Category: Cubism

#YES SUCCESS! February Half Term 2022

We were grateful for funding from City of Wolverhampton Council to run Holiday Activity over February Half Term week, 2022.

100% of young people said they enjoyed taking part and that they learnt something new

Nearly 5 Star rating!

100% of young people said they'd like to do RAW activities again

We delivered a wide range of creative activities for young people ages 10-16, SEND and Deaf friendly.

The young people created some fantastic pieces of art including:

A large sectioned portrait of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo
5 Ways to Wellbeing posters
Greetings cards
Cubism style acrylic paintings
Slate Coaters decorated with napkin decoupage
Tee-shirt designs
Ceramic tiles decorated with Posca Pens
Grid drawings and
Paracord bracelets and key rings.

Alongside the creative activities they also learnt some British Sign Language

Here's what they told us:

“I enjoyed them because I liked making the cool monsters”

“They were all very fun”

“It was calming”.

“It’s so fun because we designed, and we be able to wear it [Tee shirts].”

“Because it was mostly all my ideas on the canvas, and there wasn’t much of a prompt for me to follow so I was able to use my own creativity to complete the task.”

“I like using glue and doing things with my hands :D”

“Because all of them were amazing and you got to try some things you haven’t done before it is an unbelievable experience.”

“I enjoyed them as I have learnt new things that I would love to make again.”

“I enjoyed making the T-shirt because I made one of my favourite things that I can’t buy at the shop.”

“They all were educational or creative.”

“They all made me learn and get better at drawing.”

“I liked the newspaper activities because you could use your imagination and with most of the activities you could express about yourself.”

“I enjoyed drawing and designing T shirts. I also liked making the self portrait of Frida [Kahlo].”

“Because I learned new stuff.”

“They were fun.”

“They were most fun for me, and I learnt new stuff!”

“Because they were fun and not hard.”

General Feedback:

“It was very enjoyable.”

“The staff were really kind, friendly and approachable and I have enjoyed my time here.”

“Thank you.”

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High Quality Art Materials gifted to RAW

Leigh 'Finlee Russell' Saunders was an extraordinarily talented Birmingham based artist, sculptor, musician and film maker. He was a good friend of Alex Vann, founder of RAW and the pair worked together on music and video projects and met through mutual friend, Birmingham singer song writer Rich McMahon, who passed away in 2015.

Leigh created an army of plasticine characters called 'The Smiley Dudes' which spread a message of fun and positivity around the globe. Below is a video of him delivering a hundred Smiley Dudes to children at the Rare Disease Summer Party in 2017.

Unfortunately Leigh lost his battle with cancer in March 2021. We were overwhelmed when heard from the family that they'd like to pass on his art materials so that we can use them with our groups and in that way keep his creative legacy alive.
We'd like to publicly thank the family and will continue to post examples of work on our social media channels using his materials using the hash tag #FinleesLegacy

Above are just a few examples of work Alex has created, either as examples on virtual art sessions with various groups including British Deaf Association, Deaf Plus, Mossley Community Arts Club, or face to face at Percy Shurmer Academy, Birmingham or commissioned work. The Pop Art painting of The Man On The Horse is on show at The Chindit pub in Wolverhampton until August 2021.