It's been a busy old time since I last wrote with lots of new projects up and running! My weeks are now well and truly packed with lots of exciting things going on!!!
In the last couple of weeks I have started working with a group of young people at "Grace Academy" who are an alternative education project that run out of Valley Hall on Valley Hill. I am going to be working with the group of 8 young people on a Tuesday morning to mentor them through the Bronze Level Arts Award. Our joint goal is to create a magazine with each of the young people taking on different roles in the production. They are documenting their work on blogger so you can follow what they are up to at the following addresses:
I am really excited to see how this project progresses!
On Wedensdays we are running a project called iD (ignite Dance) from 6.30-8pm up at St Mary's Church. Working in partnership with ignite we are providing affordable dance classes for a group of young people aged 11-16. If last weeks class is anything to go by I think it is safe to say it is going to be lively but I don't doubt that we will have something amazing to showcase at the end of term so watch this space!
Thursdays continue to be Loughton Youth Theatre (LYT) day and it is getting increasingly busy! We are now running a 6-8 years group (LYT Kids) in partnership with Loughton Methodist Church from 4-5.30pm and continue to run out 9-12s and 13-16s groups in the evening from 7-9pm. With 73 young people aged 6-16 on the registers, Thursdays are always action-packed! This term LYT Kids are working on The Jungle Book and will be putting on a short showcase of their work for parents on the last day of term. The 9-16s are working on performance pieces based on the Stop the Traffik campaign (http://www.stopthetraffik.org/). We are still in the early devising stages but are very excited about what our performance day (20th March) has in store!!!
I was so busy thinking about this term that I almost forgot to tell you about last term! The 9-16s worked on a joint project to create an outdoor installation piece for the switch on of the Loughton Christmas lights. We are committed at LYT to pushing the boundaries and trying "different" approaches. This was certainly something different! Each of the 8 groups devised a piece which had certain boundaires attached to it - the only sound had to be pre-recorded (they weren't allowed to speak live on the night), it had to end with hanging a lampshade on a light bulb hanging from the tree and it couldn't be more than 3 minutes long. Check out the pictures!
Fridays also keep me on my toes! With Chigwell Disability Group in the morning and iG in the evenings I'm always ready for the weekend by the time I get home on a Friday night!
We are launching a new initiative this week at CDG called "Young Leaders" that involved a number of year 9 students from RVHS who have volunteered to come and help at the group on a rota basis. Each young person will come to the group once per half term to assist the service users in their art projects. We are very excited about getting this project up and running and it's with a huge thank you to Lauren Weaver (our placement student from Cambridge CYM) that we have been able to turn this dream into a reality!
iG (ignite Guitar) was piloted before Christmas as a project allowing young people the chance to take part in affordable group guitar lessons. Run in partnership with ignite, we have been able to purchase a number of guitars and are looking forward to the proper re-launch of the project this term in the new timeslot of 6.30-7.30pm on a Friday evening.
What's more, we have our usual Festival of Fairytales planned for February half term for 4-8 year olds, running this year at Loughton Methodist Church where we benefit from the cafe facilities for parents. This came from feedback we gathered from last years participants who were concerned about the amount of to-ing and fro-ing and time-filling on the High Road they had while their children were in our sessions - and worse, in between sessions for those with children in 2 separate age groups! We really do take all your feedback on board and where we have the resources and ability to do so, we will always try to put your suggestions into practice!
Other highlights to look out for are "Oliver with a Twist" in the Easter holidays - a play in a week project for school years 1-9 and our big summer musical project "Godspell" not to mention our One World Festival coming up in June!You can now also follow us on facebook. Search "Jen Smith Communityarts" and request to be a friend for invitations to all of our upcoming projects coming out when they are launched, it is the best way to keep in the loop!
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