Artswork’s vision encompasses a desire to map, equip and understand the journeys where young people can take the arts and the arts can take young people.
Artswork aims to explore new ways of putting young people at the heart of arts provision. Working across all art forms Artswork creates work which inspires young people and the artists and other professionals working with them.
Artswork seeks to celebrate the creative achievements of young people and broaden out an understanding and appreciation of the widespread value and contribution of youth arts.
Artswork is dedicated to continuing a sustainable dialogue with young people providing a range of mechanisms to ensure their voices are heard and that they are able to influence arts policies and the creative services affecting them.
Artswork is committed to providing training, education and experiential opportunities which prepare young people to be the arts leaders, artists, practitioners, arts policy makers and audiences of the future.
The McMaster Review looked at ways of measuring the ‘excellence’ inherent in arts experiences and defined it in the following way –
“Excellence is about life-changing experiences”.
The work the Artswork Academy does with young people is often life-changing as this quote from a young woman demonstrates -
“I know not to doubt what I am capable of. For the first time I was good enough and I was never told that I couldn’t do something but was in fact encouraged to get out of my comfort zone and try new things.
Had somebody ever told me that I would learn and have fun I would never have believed it but this has been my reality. When I look back at myself a year ago, I was smiling but my eyes were dead and I didn’t feel anything. Now, I smile because I am happy and I think it shows”.
We have tracked the range and extent of excellent life-changing experiences we offer to young people and assessed the wider impact of our work -
Artswork Academy Impact on Young People:
• A chance to have ideas shaped by working with artists; • A chance to develop creative skills; • A chance to develop arts administration and arts management skills; • Opportunities to gain accreditation; • Routes into employment in the creative industries and the cultural sector; • Routes into education; • Opportunities to volunteer in the creative industries and the cultural sector; • Chance to influence arts policies and service provision; • Opportunities to work in peer mentorship and motivation.
How does the Artswork Academy work?
The Artswork Academy has four main remits- to oversee and support:
1 Training – the development and delivery of a range of specialist arts and creative training for and by young people; Find out more about Artswork Academy Training here….
2 Innovative Projects - direct arts and creative project work and innovative initiatives with young people; Find out more about Artswork Academy Projects here….
3 Advocacy- the development and support of young people’s policy response panels; recruitment, support, involvement of young people in ENYAN supporting their involvement in the Regional Advisory Panels, website, campaigns and in events(nationally and regionally); Find out more about Artswork Academy Advocacy here….
4 Partnerships- strategic partnerships and collaborations with other agencies and organisations . Find out more about Artswork Academy Partnerships here….
The Artswork Academy aims to support all young people and will carry on developing and delivering pioneering work in peer motivation and peer mentoring and in supporting young volunteers and in developing work placements and work readiness programmes. In addition to devising and delivering projects with NEET young people (not in education, employment or training) the department will also research what key support can be provided to specific groups of young people at risk including young offenders, young parents, young people with mental health issues.
