RAW NEWSWelcome to the latest newsletter of RAW (Real Arts Workshops). We showcase all the work we did over a very busy Summer, some recycled arts projects, our involvement in Wolverhampton Learning Platforms 'Covid Champions' project and a poster for our newest project funded by Arts Council Englands #ThrivingCommunitiesFund. We still have places available for 13-17 year olds in Wolverhampton so please spread the word! If you view the attached PDF version of the newsletter in Adobe Reader, you will be able to click relevant web links - and our own website has many resources and information too. The preview image is below. Please do get in touch with any queries / feedback on any of the articles or if you think we can work with your organisation on some uplifting and engaging creative projects. Thank you and stay safe, Alex, Gary and the team. 
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We had an amazing (and busy) time over Summer with various activities aimed at enriching the arts experience of young people in the Midlands.  Working with HeadStart Wolverhampton, we delivered the Summer Arts Programme at Low Hill Hub. We are hoping to enter some of the young people into the Arts Award 'Explore' qualification and part of that is visiting and exploring an Arts Organisation and the lovely staff at Wolverhampton Art Gallery facilitated a fascinating behind the scenes visit. Whilst we were there we bumped in the Mayor of Wolverhampton (as you do!) Claire Darke who invited them to visit her parlour a different day. Which we did, see more about that below.  We also worked with our colleagues at BID Services Birmingham again, on a brilliant 'Messy Nature Art' workshop which started with the young people gathering natural materials from a local park and then creating paintings and 3D items. All the young people are Deaf or Hard of hearing and as RAW members Alex and Gary both sign, this is not an issue! We think their artwork looks great: Messy Nature ArtWe ran the Messy Nature Art session again with the young people at Low Hill Hub and again we were impressed with the results We also got them to paint the picnic benches outside which were looking a bit worse for wear! Knife Crime PreventionAn important issue to us is the prevention of knife crime. We have developed a highly creative and interactive workshop around that which gets young people asking themselves questions about their own paths: where they see themselves years into the future, what qualifications they will need to get where they want to be, who their role models are so that they can make positive decisions about their own futures. We used the huge interactive graffiti screen at Low Hill Hub, created a pop up art gallery with anti knife pledges and integrated sign language into it too. Here are a few pics: Day Trips to Wolverhampton Art Gallery, The Mayor and University of WolverhamptonWe wanted to take the young people out of Low Hill Hub on a cultural visit to the Art Gallery - as this would broaden their horizons and also go towards Arts Award evidence if they decided they'd like to do that qualification which is recognised on the government's framework. We had a fascinating behind the scenes tour from the senior curator, Carol. We learnt that there are about 18,000 items in the gallery collections, some of which have to be stored in stable humidity because they are so old, delicate and fragile. The young people then got a tour of the galleries, made drawings of what they saw and asked LOADS of questions!  While we were at the gallery we bumped into Mayor of Wolverhampton, Claire Darke, who was happy to come and talk to the young people. she invited them to her parlour and as she and RAW founder Alex Vann are both University of Wolverhampton alumni we combined a visit with the university where the young people saw Alex's design 'Support Life' which was part of the Wolves in Wolves project. They made drawings of the sculpture and asked Alex questions about it. Again this can go towards their Arts Award qualification. Here are a few pictures from the day: A Song for Low HillWe were pleased to be invited to the Bushbury EMB annual festival. We had a stall doing arts activities for young people who drop in and we also performed a brand new song 'A Song For Low Hill' for which our regular group had learnt sign language for. Here is a YouTube clip of the performance: ...and a few photos from the day and of the artwork the young people created for the lyrics so everyone in the audience could join in singing. We've enjoyed delivering the HeadStart Wolverhampton art club on Friday evenings at Low Hill Hub. The video above gives a nice snapshot of the work we've done. The programme runs until Friday 14th December 2018 - so there is still time for young people (10-16) to come along for free, 4-6pm. We've done so much great work: Cardboard Wolves in Wolves, Poppy crafting for Remembrance, Halloween crafts, Wild Animal art, 5 Ways to Well-being posters, song-writing, Pop Up Art Gallery, British Sign Language and so much more. Thanks to HeadStart for supporting, we hope we can work together again in 2019  We were delighted to be asked to deliver the art sessions for HeadStart Wolverhampton Summer Activities in Low Hill + The Scotlands areas.  RAW is all about ‘Giving People a Creative Voice’. That is achieved through providing a platform for people to use the Arts to express themselves; break down barriers; build confidence; encourage team work; have fun; try something new and learn new skills.  We are aware of the work HeadStart does in supporting the mental wellbeing of young people and wanted our activities to reflect that. We designed a varied programme which included – Honesty Portraits - inspired by a series of postcards created by a teenager dealing with her own mental health issues. Young people were encouraged to draw and paint what makes them happy / unhappy and use innovative ways of expressing that, including collage and use of text / vocabulary. They designed masks on paper first and then painted on plain masks mounted onto canvas. These were then photographed and made into postcards. Here are a few examples of their work: This was the messiest art work we’ve done! (Cofi) I felt happy (Nicole) The Tree Of Hope- decorated with print outs of artwork they’d created previously, ‘wish tags’ - written tags about a general wish they have for the world and drawings and statements about their hopes and aspirations for the future. British Sign Language and Deaf Awareness- led by RAW team member Gary, who is profoundly Deaf. This included the 'Numberplate Game' to test the young people had learnt fingerspelling and numbers in BSL. I found it really interesting – learning sign language and about blind and deaf people. It was good creating the images for the posters. (Emma) It’s really good and I enjoyed learning sign language (Brinley) Performing the HeadStart song in Sign LanguageThe young put their newly found sign language skills to good use and produced a video of them signing along to the HeadStart song which was written by young people in association with Rock School Music. The song is all about the worries some young people feel when they leave primary education and start 'big school'. I enjoyed all of it. I was kind of nervous seeing myself on the video (doing sign language to the HeadStart song) but my confidence is growing. (Keira) Portrait drawing in proportionAlex demonstrated a quick way to divide a 'headspace' to get the features in the right positions. 'The 5 Ways To Wellbeing': pledges and poster designsWe used the NHS '5 ways to wellbeing' as a starting point for young people to think how they could 1. Connect; 2. Give; 3. Keep Learning; 4. Take Notice and 5. Keep Active. We have been very pleased with the work created and hope that the young people have something they will feel proud of and remember for years to come. Alex Vann and Gary O’Dowd. Feedback from the young people who took part"I like doing art because I don’t get to do painting at home" (Corey)
"I found it really fun because I can finally have a chance to paint to my full potential" (Theo) "I really enjoyed the art session" (Isabelle) "It’s really good and I enjoyed learning sign language" (Brinley) "It’s really fun to try new things and make friends, and understand what art is all about" (Nnedimma) "I found it really interesting – learning sign language and about blind and deaf people. It was good creating the images for the posters." (Emma) "I enjoyed all of it. I was kind of nervous seeing myself on the video (doing sign language to the HeadStart song) but my confidence is growing." (Keira) "I enjoyed the art – I’ve always done art and love to express myself that way." (Demi) "This was the messiest art work we’ve done!" (Cofi) Mine is about anti-bullying.(Madison) My painting shows good things at the top and bad at the bottom. (Lexi) I felt happy (Nicole) NB: Copyright in all of the original work shown here is owned by the originator(s) including the young people, and has been used with permission. All other artwork, photographs and video are © 2018 Real Arts Workshops. |
AuthorReal Arts Workshops is an independent arts company based in the Black Country, providing bespoke workshops for various organisations and groups. Archives
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