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The ArtSparks
Festival for Young People made an exciting start last Thursday evening,
with the help of some talented Nottingham artists.
Ben Goldie
reports
The ‘Paint
Terrorist’, Dan Wilkinson, was on hand to demonstrate a passion
and flair unique to Nottingham’s youth, with his clever combination
of paint and rocket launches.
Accompanied
by a breathtaking fire-eating and stilt walking performance by local
performer Debbie and excellent live backing from talented band The
Pesky Alligators, Dan’s inspirational artwork, to be displayed
at the final event, allowed spectators to realise the broad range
of arts activities happening during the next two weeks.
From skateboarding
to graffiti, film to rap, all aspects of art will be featured in
the revolutionary festival. The advent of the ArtSparks festival
has given Nottingham’s young artistic talent a chance to showcase
their work and try new forms of art at the many workshops, installations
and performances all over the city.
| ‘The
festival is part of our continuing work with young people, helping
them to get involved and have fun.’ |
|
Christine
Hayward,
Outreach
officer
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Being the first
of its kind in the area, ArtSparks hopes to establish itself as
a leading promoter of youth arts, and a key fixture on the arts
event calendar.
Helping to host
the events is the Nottingham Playhouse, well known for their work
in and around the community. With schemes such as The 3rd Age Theatre
and Critic’s Circle, the Playhouse has established itself as
a key player in Nottingham community arts initiatives.
The Playhouse
will be running a series of workshops during the festival period,
under the supervision of outreach officer Christine Hayward and
DJ tutor Steven ‘Fever’ Richards. Christine’s involvement
with the event started a few weeks earlier, in creating a banner
to promote the identity of Forest Fields Youth Club.
| ‘Having
fun is the key thing.’ |
| Steven
‘Fever’ Richards, DJ tutor |
Youth identity
is a theme of The ArtSparks Festival, which aims to encourage youth
rights and involvement in all aspects of the arts.
Local youth groups Millennium Volunteers, The Youth Council and
Fallen Angel Project have played a major part in the organisation
and smooth running of the festival.
Christine has
echoed the thoughts of all participants, commenting that, "The
festival is part of our continuing work with young people, helping
them to get involved and have fun."
Steven, a.k.a.
Fever agrees, "Having fun is the key thing." His work
over the next couple of weeks will include free workshops on DJ-ing,
teaching budding DJs how to control, mix, cut and scratch on the
decks, in an exciting hands-on taster session.
Fever brings
a wealth of knowledge and experience to the event, having produced
for leading UK rap group, ‘Out Da Ville.’ The group, based
in St. Anns, Nottingham, are acclaimed nation-wide, and are active
supporters of community work.
Both Christine
and Steven hope that this year’s ArtSparks will create the
foundations for bigger and better youth opportunities in the future.
More information
Amongst the early events, young people can enjoy the black comedy
"The Taming of the Shrew" for the price of a pint! Under
26s can see shows for only £2.
More details
available from the playhouse website, or
by phoning 0115 947 6100.
To see a comprehensive
guide to the ArtSparks festival, check out
our guide,
or for
full listings of events, please visitthe official ArtSparks site:
or call
the ArtSparks Info Line on 0115 915 3555.
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