A group of young people is offering a £5,000 fee for an artist (or artists) to help create a place-changing artwork for The Bay area of Sandown and Lake this autumn.
The Sandown and Lake Youth Forum, supported by Community Action IOW youth workers, has joined The Island Collection and the Isle of Wight CEP’s Supporting Young Minds project to create an artwork for the area in which they live or go to school.
The Bay project is one of up to four planned for the Island, all of which aim to support young people’s mental wellbeing by increasing physical activity and engagement with the Isle of Wight Biosphere through creativity.
Rainford: A really exciting opportunity for artists
Programme manager of Independent Arts, Peta Rainford, said,
“The first call-out represents a really exciting opportunity for artists based in the Isle of Wight and Solent region to create a place-based artwork in the Bay, and I really hope we have lots of artists, with experience of working with young people, apply.”
Owen: Giving young people a voice
Janet Owen, executive director of The Island Collection adds,
“The project is all about giving young people a voice.
“They have written the brief.
“They will choose the artists they eventually work with.”
The brief
The Sandown and Lake Youth Forum, a diverse group of young people aged 12-18, have come up with a very exciting brief. They say,
“We would like an artist to help us: unite our community; reduce stereotypes and stigma; represent young people’s views on what’s good and bad about The Bay; highlight the negatives as a call to action; make Sandown more exciting; convey a message that stimulates thinking and makes people happier.”
Wadsworth: Focusing on young people’s opinions and feelings
Julian Wadsworth MBE, Community Resilience Coordinator for the Bay area and Youth Intervention Development Officer, said,
“We are thrilled that youth forum members are co-producing on this very exciting project working with artists, Independent Arts and The Island Collection.
“When we launched the Youth Forum, we wanted to fairly represent young people within local communities and to provide opportunities for young people to have a voice, share their ideas and to influence.
“This creative project will contribute to that journey by focusing on young people’s opinions and feelings across several themes through the medium of art and creativity.
“The young people are really looking forward to being involved in the process to commission artist/s and work with them closely throughout the project.”
How to apply
Artists working in any medium are invited to apply, but the Forum is particularly interested in film and moving image, photography, text-based work and animation.
The deadline for applications is 12pm on Friday 26th August, with delivery of the project throughout September and October 2022.
Artists interested in this commission should email [email protected] for more information.
Supporting Young Minds is managed by Isle of Wight arts for wellbeing charity Independent Arts, on behalf of The Island Collection and the Isle of Wight CEP, in collaboration with Artswork (Southampton). It is part of a larger region-wide programme supporting young people’s mental health through creativity.
News shared by Peta on behalf of Independent Arts. Ed
Image: Sandown Bay by shapingthebay under CC BY 2.0
