Laurel Molly - Reflections on Workshops

By Laurel Molly

In December 2025, I ran a series of workshops in local schools in Carmarthen. My name is Laurel Molly and I’m an illustrator and workshop facilitator based in Bristol. I’ve been commissioned by Local Motion to paint a mural alongside the artist Phil Cheater, in the centre of Carmarthen. It will be around a community notice board called The Happenings Board. The idea of this board is that it will be a place that the community can advertise local businesses, workshops and events, so people can come to see what is happening in Carmarthen. In order for the local community to help with ideas for the mural, I ran workshops with a focus around the question ‘What if the oldest town in Wales could model a radical future for everyone’.

The first workshop took place on Monday 1st December at Richmond Park Primary School with 25 kids aged 8-9. I began by introducing myself and the project, and reading the question aloud. I explained what the word ‘radical’ meant and invited the children to be as imaginative as possible, letting them know that I needed their wonderful imaginations to help me with ideas. To ease them into the workshop, we started with drawing games. We played Exquisite Corpse a surrealist drawing game where each person draws a different part of the body, folds the paper, and reveals a strange character at the end. After the game, I gathered the children for a discussion. I read the question again and talked through it slowly, asking them to think about what life in the town is like in the summer and winter and what changes they would like to see. The children then filled out a questionnaire about their experiences in Carmarthen and how they imagine the future of the town to look. Some of the ideas included ‘a zoo to watch animals and nature’ and ‘a shield protecting the town’ and ‘lots of nature’.

The second workshop took place on Tuesday 2nd December at The Model Primary School with 10 kids aged 8-9. The session followed a similar structure and we also had more time for other drawing games. We played Exquisite Corpse again and also Eye and Monster. This is another surrealist drawing game where the children draw an eye first and then create a monster around it. The children particularly enjoyed this game, and a few of them said they wanted to play it again with their families. After the games, we had a group discussion before completing the questionnaires. In both workshops, I made it clear that nothing was being marked and that there was no pressure to answer everything, as it was meant to be fun. This helped the children relax, and we had a really enjoyable time coming up with ideas together. Some of the ideas from this workshop included 'tobogganing around the town to save pollution’, ’a building to keep people warm in the winter’, ’a central square for the community’ and ‘a hotel for homeless people’. I was very impressed with how thoughtful and imaginative the children’s ideas were.

Reflecting on the sessions, I think the second workshop ran more smoothly. This was partly because I had already delivered a workshop once, but also because the smaller group meant I could give more individual attention. Overall, both workshops were a lot of fun and generated some really strong ideas about how the children imagine the future of Carmarthen. I feel very inspired to begin designing the mural and I plan on including some of these ideas. Also, once the painting begins, the primary school children will be invited to visit and see the work in progress, giving them a chance to see the positive impact of creative, community-focused work.