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This paper presents the findings of a sub-case study from the international research project CliViE (Cultural Literacies' Value in Europe) Horizont Europe. The case study took place in the first half of 2025 at the low-threshold club Mixér run by People in Need in Předlice, the suburb of Ústí nad Labem (Northern Bohemia), known as one of the largest social ghettos in the Czech Republic. As part of the study, we sought to give a voice to children from this marginalized community (primarily Roma children) and, through a series of creative workshops, explore their views on life in the city. Together with them, we sought to find answers to the following questions: How do children perceive the phenomenon of the city and public space? What are their experiences of life in this particular neighborhood? Are they interested in public space?

The contribution will focus on the visual analysis of the resulting artifacts (drawings, Polaroid photographs) together with an analysis of interviews conducted with clients of the low-threshold center. It will also focus on the analysis of professional discourse in this area. Research of professional materials shows that activities supporting the development of artistic and creative sensitivity, i.e., the general development of cultural competencies in socially excluded localities, are framed therapeutically. This is demonstrated by theses written at the faculties of education of various Czech universities and specialist books on art therapy (Blabolová, 2011; Hroudová, 2022; Kenardžievová & Havránková, 1996), in which art is not primarily perceived as a form of education and personal development with significant positive consequences for the community and social environment, but as a form of therapy.

The results of creative workshops focused on reflecting on the city (the excluded locality of Předlice, Ústí nad Labem) together with subsequent unstructured interviews showed that children, clients of low-threshold facilities, may have different starting positions and socioeconomic situations than children from the majority society, but they are able to define the positive and negative aspects of the place where they live. They are able to think about its past and present and further process these topics using artistic means according to their own abilities and skills. Their life situation does not automatically predetermine them for therapeutic or diagnostic procedures within the framework of artistic or general cultural activities and workshops, within the framework of art education. The workshops and their outputs also show that art education activities can be an important tool for building a relationship with public space and developing cultural literacy.