Winners : Monifieth Art Trail 2021 – Monifieth Youth Steering Group
The steering group has left a creative legacy embraced by residents and visitors alike. Art boards designed by children and young people have generated a real sense of curiosity for the creative arts and the wider world. Monifieth Art Trail was co designed with the steering group, CLD officer, artist and school teacher, during lock down. It was a difficult time for young people, however through sheer determination and having a clear focus the group produced the art trail. The group were extremely creative in their approach. They recruited the artist, developed the theme (world continents) developed the route, sought permission to have the art boards put in place and engaged Head Teachers from 7 cluster primary schools, they wanted to include as many children and young people as possible. Each school was given a world continent theme, P5-P7 children were asked to draw/design images that represented people and place. The group received over 200 drawings from the primary schools. They worked with the artist to develop each individual art board while creating their own that represents the world. Each member of the group embraced the project through their creative thinking while developing their own art skills.
Judges said : “The impact this project has had on young people involved and the local community is incredible. It really shows what can be achieved when young people work together. Well done.”
Runners Up : Angus Expressive Arts Programme
Young people worked with staff from across Angus in small local groups to explore their feelings and experience of COVID 19. In Forfar the group chose to use painted art as their medium and worked together to create a mural which combined their individual efforts and also the group effort. The mural was displayed outside Forfar Westend Football club for the public to see. The Arbroath group used a comic book as their medium. All group members have a copy of this to keep and it was distributed in Carnoustie to S1 pupils. The project gave young people an opportunity to express themselves and explore their feelings and work towards moving forward following a challenging time. The Arbroath group have gone on to work with staff in different projects. Sharing their work with others has given young people in Angus the chance to explore their own feelings and feel they are not alone. The project itself won a National Youth Work award for Arts and Creativity.
The judges stated “This piece of work is a fantastic achievement for all involved which has been recognised nationally by winning a YouthLink Scotland National Youth Work Award 2022 for Arts and Creativity. Large numbers of young people benefitted from taking part in this project and the impact of the work is great. It is an incredibly worthy piece of work and deserving of the recognition given across these Award categories.”
