Stories in Motion was a series of creative workshops that invited participants to transform personal stories and local experiences into playable games. Through storytelling, game design and collaborative making, participants developed a collection of games that reflected the identity, memories, and everyday experiences of the St Marys community.

Delivered through two workshop streams, an adult program and an after-school program for children aged 8–12, the project explored play as a tool for creative expression, art making, and exchange. Participants moved from sharing experiences and generating ideas to designing, testing, and refining games together. Through drawing, discussion, crafting game components, and collaborative decision-making, participants translated lived experience into collective forms.

Central to my practice is an interest in creating structures that enable people to contribute their own knowledge, perspectives, and experiences. In Stories in Motion, the game became both an artwork and a social space: a framework through which experiences could be shared, negotiated, and encountered by others. The workshops emphasised experimentation, collaboration, and participant-led decision-making, allowing the resulting works to emerge from the interests and experiences of those involved.

Participants in the adult workshops developed St Marys Corn Throw, a collaborative game shaped through conversations about the community. Using prompts such as What is the heart of St Marys?, What do you hope for St Marys? and What do you wish for its future?, participants identified themes, stories, and aspirations that informed the design of a target-based game with a custom point-scoring system. Through sketching ideas and collectively refining the rules, participants shaped the final structure of the game. Each participant designed and made their own corn throw bags featuring an aspect of St Marys they wanted to share, celebrate, or preserve, embedding personal and collective perspectives into the finished work.

The 8–12-year-old workshop participants developed Up and Down Queen Street, a board game inspired by Snakes and Ladders and named after the main street of St Marys where the workshops were held. Through drawing, storytelling, brainstorming, and collaborative game design activities, participants transformed local observations and favourite community features into game mechanics, characters, and challenges. Together they developed the board layout, tested game play, and created the visual elements that brought the game to life. The resulting game included pizza-shaped power-ups, cats, black holes, and other imaginative elements that reflected the interests, humour, and creativity of the young participants while celebrating their connection to place.

The project culminated in the St Marys Art and Games Day at the St Marys Corner Community and Cultural Precinct. Community members were invited to play the games, participate in creative activities, and engage with stories of place through playful and participatory experiences. The event transformed the precinct into a temporary space for community connection and exchange.

As part of the day, participants and visitors collaboratively constructed a St Marys-themed putt-putt golf course, adding new obstacles, features, and ideas throughout the event. The course grew incrementally with each contribution, creating a playful and collective portrait of the community.

Supported through Penrith City Council’s Magnetic Places Grant, Stories in Motion explored how creative participation can foster belonging, strengthen relationships, and create new ways of seeing familiar places. By bringing together play, collective making, and community knowledge, the project considered how cultural knowledge is shared and how communities can author and represent their own narratives of place.