fund Make It Better, SAF's expressive arts therapy programme for children in Portugal. Visitors can also vote for their favourite, with the Public Vote Prize winner receiving €300 and €800 going to their school. https://www.sovereignartfoundation.com/sp-portugal/

Next week, attention turns to the professional art world, with the announcement of the 30 finalists for the 2026 Sovereign Portuguese Art Prize. Nominated by independent art professionals and shortlisted by an international judging panel including David Elliott, Tim Marlow OBE and Serralves director Philippe Vergne, the finalists will compete for a €25,000 Grand Prize. Their work will be exhibited at SNBA in Lisbon from 24 November to 12 December, and every piece will be for sale, with proceeds split equally between the artist and SAF's programmes for children.

From a family's first shared drawing to a student's first exhibition and a professional artist's shortlisted work, every part of the programme leads back to the same place: giving children in Portugal the chance to experience the power of art.

Find out more about the Sovereign Art Foundation’s work in Portugal:

https://www.sovereignartfoundation.com/expressive-arts-programme-portugal/

Vote online and explore the shortlisted Student Prize artworks:
https://www.sovereignartfoundation.com/sp-portugal/

Follow SAF Portugal on Instagram:
@sovereignartfoundationportugal

Sovereign Art Foundation Portugal
📧 Tanya@sovereignartfoundation.com

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