We have just been commissioned to work on a project called "Watch this Space" - an interesting jointly commissioned project between Telford & Wrekin Council and Shropshire Council, with additional partners from the relevant Youth Services.
It's quite a large steering group and an equally large geographical area we'll be working across. Saturday is the first day we'll get to meet the young people who've signed up to take part - but equally it'll be the first time they get to meet each other, as half are from Telford and half from Shropshire (Bridgnorth, to be precise!).
The project itself will see us working with the young people to devise, create and curate an exhibition of work. The young people will have MANY choices to make - from the location of the exhibition, to what the end product is going to be. We're throwing Arts Award in for good measure, and feel pretty excited about the project - particularly as there's a weekend residential to the Welsh coast in the middle!
For now - we just wanted to share what we've been preparing prior to meeting the group. In order to meet a potential variety of needs and abilities, we've devised an "explorer's kit" which will encourage participants to view their outdoor spaces in new ways, and to help trigger creative thinking from the moment we meet them. The kit will be used whilst scouting for potential exhibition location venues at the weekend.
The kit includes: envelopes, tracing paper, carbon paper, prompts, instructions, a photocopied mini-zine with space for responses, a pencil, a biro, a piece of chalk, a wax crayon and a pastel. Surely everything a good explorer needs?!
