Local Young People Achieve Arts Bronze Awards

Context

The famous Knife Angel was due to come to Leicester Cathedral Gardens in May 2020. The Knife Angel was created by the British ironwork Centre and sculptor Alfie Bradley. It is also known as the National Monument Against Violence & Aggression.

Young people across Leicester were going to celebrate a Festival of Peace. As part of that celebration young people were going to create a mural inspired by the sculpture. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 lockdown, the Knife Angel couldn’t come to Leicester and the Festival of Peace was not able to take place. So, Leicester Museums and Galleries commissioned Graffwerk, who are specialists in graffiti art, to work with us on an Arts Award project for young people.

15 Young people aged from 16-25 years took part, the project was led by artists Kiefer Who and Sam Grubb from Graffwerk. The young people took part in variety of sessions and 7 young people achieved the Arts Award Bronze.

Approach

The project began on the 11th March 2020 with a street art tour and informal introduction to Leicester’s city centre art. The walk and talk tour were led by the artists. During the tour the young people were able to collect evidence for their art logs, take photographs, film art works, discuss graffiti art with artists and the stories behind the graffiti artwork.

The project was delayed due to the second COVID lockdown. We continued with the project with the second session on the 7th October 2020 which introduced the young people to a variety of local and international graffiti artists. We looked at different graffiti styles and how to develop street art lettering.

In the third session on the 14th October, the young people worked with the Graffwerk team and developed concepts for a mural in a local adventure playground. They gathered ideas, themes, and thought about who was going to be the audience, who the mural could inspire.

The fourth session on the 21st October had to be rearranged and adapted on the day. As unfortunately the adventure playground where the mural was going to be sited, was closed due to coronavirus concerns. The group then moved to St Margaret’s underpass: a legal graffiti site where the young people were able to create an art piece, using their original lettering design, techniques, and specialist spray paint.

Our final session was on the 28th October back at Leicester Museum and Art Gallery. The young people were able to complete their art logs, with all the evidence collected throughout the weeks ready for the Arts Award assessment.

The project was funded by Arts Council England, National Portfolio Organisation funding. 7 young people completed the Arts Award under very challenging circumstances whilst compiling with government social distancing guidelines at all times.

Impact

The Arts Award Bronze project inspired and encouraged young people to explore their own creativity. The final artwork bought joy to the young people who took part. Parents and many passers-by appreciated and valued the artwork and were happy to tell us, during our time at St Margaret’s underpass.

Throughout these difficult times we have continued to meet with the group virtually through online discussions to find out how the young people were doing during the third lockdown and also, what future projects they may want to be involved in during 2021. If you would like further information on this project then please do email our Children and Young Peoples Officer.