Fruity Fun on our Summer HAF in Wolverhampton!Thanks to Department for Education and City of Wolverhampton Council for funding our Summer HAF scheme in Wolverhampton #HAF2024. We loved working with the young people and seeing their amazing imaginations create new art in the world that didn’t exist before. Thank you also to our wonderful hosts All Saints Action Network Ltd. See some photos below of what the activities they took part in: Huge Cardboard Fruit SculpturesBritish Sign Language: Healthy LifestylesCD Weaving a la Kandinsky with BeckiCircle Marker art and ceramic tiles with SarahClay creations including Greek Style PotsElizabeth Catlett - biro poster in sections and clay printingFestival Day with JenAkira Toriyama - Kid Goku drawingsMatisse Style Paper Cut OutsPop Art Greetings CardsPlant Pot DesignsQigong movements with SueExpressive WatercoloursOne of the parents made us a cake!Survey Data Report: Week 1Survey Data - Week 2Quotes from the young people
0 Comments
Captivating Creativity: Easter HAF Scheme 2024We loved working with the young people who attended our Wolverhampton Easter HAF Scheme 2024. These and many other schemes are funded with thanks to Wolverhampton City Council and Department for Education and are offered under the council’s ‘Yo Wolves’ scheme. This holiday provision is for school aged children from reception to year 11 (inclusive) who receive benefits-related free school meals. As usual we were blown away by the amazing creations the children made. Here is a snapshot of just a few examples of their work. Drawings in a circle, with WayneEid/Ramadan/Vaisakhi / General greetings cardsClay Creations 'Iris' folded Easter Cards, led by SarahClaude Monet Painting Session: Bridge over Pond of WaterliliesPaper LanternsBSL learning and games with GaryMonitoring DataAs we always do, we surveyed the young people at the end of our scheme and we are delighted with the results. 100% said they enjoyed taking part, 100% said that they learnt something new, 100% felt more creative and inspired. We got a 4.88 star rating and 100% of young people said they'd like to come to our sessions in future. Here is a link to the full report. Here's what the young people told us:I love being here" Winter HAF scheme Jan 2024We were pleased to be able to offer a varied programme of creativity to young people in Wolverhampton in January 2024, thanks to HAF (Holiday Activities and Food) funding from Wolverhampton City Council and Department for Education. This holiday provision is for school aged children from reception to year 11 (inclusive) who receive benefits-related free school meals and as we were delivering after Christmas we decided to focus on Chinese New Year for some of the sessions. Gary, our Deaf role model, also taught some basic British Sign Language, including signs for food: healthy options like fruit and vegetable, and not so healthy options, as part of a balanced diet, as some education such as this is part of the HAF scheme. Children had the opportunity to decorate their own canvas pencil case Our visiting artist Jen delivered a life affirming session on goal setting and 2024 calendars, started with a presentation by Olivia who spoke about her early years, primary & secondary education, University, traveling and landing her dream job starting this month. Online Survey results:100% of attendees told us that they enjoyed taking part in our activity. 100% of attendees said that they learnt something new. 100% of attendees said they would like to attend RAW sessions again in future. 4.84 out of 5 star rating 🤗 Quotes from the Young people:“It was amazing because I met new people and doing activities was fun so thank you!” We have been successful in securing funding from the Youth Engagement Strategy board in Wolverhampton to deliver a week of arts, crafts and BSL activities for all young people aged 8-16 (25 with an EHCP) living in Wolverhampton. The dates are: Monday 30th October to Friday 3rd November 10am - 2.30pm each day. See advert for details and you can book places for young people using the link below.
