Editing Calm: Inside the Final ‘And Breathe’ Workshop with Artist Megan Roberts

As part of Sea for Yourself — Plymouth Culture’s creative programme celebrating our city’s connection to the water and encouraging people to experience the wellbeing benefits of the sea — artist and participatory filmmaker Megan Roberts has been working with a group of over-55s to explore how creativity, calm and coastal memories shape our lives.

Her And Breathe residency has unfolded through collage-making, sound recording, coastal walking and 360° filmmaking, inviting participants to reflect on stress, joy and their deeply personal relationship with the sea.

In this final workshop of the series, community reporter Victoria Lammie returns to Grow Plymouth to see how the project concludes — and to discover how editing, storytelling and shared experiences bring Megan’s thoughtful process full circle.

Collages on the Table (Photograph V Lammie 2025)

Returning to Megan Robert’s…..And Breathe concluding workshop was the perfect way to spend my Saturday morning. The workshop was titled ‘Editing’ and was centred around the collages, soundscapes and 360 footage created throughout the project. It was great to see some familiar faces that had attended Megan's first workshop. It turns out some of them had managed to attend them all.

It’s a very welcoming space and we all stand around chatting whilst drinking tea and coffee.

I scan around the room observing some of the collages from the first workshop with the addition of some questions. There are also the days of the week written on one of the walls. I later learned these are all part of the workshop. The two laptops are set up to be used as part of the editing process later in the session.

I chat with Megan and ask her how the process has gone: “It’s been intimate and joyful. My aim was always to create a safe container in which participants could share as much or as little as they like. I didn’t anticipate how much it would be the former. From juggling responsibilities and navigating professional conflicts, to caring for sick parents and navigating grief, the group has been so generous with how much of themselves they made visible and in turn the room always held them. The moments of recognition have always been so deeply tender.”

Megan goes on to tell me: “That’s what I’d hoped for in facilitating activities that teeter between abstraction and self expression - this safe buffer zone that opens up the possibility of exploring something deeper. I chose to work with people over 55 because I wanted to work with people with rich life experience, and the stories, memories and songs(!) that have emerged, have proven it was the best decision I could have made.”

I also asked Megan what the process of running the workshops was like? She told me, “It was our love of the sea that brought the group together and the workshops have highlighted that it's not just somewhere we go to offload, it is a dear friend that we all have an ongoing relationship with. One participant shared ‘the sea is everything to me. Spending time with it isn’t optional, it’s necessary.”

“Another participant on the Devils Point walk, whilst staring at the horizon shared ‘I could stay here all day.’ For many of us it’s a sacred place.’”

Megan's second workshop was titled ‘sound’ she describes it to me. “The sound design workshop, in particular, highlighted the different moments that linger in our memories of the sea - some participants focused on the soft, gentle movement of water. While others were drawn to the sound of fluttering birds wings and seagulls cries. The coast is alive and in many ways, separate from the rest of our inner worlds. It’s not just an escape, it's an experience.”

She goes on to tell me.”I’m proud of what we’ve created together and so happy to witness the connections formed. There was a real appetite for more. From this love, came a real sense of stewardship. It’s impossible to reckon with how polluted the sea is becoming when it is something we all treasure so dearly.”

The workshop consists of a few parts all of which give us plenty of time to discuss our sea focused tasks, from looking back at the collages and answering questions in smaller groups, pinpointing our stresses and happy times over the past week to partaking in a breathing exercise whilst listening to the noise of the sea. Finishing off by looking through film footage choosing our favourite parts taken during the Devils Point coastal stroll workshop. All of which will be used by Megan in the production of her film.

The real wonderful part that stands out for me is just how much the sea means to us all. It is as Megan says the real thing that brought the group together. Yet each one of us engages with it in our own unique way.

Sea Collages (Photograph V Lammie 2025)

Having experienced two of Megan's workshops I feel I have got to know her and I have seen first hand what an inspiring participatory artist she really is. Her calm and caring nature and love for the environment and the community around her most definitely shines through in her practice. The culmination of collage, sound, coastal stroll filmmaking and editing are all being brought together by her in a 360 film which is due to be shown at The Immersive Dome in Devonport’s Market Hall in January - the date has yet to be confirmed.

It's definitely a film to look out for and one I for sure don’t want to miss! I love Megan's approach to film making and how she centres on communities as co-creators rather than subjects. Megan's workshops are delightful undoubtedly thought provoking and have created a wonderful legacy for Plymouth and its heritage.