Summer Solidays Success: Highlights of Art at the Heart’s Summer Programme
In this blog post, we run through our top 5 success stories from the Summer Solidays programme, and outline how you can get involved in our artistic community!
Below: 2.5 minute read
What is Summer Solidays?
Summer Solidays was conceived by The Core as part of Solihull’s Holiday Activities and Food Programme. Part-funded by Arts Council England and Holiday Activities and Food (HAF), Art at the Heart partnered with The Core to offer free workshops throughout the summer to children eligible for free school meals with The Core providing healthy lunches. Other children were also able to attend at low cost.
Throughout August, we ran a range of Summer Solidays workshops, including origami, miniature painting, Me & My Pencil drawing sessions and Wild World workshops. These last classes were inspired by the ‘Wild World Heroes’ theme, initiated by the World Wildlife Fund and Reading Agency. This theme is all about encouraging children to learn more about wildlife and the environment, including taking actions towards sustainability. Across all 20 workshops, we had over 120 participants!
Our Wild World workshops created a huge jungle mural at the Core in Solihull, featuring endangered animals and tropical plants. This was made from recycled materials such as painted scraps from previous workshops, and wallpaper donated from Tektura and John Lewis. The artwork was a great success and we even had a visit from the Mayor of Solihull, who said he was ‘very impressed’! Read more about the Mayor’s visit here.
The jungle mural will be available to visit for FREE in the Courtyard Gallery of the Core until the 12th of September, so why not bring your family and friends and come and see this fantastic piece of work?
Top 5 Testimonials
We asked children and their parents to fill out feedback forms at the end of their classes, to let us know what they thought about the class. We got some fabulous responses – with children describing our classes as ‘amazing’ and ‘super fun’. Here are our top 5 favourites…
5. Having Fun
Our Indian Miniatures art class taught children lots of difficult techniques, such as painting on a very small scale. We love that one child described the day as ‘very fun’ and has ‘learned a lot that would benefit my future life’. We firmly believe that the arts have a lasting impact on your wellbeing and confidence. This participant also picked up on our top tip of being ‘fussy’ with drawing, which trains young artists to check their own artwork for the correct proportions.
4. Learning New Things
One 10-year-old participated in our ‘How to Draw a Puppy’ workshop at Chelmsley Wood Library and the results were astonishing. Her natural talent was clear, but with the help of Art at the Heart, she progressed to a new level. She reported that she ‘learned lots of new things and techniques’, which is evident in the final result: her starry-eyed puppy Luna!
3. Working Together as a Group
At art club, we don’t just teach children as individuals, but encourage everybody to work as a team and learn from each-other. We’re so glad that one participant enjoyed the friendly atmosphere, stating that ‘everyone here is really nice’, and that she especially liked the games. Sitting down for several hours to make art can be tiring, so we make sure everybody gets the chance to be active!
2. Using Your Imagination
While we teach lots of techniques and structures at art club, we also allow children to think creatively. One child said that she ‘loved doing this art class because we got to use our own imagination and go wild!’ The huge jungle mural allowed children to design their own animals and plants, selecting the colours and textures.
1. Increasing Confidence
Finally, we know that some people don’t like art because they think they simply aren’t good enough. But we’re here to show you that with some simple techniques and some guidance, you can create something amazing! We love that one participant found the drawing easier over the course of a workshop. Even though he initially ‘thought it was hard’, he can proudly say ‘I am good now’. Increasing your confidence as an artist is a huge part of art club.
How to Get Involved
If you like the sound of our artistic community, why not join one of our classes? We offer workshops both in-person and online for a range of ages and abilities – take a look at our What’s On tab to see what we offer. And to be the first to know about any upcoming events and projects, sign up to our newsletter.
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