A Wave of Creativity!We were delighted to receive HAF (Holidays Activities and Food) funding from City of Wolverhampton Council and Department for Education, to deliver 2 weeks of activities over the Easter Holidays. There were many other providers in and around the city too. We worked with 8-16 year olds (18 with an EHCP) on a wide variety of creative projects and included some BSL (British Sign Language) teaching too and delivered our sessions from All Saints Action Network. Feedback from the sessions was very positive. We've included young people's feedback and results of online surveys below. Here is a snapshot of what they got up to:Optical Illusion DrawingsOur volunteer Wayne led some 'Howard Lee' style optical illusion drawings on grid paper which the young people really loved. We connected a phone camera to a projector so that they could follow Wayne's drawing on screen. Nature Art with GaryUsing leaves found outside, the young people made cards with acrylic paints JMW Turner landscapesTurner was the inspiration for this watercolour landscapes session. We think they look brilliant and atmospheric. Hokusai meets Van Gogh!This was our most ambitious ever large sectioned artwork. Each person had a square on which to create a section of a specially made reference image. The image is Hokusai's famous 'Great Wave of Kanagawa' print mixed with the background from Van Gogh's 'Starry Night'. The first painting influenced the second so it all made sense. We think the end result is spectacular. Clay workSome amazing sculptures shown here. It's always nice to see new versions of our logo! Elizabeth Catlett style 'negative' drawingsWe looked at the work of African American artist Elizabeth Catlett and the young people created art in a new way: drawing white on black (instead of traditional black on white). Here are just a few examples: Easter CardsOur volunteer Sarah led an Easter Card making session. The YP made a variety of brilliant designs, some shown here: British Sign Language (BSL)Our very own Deaf role model Gary taught the young people some conversational sign language so that if they ever meet a Deaf person they will know how to communicate and not run away!! Tin Can PlantersWe encouraged some healthy eating by decorating tin cans and filling them with soil and seeds. The YP took these away to look after and see the herbs growing at home! The fabulous Lucy visited the from Custom Junkies and got the YP to create personalised caps and T-shirts. Amazing! Cardboard Hogwarts Castle and ExpressEveryone loves cardboard! On the final day of our project we took a load of cardboard and paints and some asked them to create the castle and locomotive from the Harry Potter stories. So much fun! Extra 'stuff'Some other artworks created by the YP, including some colour theory led by our volunteer Donna, graffiti lettering, jar designs and grid and dot drawings. Results of Online Survey“I think it was very cool to learn a new language that will help me communicate with others in the future and I hope I will learn more.” Incredible Half Term CreativityWe were very pleased to be awarded funding for a week of creative activity in Wolverhampton, over February Half Term Holidays. The scheme is part of the wider #YES (Youth Engagement Strategy funded by City of Wolverhampton Council) offer across many providers in and around the city. We worked with 8-16 year olds (18 with an EHCP) on a wide variety of creative projects and included some BSL (British Sign Language) teaching to boot. SurrealismWe always respond to feedback we receive from young people and in October they told us they'd like to do some Surrealism. So we showed a presentation of what the art movement was all about, who the main artists were and what the lasting influence on our modern day art forms is. They created some fabulous Surreal works (see pics below) British Sign LanguageGary, a deaf director of RAW delivered some British Sign Language including fingerspelling your name, basic 'meet and greet' signs and they played a few games of 'BSL Bingo' to make sure they'd learnt everything properly! Charlie Chaplin montageBecause of the connection between Charlie Chaplin and Wolverhampton and that he was another influential multi talented artist, we delivered a short presentation about him and his work and the young people created this wonderful sectioned piece. They each took a square of the bigger picture and did it in their own way (example of magazine collage shown). When pieced together like a jigsaw, the picture comes into wonderful focus Indigenous style dot drawingsSome beautiful and affective drawings done in an Aboriginal / African style Clay CreationsThe young people made some amazing clay creations, including a delightful daffodil, a wonderful wave and mini replica of the Support Life wolf painted by RAW's director Alex Vann as part of the 'Wolves in Wolves' public art project in 2017. Pop Art greetings cards and canvas tote bagsIt's a wrap!!Final Day: We've had a blast with the team, staff, volunteers and our hosts All Saints Action Network Ltd on our Feb Half term scheme supported by City of Wolverhampton Council’s #YES Youth Engagement Strategy. Donna, one of our volunteers showed the young people her beautiful portrait painting which will soon be displayed in an exhibition at Newhampton Arts Centre One of the young people brought in some cardboard sculpture with moving parts that he’d made at home. Here's what the young people told us in their daily feedback forms:I enjoyed today as it was a group project. Some of us challenged ourselves to get through it and we did! RESULTS OF ONLINE SURVEYS COMPLETED BY THE YOUNG PEOPLEWhen asked if they enjoyed taking part 100% said 'YES' When asked if they learnt something new 100% said 'YES' When asked if they felt more creative / inspired 100% said 'YES' When asked if they'd like to attend RAW sessions again 100% said 'YES' Comments from the online surveys:They made me feel creative and I had fun and I normally don’t like drawing very much and I don’t normally get creative at school or home From Pumpkins to Pop Art!
We were pleased to receive funding from City of Wolverhampton Council and Youth Engagement Strategy (#YES) to provide creative and BSL activities for young people living in Wolverhampton during the October half term holidays.
