Special Projects

ArtSway Special Education Projects are developed in collaboration with and for specific groups and partners. They are subject to funding opportunities and can be initiated by ArtSway, or ArtSway is approached to partner an initiative of another organisation.

To discuss opportunities and ideas for new projects please contact Peter Bonnell, Curator, Exhibitions & Education by Telephone on: 01590 682260 (extension 14) or Email: peter@artsway.org.uk

NEW FOR 2008

The ASSIST Project (Artists into Schools/Supporting youngsters/Inset Sessions for Teachers)

ArtSway has once again benefitted from the generosity of the trustees of the Ernest Cook Trust, who have awarded the gallery a grant of £10,650 to continue its education work with schools, teachers and youth organisations in the local community and further afield. The original programme funded by the Trust throughout 2006 - titled 'Artists into Schools/ ArtSway as a Rural Educational Resource' - saw 30 creative workshops take place in local schools such as Priestlands, Netley Marsh Infants School, Bellemoor Secondary in Southampton and St Luke's in Sway. The programme also saw a series of educational workshops take place with 'at risk' young people - many who are excluded from school and have learning difficulties - in partnership with Hampshire and Isle of Wight Youth Options.

The new programme of workshops - now titled The ASSIST Project (Artists Into Schools, Supporting youngsters, INSET Sessions for Teachers) will run throughout 2008 and will once again see a range of creative workshops take place in 8 local partner schools. ArtSway will also be able to continue its recent work with potential and actual young offenders in collaboration with the Wessex Youth Offending Team and ISSP (Intensive Suveillance and Support Programme) based in Southampton - as well as with Youth Options. A new strand to the programme is a series of INSET sessions for teachers - aimed at equipping teachers with new skills that they can utilise in the classroom, and to help them assist their students more fully.

The ASSIST Project: what we are planning:

• To deliver a programme of 32 educational workshops with our 8 partner schools (four daylong workshops per school).

• To deliver a series of 16 evening and/ or weekend INSET sessions for teachers. We believe that these sessions will assist in the longevity of the project beyond the first year of funding.

• To work with ‘hard to reach’ young people in collaboration with local youth organisations including: Wessex Youth Offending Team; ISSP (Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programme), and Hampshire and Isle of Wight Youth Options

• To deliver a series of 12 educational art workshops with the above youth organisations.

• There will be a total of 60 educational/creative workshops in the ASSIST Project

Creative Workshops for Young People Inspired by ArtSway’s Annual Open Exhibition
(supported by Arts & Business and Lashmars of Lymington)

ArtSway recently secured funding from Arts and Business and Lashmars of Lymington, to deliver – over the next three years – a series of three daylong creative workshops to support two sets of  'at risk' groups of young people, once a year over a three year period linked to ArtSway's annual Open exhibition. ArtSway has over the last few years developed strong links with Hampshire and Isle of Wight Youth Options, and also Wessex Youth Offending Team, working with 'at risk' young people from 14 - 21 years of age. These young people, mostly male, are often offenders or potential offenders; are excluded from school or part of a Pupil Referral Unit - and are from socially deprived areas of Southampton or parts of the New Forest.

The young people will be taken on a tour of the Open exhibition - including a talk by the Open winner or ArtSway’s curator - and will select an artwork to discuss and use as a basis for making their own original work. The following educational workshops, taking place at ArtSway or an off-site location, will see the young people learn a range of creative techniques, culminating in a 'friends and family' presentation evening at ArtSway. The creative workshops will be documented, with a video being on display in ArtSway's entrance foyer during the following year's Open exhibition, with information about the project acknowledging A&B and Lashmar's support.

Workshops are supported by:

generator - a Project to Include Young People (Supported by envision)

generator is a project supported by an envision research and development bursary, and is intended to focus on attracting young people to contemporary art galleries, and involving them in some aspects of gallery decision making.

Aims:
The main aim of the generator project at ArtSway is to work closely with ten ‘hard to reach young people’ – 5 young people under supervision from Wessex Youth Offending Team, and 5 young people associated with Hampshire and Isle of Wight Youth Options. The aim is also to develop a youth friendly education programme here at ArtSway.

Objectives:
1. A series of creative workshops for at risk/ hard to reach young people between the ages of 14 - 21 years old, to generate thoughts, ideas and opinions on art, contemporary art, the role of the gallery, their working with the gallery, etc. There will be at least 4 day-long (11am to 3pm) workshops for 5 young people from Wessex YOT and 5 from Youth Options. The principal artists/ workshop leaders for this project are Roy Brown - a multi-media artist from Southampton, and Steve Lewis – a filmmaker based in the New Forest.

2. Roundtable discussions (1 or 2 hours in length) at ArtSway with the 10 young people to discuss ideas coming out of the creative workshops, and to think about writing 'reports'. A trained facilitator, experienced in working with young people, will be in attendance - as will the workshop leaders from the creative workshops and ArtSway's Education Officer.

3. Commission reports from the 10 young people involved in the project. These reports can be written, videotaped, or perhaps even a rap, or a piece of graffiti artwork. Each young person will be offered an incentive to complete the reports – such as vouchers to buy art materials.

4. Feedback sessions on the reports. The reports will be 'disseminated' via ArtSway’s website, and sent to 'peer' organizations (other galleries, other youth organizations) across the UK.

5. An ArtSway 'Youth User Panel' will be set-up, partly or wholly made-up of young people who have been part of the project. They will also help ArtSway to develop a plan for future activity for young people.

The first of the creative workshops took place at ArtSway on 18 April 2007 with young people under supervision from Wessex YOT. The remaining workshops will be completed from April through to the end of June, and followed closely by the roundtable discussions. Reports by young people involved in the project, photographs from workshops, and evaluation forms will be published here at a later date.

ArtSway would like to thank Dave White and City Eye in Southampton (www.city-eye.co.uk) for the generous loan of a camera for a series of workshops with young people under supervision from ISSP (Intensive Surveillance Supervision Programme)/ Wessex Youth Offending Team.



envision is an engage programme with financial support from;

The Department for Communities and Local Government
Arts Council England
The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
Yorkshire Building Society Charitable Foundation

engage, the lead body for gallery education, promotes greater understanding and enjoyment of the visual arts. engage’s programme includes action-research projects, conferences and seminars, training and networking programmes and advocacy to government and funding bodies. Visit www.engage.org for more information.

envision is the name of engage’s programme supporting galleries to develop innovative ways of working together with young people.
envision collaborates with venues, partners and young people, sharing ideas, skills, resources and spaces, creating opportunities for young people to have a genuine role in shaping youth-friendly gallery practice.

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