Many teaching strategies exist to develop critical thinking with students. Art students engage with critical thinking in a "Connected Art" workshop, implemented in three diverse Higher Education (HE) learning environments. Participants are interdisciplinary adult learners in the UK, Germany and Spain. Using joint practice development, three academics aim to design a critical and creative thinking workshop that could be facilitated with a wide range of HE adult learners in many diverse educational contexts. "Connected Art" aims to offer adult learners an interactive environment to develop arts-based problem solving skills. This qualitative article integrates a praxis of constructivist, critical, educational and creative approaches. Adult learners reflect on experiences of working in a community of practice and the contextualising environment of the land/ the city/ the educational space. "Connected Art" fosters a holistic approach to transformative learning for adult learners. It facilitates a learning space for heterogeneity, complexity, authenticity, critical awareness and emotional expression fostering arts-based research competencies. It hopes to provide insights, strategies and resources for educators working with practice-based students who are interested in engaging in joint practice development. Also for educational research institutions seeking to facilitate student critical thinking, arts-based research, interdisciplinary engagement and transformative learning in the curriculum.