Our team delivered a wide variety of activities, something different every morning and afternoon on each day. The artworks they created were outstanding and the young people told us that they really enjoyed the BSL (British Sign Language) activities – which included some games of BSL bingo which got VERY competitive!! We were delighted to be visited by a local councillor and have our project featured in the Express and Star and on the council’s Facebook page. See below for the results of monitoring feedback including some lovely comments from the young people. Our project was featured on the council's Facebook page 'Wolverhampton Today'
Young peoples' feedback (online surveys)Some of these are new things I have never done; my goal is to have lots of cool art on a corner of my room Parent / carer feedback.Thank you for giving him this opportunity to learn. He would be happy to join again. Results of monitoring feedbackAmazing Art by young people - Wolverhampton Easter HAF 2022We [Real Arts Workshops] were delighted to be awarded a grant from City of Wolverhampton Council to deliver 2 weeks of art, craft and BSL (British Sign Language) experiences for young people in Wolverhampton over Easter school holidays 2022. The HAF (Holidays Activities and Food) Programme was rolled out by the government in 2021 and provides free holiday provision including healthy food and enriching activities for low-income households.
We worked with some children who have additional needs and were able to adapt our activities to make them accessible. Having Deaf staff and staff with mobility issues shows young people that adversity can be overcome, and a sense of achievement is for everyone! But don’t just take our word for it! Here are some photographs of their creations and examples what the young people told us in daily ‘Thought of the Day’ slips and weekly online surveys: “The staff are very kind, they are great at making things enjoyable” In conclusionLooking at the the feedback received from the young people our work falls into these categories:
DOING SOMETHING NEW Trying out something new. Learning new skills. Experimenting with new ideas. Doing things for the first time. Making new friends. BEING CHALLENGED Being challenged by the materials and projects and enjoying that challenge. Doing things that they don’t get to do elsewhere. BEING ENGAGED IN REWARDING ACTIVITY Getting out of the house. Working in a group. Sharing experiences. Doing art as an activity that combats boredom and being sedentary. FEELINGS of WELLBEING Having fun. Feeling safe. Feeling excited. Feeling happy. Feeling included. Feeling supported. Feeling calm. TEAMWORK Making new friends; working in a group; working with others to make art; collaboration. Thanks to our funders for making this project possible and to The Workspace at ASAN (All Saints Action Network) for hosting us brilliantly and to Onboard Corrugated for donating high quality corrugated cardboard to create art and sculpture with the young people.
2020 is clearly a year that will go down in history. The world has been rocked by a global pandemic and the toll on personal lives is huge and the effects will be felt for years to come. We have been very busy doing what we can to continue to reach our audiences as we strongly believe that there is no better time for people to engage in arts activities - not least because of the numerous positive mental well being benefits. Here are a few of the things that have kept us busy during this time - please do get in touch if you'd like any more information about any of this activity. Free online resources during Covid-19You may already have seen that we have created a new page on this site dedicated to free resources, downloads and 'how to' guides during Covid-19. Click on 'Free Resources During Covid-19'. Please do have a look and scroll to see if there is something that interests you and feel free to share with your contacts. This has meant we have been able to produce worksheets, videos and activities which we might not have done otherwise. Art activity packsWe were delighted to be asked by our regular customer, Mossley Big Local to provide 100 art activity packs to residents of all ages. These are funded by Lottery Community Fund so there is no cost to families. The bags include a biodegrade carrier, basic art materials and we have created bespoke creative activities worksheets for which we think most households will already have resources for. We also delivered a number of packs to Mattesly Court Housing 21 residential home for older people. Feedback has been great and there are a few photos below. Virtual Art WorkshopsWe are very lucky to live in age where technology can bring people together. During Covid-19 we have used video conferencing apps to be able to deliver virtual art sessions to a number of customers. We don't think you can beat face to face contact however this tech has enabled us to deliver demonstrations and facilitate sessions with a number of different groups - some which rely on art activity to keep the mind and bodies active. This has also meant we have developed planning strategies which we will continue after lockdown. Above, wonderful self portraits at Bid Services, Birmingham Above, just a few photos from recent weekly community art club sessions for Mossley Big Local Above, some of the artwork created by young people attending the online #BigLinkUp sessions for the Hub at Ashmore Park, Wolverhampton Alex on WCR Radio every MondayAlex has been doing regular weekly interviews with Chris Allen on Wolverhampton's WCR radio on Monday mornings, around 10-11am - talking about the importance of staying active creatively during Covid-19 and setting a weekly creative challenge. Click the logo below to visit their website which has listen live and listen again facilities.
Our annual review video is now on YouTube! Please spend a few minutes out of your day to see all the ways in which RAW has grown in 2019. We have delivered AT LEAST 118 separate workshop sessions, reached 439 people directly with our work and collaborated with at least 19 different agencies Here are a few standout moments, though these get added to daily! Here are a few more images from what has been a 'full on' year, delivering high quality bespoke art sessions to all sorts of community groups:
|
AuthorReal Arts Workshops is an independent arts company based in the Black Country, providing bespoke workshops for various organisations and groups. Archives
September 2024
|